Consumer forum fines two leading firms for selling defective appliance

Complainant Jyoti Shree,a resident of Sector 7 in Panchkula,purchased a Whirlpool refrigerator from Big Bazaar (Future Value Retail Ltd on the Delhi-Ambala Highway) in June this year. However,the refrigerator reportedly stopped working after 12 days of purchase.

Following her requests,the motor fan of the refrigerator was replaced but the appliance stopped working after 10 days. Within 22 days,the company got the motor repaired but it continued to malfunction.

The complainant asked the opposition party to return the amount paid to purchase the refrigerator along with compensation charges. However,denying the charge of being deficient in services,the opposition sought dismissal of the complaint. It said Big Bazaar (opposition party 2) had replaced the defective refrigerator. Considering this,the company said,the complainant was not entitled for refund.

The Forum found that the complaint could be partly accepted as the opposition party had sold a defective refrigerator to the complainant,which caused mental agony and harassment till it was replaced. The Forum has directed Whirlpool and Big Bazaar to pay Rs 15,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 as litigation costs to the complainant.