Jamshedpur dealer irked by HCL service center

JAMSHEDPUR, INDIA: Issues with after-sales support seems to be plaguing the IT fraternity across the East. First, channel partners in Bihar reported that they received improper after-sales support from HP and now, a Jharkhand dealer has complained against HCL.

Recently, Ravi Agarwal of BL Infotech sent a CRT monitor with a faulty display to the Jharkhand HCL service center. However, the HCL service center refused to take a look at it, even though the monitor was under warranty period.

“I had purchased a 15-inch display CRT monitor from Ingram Micro and one of our resellers had sold it to Larsen and Toubro. Soon afterwards, the client complained that the picture quality was hazy and I sent the monitor to the service station, where the issue was rejected. Since then, I have called up at least three HCL personnel around here but nothing has been done so far,” Agarwal complained.

Agarwal has already spoken to Ingram Micro over this issue and was informed by the Ingram official that the monitor belonged to the HCL peripherals division, which has since closed down, and hence, they were unable to provide him with any assistance.

Puzzled by this response from a national distributor, Agarwal repeatedly called up HCL and also sent several mails to the company. He has refrained from taking the matter to the local association, JITA, because the issue is out of the association’s purview. “I am now thinking of filing a case against HCL under Section 2(O) of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act since no one in Jamshedpur has been able to provide me with a solution,” he concluded.

However, the case is not as complicated as it seems. When HCL was contacted over this matter, the company was quick enough to promise assistance to the anxious dealer. “The HCL Peripherals division is still very much there. However, the monitor section has been merged with another division. Since the monitor was purchased from the Peripherals division, the service needs to be provided by DMS. However, HCL service centers in the state can also address the issue,” said Santanu Dutta, Associate Manager—Channels, HCL.

A senior personnel of HCL in Kolkata said that the after-sales service depends on the billing date of the product.. If the billing date and the product details are accurately provided to the company, he will help the dealer and guide him to the proper service station.