| Final Order / Judgement | DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, BATHINDA CC No. 72 of 15-4-2021 Decided on : 12-4-2023 Deepak Goyal S/o Sh. Nimmi Sagar aged about 28 years R/o H.No.3100, St. No.20 ,Amrik Singh Road, Bathinda. ........Complainant Versus Dell International Services India Private Limited C/o YCH Logistics (India) Private Limited, No. 6 to 11 building B3, Jai Bhagwan Realties Private Limited, Mumbai Nashik Highway, Vahuli Village, Padgha Post, Bhiwandi, Thane- Maharashtra (421302) through its authorized officer. IInd Address:- Dell International Services India Private Limited C/o #12/1,12/2A, 13/1A, Divyasaree Greens, Challanghata Village, Varthur Hobli, Domlur PO, Inner Ring Road, Bangalore. (560071) through its authorized officer. .......Opposite parties
Complaint under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 QUORUM:- Sh.Lalit Mohan Dogra, President Sh. Shivdev Singh, Member Present:- For the complainant : Sh. Rohit Goyal, Advocate. For opposite party : Sh. Vikas Kumar, Advocate. ORDER Lalit Mohan Dogra, President:- The complainant Deepak Goyal (here-in-after referred to as complainant) has filed this complaint U/s 35 of Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (here-in after referred to as 'Act') before this Commission against Dell International Services India Private Limited and another (here-in-after referred to as opposite parties). Briefly stated the case of the complainant that he was in dire need of laptop. and on allurement and claims made by opposite party that Dell Inc. is manufacturer laptop and Laptop Alienware 17 R4 (BDJLZF2) is a gaming laptop, which is top of the notch laptop and one of the best for playing heavy games. Then complainant came to know that Mr. Amit Khurana had purchased same laptop from opposite party with same model number Alienware 17 R4(BDJI2F2) vide invoice No.1015938703 dated 24.03.2017 for a sum of $1,816.93 and he wanted to sell the same due to his personal reasons. It is alleged that on contacting Mr.Amit Khurana, complainant came to know that the said laptop was not used by him and was lying sealed pack. Then complainant who was already boosted and allured by the opposite party, purchased the above said laptop from Mr.Amit Khurana, which was actually sold by opposite party to him and as such complainant stepped into the shoes of Mr.Amit Khurana and became consumer of opposite party. The above said laptop was purchased by the complainant for Rs.1,35,000.00 from Mr.Amit Khurana and after submitting the required documents with opposite party, complainant got the ownership and dell warranty transferred in his name and same was duly confirmed by opposite party vide email dated 15.09.2017. The complainant on 04.02.2018 vide in voice No.1610015603, customer ID No.791959981 purchased extended premium support (i.e. warranty extension or express warranty) from opposite party for the period 24.03.2018 to 24.03.2020 and 25.03.2020 to 25.03.2021 for a sum of Rs.36,999.02 and as such complainant was duly acknowledged as customer of opposite party. It is alleged that on 20.02.2018 for the first time the laptop started giving problem i.e. only within short period of purchase and it stopped working due to overheat of laptop. On registering complaint with technical support team of opposite party, service request No.961018124 was generated which was allegedly cured by opposite party through their authorised agent at residence of complainant. It is further alleged that again on 24.03.2018 laptop started giving the same problem so, complaint was lodged by the complainant and accordingly service request No.962599908 was generated by the opposite party. On 24.03.2018 itself one authorised representative from opposite party approached the complainant and generated work order no. 84911199040, after thorough check-up of laptop he found vide which Fan Assembly 1, Motherboard 1, Heatsink 1, Cables and Cords 1, Ac Adapter 1 were not working and as such he placed order for replacement of said parts of laptop which were then replaced and changed by him. Despite changing the above said parts problem of heating, blue screen, laptop not working still persisted so complainants service was kept open and on 28.03.2018 work order no. 84911225957 was again generated, as per which Fan Assembly (2), Heatsink (1) were again replaced. But the problem still existed and laptop didn't work properly. Hence, the service request was still kept open and on 10.04.2018 again fan assembly 2, motherboard 1, keyboard 1, mouse 1, heatsink 1, were replaced in a futile attempt to cure the defect, which in fact is a manufacturing defect in a machine. It is also alleged that till 10.04.2018 motherboard of the laptop was changed three times but still the laptop was giving the problems and was not working properly. Motherboard of the computer/laptop is main component which was being changed regularly because there was some major manufacturing defect in this model of laptop. The same problems kept on coming from time to time and numbers of other parts were also changed including motherboard from time to time. After the above said instance there were twenty more instances, when almost all the parts one by one were changed including speakers, motherboard, memory RAM, Cables, Fans for CPU and GPU, Keyboard, Mechanical hardware, plastic parts, LCD screen, Pal rests, AC Adapter of laptop, heatsink, battery, coolant paste used with heatsink, etc. but despite same laptop still gave problem and not working properly till date. It is also alleged that problems of system overheat, crashing, blue screen, not booting, going to dead state, system slowing down, was coming continuously whenever complainant tried to use the device. Despite numerous emails and complaints, the laptop is continuously giving problems to the complainant. Whenever the device is being used by the complainant and some load is put on the system the same starts heating and stops working and hanging continuously. Even on certain occasions when the complainant requested the dell support that his laptop was not booting up due to overheating of the Motherboard or RAM of the device, the technical support of the dell neglected the email instead of providing proper solution to the same. The complainant also alleged that he sent an email to technical support of the opposite party stating that complaint being registered by him but representative of opposite party was unable to resolve the manufacturing defect of the said laptop, but despite the same, opposite party did not take proper/ affirmative efforts to resolve defect. On 02.03.2020 again complainant sent an email to the opposite party to remove the manufacturing defect of device as the system seemed to be crashing due to no boot device error as the HDD was either corrupt or dead or same was not detected by the BIOS of the system due to some manufacturing defect in the machine and motherboard. The BIOS of the system was showing that there is no boot device/ disk in the device. Besides the above problem, there was problem of "Power On Button" which worked only after pressing the same for long time instead of just push and start working button. The said email was never replied by the opposite party. The complainant also alleged that due to making of repair attempts to cure the defect of the laptop number of times, change of parts time and again, opening and dismantling of laptop and due to defect occurring time and again clearly shows that it was only due to manufacturing defect in the laptop which could not be cured till date. Hence, it has lost its originality and has become useless, inoperable, unfeasible box for complainant. Complainant also requested the opposite party either to change the laptop with fresh laptop or to refund the entire amount of laptop , but to no effect. Due to non-payment of the claim amount, not changing of the laptop with fresh laptop and for non-settling of the claim., complainant is suffering from huge mental pain, agony, botheration, tension, harassment, besides suffering economic loss for which he claims compensation to the tune of Rs. 50,000/-. On this backdrop of facts, the complainant has prayed directions to the opposite parties to change the laptop with fresh new laptop and provide warranty/ extended warranty of the same for four years, or in alternative to pay a sum of Rs.1,35,000/- plus Rs.36,999.02 i.e. cost of extended warranty. alongwith interest @ 18% p.a. from the date of payment till realziation in addition to Rs.50,000/- as compensation besides Rs. Rs.30,000/- as litigation expenses. Upon notice, the opposite parties put an appearance through counsel and contested the complaint by filing written reply raising preliminary submissions/objections that one Amit Khurana purchased ALIENWARE 17 R4 from United States of America on 24.03.2017. The present complainant bought this laptop from Amit Khurana allegedly in India though the laptop was sold in USA. Thereafter, the complainant purchased Premium Phone Support Warranty to get customer support in India on 04.02.2018. The complainant reported technical issue in the laptop for the first time in the year 2018 i.e., 20.02.2018 as admitted by the complainant. The issues were resolved as per the warranty policy of the opposite party. The laptop was sold in USA on 24.03.2017 and thereafter brought to India and allegedly bought by the present complainant. There were no issues reported for almost one year. When the issues were reported, as required under the warranty policy, all solutions were provided and as per records, no issue is there on the system. The opposite party has always honoured its warranty obligations as per the warranty policy. It has been pleaded that as per opposite party'a written terms and conditions for Dell products, wherein country of origin is not India or purchased outside India, there will be limited support and services only on best effort basis and the same shall not be entitled to any replacement or refund. The complainant may refer to warranty terms and conditions, https://www.dell.com/learn/in/en/incorp1/terms-conditions-of-services-support. Further, the laptop has worked issue free for more than 1 year and, therefore, there is no manufacturing defect in the laptop. As such, there is no occasion to replace the laptop. The opposite parties have further pleaded that opposite party in an attempt to treat this case as a special case and for the satisfaction of the complainant, offered 3 options as below: i) Complainant may submit the laptop at our nearest Dell authorized service centre to have all the issues diagnosed as under the warranty bought by the complainant, he is only liable for phone support. ii) Opposite party can deploy an engineer at complainant's location to have the system checked and diagnosed. iii) Opposite party can authorize replacement of the system in USA, provided the system should be taken to the original country of purchase till the system is in warranty. However, the complainant has declined to all the options/solutions. The opposite party is not at any fault and it is only the adamant behaviour of the complainant that the present complaint is filed. Dell has provided support and service to the complainant as per the warranty terms & condition as and when required. On merits, opposite party has pleaded that as and when the complainant approached Dell technical support for assistance, all assistance and service was provided as per the warranty terms and conditions. In further reply, the opposite parties have reiterated their version as pleaded in preliminary objections/submissions and detailed above. After controverting all other averments of the complainant, the opposite parties prayed for dismissal of complaint. In support of his complaint, the complainant has tendered into evidence his affidavit dated 8.8.2022 (Ex. C-16) and documents (Ex.C-1 to Ex.C-15 and Ex. C-17). In order to rebut the evidence of complainant, the opposite party has tendered into evidence affidavit dated 28-1-2023 of Rahul Tripathi (Ex. OP-1/1). We have heard learned counsel for the parties and gone through the record. The learned counsel for the parties have reiterated their stand as taken in their respective pleadings and detailed above. To prove his case, the complainant has tendered into evidence his affidavit and the documents. A perusal of Service Report Ex. C-5 to Ex. C-7 shows that opposite parties replaced various components of Laptop from time to time and inspite of that, the defect in the Laptop could not be resolved and rectified. To further establish his case, the complainant has also placed on record reviews of various owners of same model of Laptop having heating issue in the Laptop which were not rectified by the opposite parties. The complainant has also placed on record report of expert Ex. C-17. As per said report which is supported by duly sworn affidavit Ex. C-16, the said Laptop is dead and mother board is not repairable meaning thereby that Laptop in question cannot be repaired and is having manufacturing defect. To disprove the report of expert Ex. C-17, counsel for the opposite parties has not made any efforts to question the authenticity of report Ex. C-17 by making any offer or request to cross examine the said expert meaning thereby that the opposite parties admitted the report to be correct. The plea of the counsel for the opposite parties that complainant had purchased second hand Laptop which can be repaired only as per warranty conditions and no replacement can be ordered but the contention of the counsel for the opposite parties has no force as the complainant had purchased said second hand Laptop from original owner in sealed condition and thereafter informed the company i.e. opposite parties regarding purchase of said Laptop and the opposite parties had acknowledged the transfer of ownership of Laptop vide Ex. C-3 and thereafter provided warranty upto 25-3-2021 as per Ex. C-4. Thus, failure on the part of the opposite parties who having failed to repair the Laptop which is beyond repair as per report of expert Ex. C-17, amounts to deficiency in service. This Commission is of the view that since the said Laptop is a dead Laptop byond repair, the company i.e. opposite parties should had made offer to replace the same on their own without intravention of this Commission but no such effort was made by the opposite parties. Accordingly, complainant has fully established deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties. Resultantly, this complaint is partly allowed and the opposite parties are directed to replace the old Laptop in question of the complainant with a new Laptop of same model and provide extended warranty of 4 years to the complainant on the said replaced Laptop as the complainant had already paid Rs. 36,999.02 as cost of extended warranty. The complainant is also held entitled to Rs. 10,000/- as compensation for mental agony, harassment and cost of litigation. The compliance of this order be made by the opposite party within 45 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order. The complaint could not be decided within the statutory period due to heavy pendency of cases. Copy of order be sent to the parties concerned free of cost and file be consigned to the record room. Announced : 12-04-2023 ( Lalit Mohan Dogra) President (Shivdev Singh) Member
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