…..Opposite Parties.
Complaint u/s 12 of the Consumer Protection Act.
Before Sh. Jaswant Singh……President.
Sh.Vineet Kaushik ………..Member
Dr. Rekha Chaudhary…….Member
Present: Complainant in person.
OP no.1 exparte.
Shri Akshat Sharma Advocate for OP no.2.
(Jaswant Singh President)
ORDER:
This complaint has been filed by the complainant u/s 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 on the averments that complainant has purchased a laptop (Notebook PC Pavilion x360 Convertible 14-cd0053TX-HP) for his daughter amounting to Rs.71784/- having serial no.8CG82828Q2 through on-line from one of the authorized dealer (M/s Savex Technologies Pvt. Ltd. plot no.90, Sector-18, Gurgaon-122001, Haryana) of HP (Hewlett-Packard). M/s HP India Sales Private Limited, Bangalore gave following benefit on the abovesaid laptop;-
1. Additional 2 years Onsite Warranty
2. Unistal Software
3. 1 year of Mcafee Internet Security
4. 1 year Accidental Damage Protection
5. 1 year Burglary & Theft Insurance
All these benefits were given by M/s HP India Sales Private Limited, Bangalore by confirming through e-mail. On 16.10.2018 the laptop was in the tablet form (360 degree) & its keyboard was exposed. Now when it was placed on table & due some object on it & thus being un-intentional collision; its one of Key f8 popped out from one side. Being providing of Accidental Damage Protection on 18.10.2018 complainant approached to the authorized service centre of M/s HP India Sales Private Limited, Bangalore here at Karnal which is in the name of M/s Sysnet Global Technology Pvt.Ltd. SCO 107, First floor, Mugal Canal, Karnal i.e. OP no.1. On seeing the laptop the Branch Manager of OP no.1 told the complainant that the amount of Rs.12,000/- to Rs.15,000/-, which was spent on the repair of the laptop was not covered in “Accidental Damaged Protection,” cover. On seeing the negative attitude and non-cooperative behaviour of the Branch Manager, complainant made a written complaint on 18.10.2018 to the Service Head of M/s HP India Sales Private Limited, Bangalore. On this complaint, one of the Partner Account Manager-North Shri Sanjeev Jain of M/s HP India Sales Private Limited, Bangalore contacted the complainant through e-mail as well as telephonically and told him to approach the service centre at Karnal. Accordingly, on 27.10.2018 complainant approached the service centre at Karnal and concern person agreed that the laptop in question was covered under 1 year Accidental Damage Protection cover. Accordingly, he filled “Service Call Report” & “Claim Intimation Form” on 27.10.2018 in this regard. On 30.10.2018 through an e-mail the HP authorized service centre at Karnal once again refused to repair the laptop by saying that “case is rejected as Key pop out is not covered under Accidental Damages Protection.” The case of the complainant has rejected intentionally and in a totally illegal and unjustified manner by clearly violating the various Terms and Conditions of Accidental Damage Protection provided by HP. In this way there was deficiency in service on the part of the OPs. Hence complainant filed the present complaint.
2. Notice of the complaint was given to the OPs. OP no.1 did not appear and proceeded against exparte, vide order dated 13.02.2019.
3. OP no.2 appeared and filed his written version raising preliminary objections with regard to maintainability; jurisdiction and cause of action. On merits, it is pleaded that on 14.08.2018, complainant for his daughter purchased a HP pavilion x360 convertible 14-cd0053TX Notebook having serial number 8CG82828Q2 for Rs.71784/- from Savex Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon. The Savex Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Gurgaon is an authorized dealer of OP no.2. It is further pleaded that the laptop is provided with Additional 2 years onsite warranty, Unistal Software, 1 year of Mac free Internet Security, 1 year Accidental Damage Protection and 1 year Burglary & Theft Insurance. It is further pleaded that the aforesaid warranties provided to the laptop is only on subject to fulfillment of other terms and conditions of the warranty. In the present case, the OP relies on other terms and conditions of warranty, which states as “HP is not responsible for damage that occurs as a result of your failure to follow the instructions intended for the HP hardware product. This limited liability does not apply to expendable or consumable parts and does not exceed to any product from which the serial number has been removed or that has been damaged or rendered defective (a) as a result of accident, misuse, abuse, contamination, improper or inadequate maintenance or calibration, or other external causes (b) by operation outside the usage parameters stated in the user documentation that shipped with the product; (c) by software, interfacing, parts, or supplies not supplied by HP; (d) by improper site preparation or maintenance; (e) by virus infection; (f) from loss or damage in transit; or (g) by modification or service any other than (i) HP, (ii) an HP authorized service provider, or (iii) own installation of end user replaceable HP or HP approved parts of available for product in the servicing country/region.” The reason for damages should be a genuine accident and should not be improper handling and negligence.
4. Further, it is pleaded that on 18.10.2018 vide case id no.ID5021899259, the complainant had lodged complaints report that f8 key in the keyboard of the laptop in question is popped, that on receipt of the complaint, the service team of OP no.2 has attended the complaint lodged promptly, extended support, assigned engineer for validating the concern, complainant filled up Claim intimation Form stating the reason for the damages, the issue was elevated HP accidental Protection Team, the ADP team on diagnosing the laptop learnt that, the reason or damages mentioned by the complainant was not found suitable/eligible for Accidental Damage Protection Claim and hence was rejected as the reason did not qualify for Accidental Damage Protection coverage, accordingly the service engineer Mr. Varun Verma center of OP no.2 has explained and educated complainant regarding the reason or rejection of warranty repair that “Any physical damage that may be caused to a product due to mishandling and primarily due to improper usage by the customer is not covered under the terms of warranty.” It is further pleaded that to claim the Accidental Damage Protection, it is required to mention the reason how the damage occurred, but in the present case, the complainant’s statement that, the damage was reported to be occurred during placing the Note Book over table is not a proper reason, the damage caused is considered as negligence, customer induced damage, which is not covered under the warranty or Accidental Damage Protection of the OP no.2. It is further pleaded that in the present case, complainant is guilty of improper handling of the laptop, due to which the laptop is damaged, hence the service team offered to resolve the reported issue on chargeable basis, shared the approximate estimate as per warranty obligations but the complainant had refused to agree the same and insisted for the replacement of the laptop, the same is mentioned on the service call report. There is no deficiency in service on the part of the OP no.2. The other allegations made in the complaint have been denied and prayed for dismissal of the complaint.
5. Complainant tendered into evidence his affidavit Ex.CW1/A and documents Ex.C1 to Ex.C18 and closed the evidence on 10.05.2019.
6. OP no.2 tendered into evidence affidavit of Girish Ex.RW1/A and document Ex.R1 and closed the evidence on 07.08.2019.
7. We have appraised the evidence on record, the material circumstances of the case and the arguments advanced by the learned counsel for the parties.
8. The case of the complainant, in brief, is that he has purchased a laptop for his daughter amounting to Rs.71784/- through on-line from one of the authorized dealer (M/s Savex Technologies Pvt. Ltd. plot no.90, Sector-18, Gurgaon-122001, Haryana) of HP (Hewlett-Packard). M/s HP India Sales Private Limited, Bangalore gave following benefit on the abovesaid laptop;-
1. Additional 2 years Onsite Warranty
2. Unistal Software
3. 1 year of Mcafee Internet Security
4. 1 year Accidental Damage Protection
5. 1 year Burglary & Theft Insurance
On 16.10.2018 the laptop was in the tablet form (360 degree) & its keyboard was exposed. Now when it was placed on table & due some object on it & thus being un-intentional collision; its one of Key f8 popped out from one side. Being providing of Accidental Damage Protection on 18.10.2018 complainant approached to the authorized service centre i.e. OP no.1 of M/s HP India Sales Private Limited, Bangalore. On seeing the laptop the Branch Manager of OP no.1 told the complainant that the amount of Rs.12,000/- to Rs.15,000/- which was spent on the repair of the laptop was not covered in “Accidental Damaged Protection,” cover. The complainant made a written complaint on 18.10.2018 to the Service Head of M/s HP India Sales Private Limited, Bangalore. On this complaint, one of the Partner Account Manager contacted the complainant through e-mail as well as telephonically and told him to approach the service centre at Karnal. Accordingly, on 27.10.2018 complainant approached the service centre at Karnal and he agreed that the laptop in question was covered under 1 year Accidental Damage Protection cover. Accordingly, he filled “Service Call Report” & “Claim Intimation Form” on 27.10.2018 in this regard. On 30.10.2018 through an e-mail the HP authorized service centre at Karnal once again refused to repair the laptop by saying that “case is rejected as Key pop out is not covered under Accidental Damages Protection.” The case of the complainant has rejected intentionally and in a totally illegal and unjustified manner by clearly violating the various Terms and Conditions of Accidental Damage Protection provided by HP.
9. The case of the OPs is that on 18.10.2018 vide case id no.ID5021899259, the complainant had lodged complaints report that f8 key in the keyboard of the laptop in question is popped, that on receipt of the complaint, the service team of OP no.2 has attended the complaint lodged promptly, extended support, assigned engineer for validating the concern, complainant filled up Claim intimation Form stating the reason for the damages, the issue was elevated HP accidental Protection Team, the ADP team on diagnosing the laptop learnt that, the reason or damages mentioned by the complainant was not found suitable/eligible for Accidental Damage Protection Claim and hence was rejected as the reason did not qualify for Accidental Damage Protection coverage. Further, the Accidental Damage Protection, it is required to mention the reason how the damage occurred, but in the present case, the complainant’s statement that, the damage was reported to be occurred during placing the Note Book over table is not a proper reason, the damage caused is considered as negligence, customer induced damage, which is not covered under the warranty or Accidental Damage Protection of the OP no.2. Further, the complainant is guilty of improper handling of the laptop, due to which the laptop is damaged, hence the service team offered to resolve the reported issue on chargeable basis, shared the approximate estimate as per warranty obligations but the complainant had refused to agree the same and insisted for the replacement of the laptop, the same is mentioned on the service call report.
10. Admittedly, the complainant has purchased the laptop in question of the OPs Company. It is also admitted that OPs has given extra benefit like Additional 2 years Onsite Warranty, Unistal Software, 1 year of Mcafee Internet Security, 1 year Accidental Damage Protection and 1 year Burglary & Theft Insurance. It is also admitted that f8 of the keyboard of the laptop in question is popped. OPs in his reply stated that the reason of damages of f8 key mentioned by the complainant was not found suitable/eligible for Accidental Damage Protection Claim and hence was rejected as the reason did not qualify for Accidental Damage Protection coverage.
11. On hearing the arguments, it is observed that complainant had purchased the Laptop with a warranty of one year for Accidental Damage Protection (ADP). OPs have admitted the fact of Accidental Benefit Protection but OPs have completely failed in changing the minor part of the keyboard within the specified time of warranty which was not a big issue. Instead of providing service they prolonged the period of service sometimes by accepting or refusing. Such act of the OPs clearly shows the deficiency in service on the part of the OPs.
12. Thus, as a sequel to abovesaid discussion, we allow the present complaint and direct the OPs to replace the laptop in question of the complainant with new one of the same value, same make and model which was purchased by the complainant. However, it is hereby made clear that if the laptop of the same make and model is not available with the OPs, then the OPs will return the cost of the laptop in question i.e. Rs.71,784/- to the complainant. We further direct the OPs to pay Rs.7,000/- to the complainant on account of mental agony and harassment suffered by him and for the litigation expenses. This order shall be complied within 30 days from the receipt of copy of this order. The parties concerned be communicated of the order accordingly and the file be consigned to the record room after due compliance.
Announced
Dated:28.8.2019
President,
District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Forum, Karnal.
(Vineet Kaushik) (Dr. Rekha Chaudhary)
Member Member
