Coronavirus pandemic | With appliance service centres shut, it's time for DIY videos

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, that has led to a lockdown across India, has also resulted in servicing centres of appliance makers shutting down temporarily. To ensure that appliance servicing is not hampered, white goods makers are helping customers make use of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) videos to keep the products in shape.

These videos are available on simple processes like cleaning an air-filter in air conditioners as well as for specific queries like temperature setting adjustments in the refrigerators.

With the onset of the summer season in India, when products like refrigerators and air-conditioners will be in high demand, customers are making up for the absence of service personnel by following DIY videos.

Pratik Srivastav, who owns a Samsung air conditioner, said he was not only able to clean his air conditioner watching the video, he was able to save costs as well.

“A basic servicing would have cost Rs 2,000. Thanks to the lockdown, I have been able to do it myself. I am of the view that DIY will catch up because some appliance servicing is very simple and does not need any specialised person for this,” he added.

At Panasonic, the customer centre is open and they can call and register their complaint. It goes to the branch office and they speak with the customer to help resolve this virtually as field service is not operational. If a customer is not registered, they can register themselves through our contact centre.

Also Read: Live updates about COVID-19 outbreak in India

Similarly, the appliance maker has developed a DIY video helping people to clean their machines themselves.

Other white goods firms are also following a similar strategy.

Ravi Bhat, Service Head, Godrej Appliances said, "The company has initiated ‘Remote Assist’ wherein we are providing 'Do It Yourself' videos or Voice Assistance in order to solve at least some of the simpler service requests from our customers. Customers can continue to reach us through our website, email and our mobile application (Godrej Smart Care) in case they have any query or need any assistance.”

While servicing platforms like Urban Company (earlier called UrbanClap) are resuming essential services in places like Gurugram, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Noida, Faridabad and Bhubaneswar, this is subject to entry permissions at housing societies.

Appliance maker Samsung has a live chat service where individuals can reach the company for any product queries.

The white goods firm has put up a detailed DIY video on its website for users to refer for AC filter cleaning.

Similarly, LG also has a series of videos across categories of products on basic servicing requests like cleaning, installation, leakage and temperature setting.

In India, the repair and maintenance service industry is estimated to be worth Rs 1 billion. Of this, repair and maintenance related to home appliances like televisions, air conditioners, refrigerators and kitchen appliances like mixer-grinder, microwave form a large proportion of the market.

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