Kwikot is de*****ing the market

I bought twenty (20) “Kwikot prisma geyser” last year. I installed them in my rental bachelor units. Last week all of them just started leaking on the “non return valve”. I therefore went back to the hardware shop (Build IT) that sold me the geysers and they scheduled repairs with the manufacture Kwikot. When Kwikot personnel came to inspect and repair the geysers, they told me that they are installed incorrectly. They are supposed to be installed with a “push through mixer” and have one discharge/use point. If it doesn’t have the “push through mixer” you lose the warranty. I asked several questions from the technicians and realised that they don’t fully understand the product themselves.

Since it was my first time hearing about the “push through mixer”, I therefore went to Plumblink Kramerville to enquire about it. They didn’t have stock but I was shocked by the selling price of ± R2000 per unit. I thereafter went back to the vendor that sold me the geysers and asked for the “push through mixers”. They didn’t know what I was talking about. It was news to them that these geysers require the “push through mixers” and they’ve never heard of this mixers before.

Prior to buying 20 “Kwikot prisma geysers” I went to Leroy Merlin (Boksburg), Builders Warehouse (Boksburg) and Build IT (Brakpan) to enquire about “Kwikot prisma” verses “Ariston compact” geyser. All the shops told me it’s the same thing, it’s just different brands and they recommended Kwikot because of the ±R250 price difference and brand prestige. No one told me about the fact that you need a R2000 “push through mixer” when you buy Kwikot verses Ariston geyser.

I can confidently say I have experience in these small/ compact geysers. In 2017, I bought 19 “Heat-Tech Compact” geysers. They have never given me any problems. They don’t require “push through mixers” either. In 2020/2021, I bought 22 “Ariston Compact” geysers. Two of them didn’t function properly, however they were repaired by the manufacture and no “push through mixers” was required.

Based on my experience with competitor products, I can confidently say Kwikot is de*****ing the market. They pose their product as a competitor while it’s far inferior and requires a further R2000 expenditure to install. They do not fully disclose the information regarding their product to the market and hardware shops. It cannot be a mistake that I go to three big hardware shops to enquire about their product and all of them don’t mention anything about the “push through mixer” and none of them can show it to me in their shelves while they have several Kwikot prisma geysers in their shelves. Essentially all customers that buy these geysers lose their warranties the moment they fit them. The ±R300 that you supposedly save, you spend it in buying the mixer. This is *****.