LG Electronics Refuses to Honour their Guarantee on a Technicality

Reporting a problem with an appliance still under warranty to LG Electronics via their WhatsApp Chat Customer Service, or via their website, is not sufficient to ensure they will honour their warranty.

I bought an LG Microwave oven on 24 November 2014. On 25 October 2019 it stopped working without any warning or symptoms. Everything seemed perfectly normal except that the food was not heated!

I immediately went online to the LG Electronics website to find a telephone number for a service technician. Instead of being able to speak to a technician, I was given a link stating that I should use LG’s WhatsApp Chat Customer Service. This I did, explaining the problem. I also attached a photograph of the product registration details on the back of the microwave.

At 15:06, I received the Chat response: “Our Agent will reply shortly”. An agent actually sent me a reply message at 08:49 the NEXT DAY asking what the problem was. He clearly had not read the information that I had already provided! I rep****, but heard nothing further till eventually on October 28, I received a message and phone number to contact the LG Service Agent in Bellville.

I phoned the Agent. He could not identify the problem from my description, but stated that the magnetron carries a 5-year guarantee. I would have to bring the microwave in for a repair quotation in order to find what the problem was, and how much it would cost.

I asked where the LG Services repair workshop was located and the hours of business. It turned out to be more than an hour’s drive away in traffic. I have many commitments, but not any in that area, so I packed the microwave in its original box to take with me as soon as possible. Twice I went to the airport which would have been on the way, but it was outside LG Service’s hours of business. Once I was on my way there, but a traffic jam delayed me, and I was too late. Other than the inconvenience of not having the use of the microwave, I wasn’t concerned because I had logged the problem on WhatsApp Chat Customer Service, well within the guarantee period. I could not have been using the microwave in the mean time!

I finally managed to deliver the microwave to LG Services in Bellville on December 10, only to be told by the receptionist that I should have ensured I delivered the microwave by November 24. Now, if the problem was the magnetron, it would not be covered by the guarantee. I showed her the WhatsApp correspondence going back to October 25. There are supposedly recordings of telephone conversations. At no time when I phoned on October 28 did the agent tell me that I had better bring in the microwave by November 24.

I left the microwave and paid for a repair quotation. I received the quotation on December 13. It turned out that the problem was indeed the magnetron. The lady at LG Services Bellville said that I should take the matter up with LG Electronics Head Office.

I immediately wrote to the Manager of LG Electronics SA Customer Services, explaining what had happened, and giving a transcript of the WhatsApp messages, and a copy of the Repair quotation. I stated that I intended to hand the microwave in for service earlier. It was just the inconvenience of getting it to the Service Centre, amongst other commitments. But I would obviously have shifted other commitments to ensure the microwave was handed in by 24 November if I had been informed that registering and describing the problem on their WhatsApp Chat Customer Service was not sufficient proof that the problem occurred before the guarantee on the magnetron expired. I had no doubt that LG Electronics would honour their guarantee.

I submitted the letter and transcript via the complaints section of LG’s Client Services website on December 13. I received an automatic acknowledgement that an LG representative would contact me by email within 24 hours. No one did.

I made allowances for it being the holiday season, so waited till 6 January to follow-up. I resent the information via the website along with proof of my earlier submission. Once again I received an automatic acknowledgement that an LG representative would contact me by email within 24 hours. No one did.

Eventually I contacted LG Electronics via their Call Centre. They gave me the email address of Natasha Ferley who promised to sort out the problem. That led to a frustrating period of my sending emails and reminders to Natasha, and she not responding between 6 March 2020 and 3 September 2020.

I gave up on her and asked the Call Centre for another person to handle the matter. They said someone would phone me. A few days later I received a short voicemail from Amos Mamabolo. He stated the microwave was out of guarantee, so LG would not pay for the repair. It was obvious he had not seen the correspondence going back to December. I tried phoning him back, but there was never a reply. I asked the Call Centre for his email address and sent copies of the correspondence with Natasha. He sent a short email reiterating that the microwave was out of guarantee. He did not respond to further emails.

This week I received a message from LG Services, Bellville, that they are about to s**** the microwave. I tried LG Electronics again via their Call Centre. This time they put me through to Vinesh Chinsamy. He promised to investigate the matter, and I forwarded him all the previous correspondence. He, at least, responded within days, but informed me today that LG Electronics would not pay for the repairs because I did not hand the microwave in to the Bellville Service Centre before the guarantee expired. My reporting the problem to the WhatsApp Chat Customer Service within the guarantee period did not count.

I am disappointed that a reputable company like LG Electronics would not honour their guarantee on a technicality.