Name of Complainant	Abhishek Puri
Date of Complaint	October 5, 2026
Name(s) of companies complained against	IFB
Category of complaint	Electronic Appliances
Permanent link of complaint	Right click to copy link
Share your complaint on social media for wider reach

Complaint
I wish to lodge a serious consumer grievance against IFB Home Appliances regarding an apparent fraud involving an unauthorized person who contacted me immediately after I registered a repair complaint through IFB’s official centralized customer-care/toll-free number.

On 7th July 2026**, I registered a complaint with IFB for repair of my out-of-warranty microwave. Within approximately two hours, a person claiming to be an authorized IFB service representative/franchisee visited my residence. He produced an ID card and bill book and represented that he was associated with IFB and that IFB operated through authorized franchise/service partners. Since he contacted me immediately after my official IFB complaint, I had no reason to doubt his credentials and handed over my microwave for repair.

He charged me ₹3,800 and issued a bill which appeared genuine and mentioned a six-month warranty on the replaced part. The microwave was returned within approximately 5 days day and worked for only about 10 days, after which it stopped working again.

When I attempted to contact him under the warranty assurance, all three telephone numbers associated with him became unreachable. I then contacted IFB customer care and formally reported the incident. However, IFB’s Area Service Manager/customer-care representatives have refused to accept responsibility or honour the warranty, claiming that I independently contacted a third-party service provider. I categorically deny this. I never contacted, selected or approached this person. He contacted me immediately after my complaint was registered through IFB’s official channel.

I am willing to provide telephone records of myself and my family members demonstrating that there was no outgoing call from us to this person before his visit. I can also provide the bill, telephone numbers, IFB complaint records, emails and other supporting evidence.

Data Leakage and Security Concern

The circumstances raise a serious question as to how my name, address, mobile number, appliance details and service-request information reached this individual immediately after my complaint was registered with IFB. IFB has not provided any satisfactory explanation or conducted a meaningful investigation. Merely stating that he was a third-party vendor does not explain how he obtained my confidential service-request information.

There is an even more serious **security and safety concern**. The individual was able to enter my residential society and reach my residence by representing himself as an IFB-authorized service representative. This creates a potential risk to other residents, particularly **senior citizens, women, children and families living alone**. If unauthorized persons can obtain customer information and use the name of a reputed company to gain access to residential premises, the consequences could extend far beyond financial fraud and could potentially involve theft, intimidation or physical harm.

I also wish to highlight that the name of the service centre used by this individual was almost identical or very similar to the name/branding of IFB’s authorized service network. This makes it imperative for IFB to investigate internally whether other similarly named or unauthorized service centres are operating locally, whether they have any current or past association with IFB, and whether other consumers may have been similarly affected. IFB should determine whether this is an isolated incident or part of a larger pattern.

Relief Sought

I therefore request that IFB/National Consumer Helpline:

1. Investigate the source of the leakage/misuse of my service-request information and identify how this individual obtained my details.
2. Investigate the service centre, its name, ID card, bill book and representation as an IFB service provider, including whether similarly named entities are operating locally.
3. Honour the six-month warranty mentioned on the service bill and repair/replace the defective part at no further cost, or provide an appropriate replacement/refund.
4. Refund the ₹3,850 paid for the defective repair if IFB refuses to honour the warranty.
5. Provide appropriate compensation for the harassment, inconvenience, loss of time and mental agony caused by this incident and IFB’s subsequent refusal to resolve it.
6. Provide a written explanation regarding **how the unauthorized person obtained my complaint details, why he was able to represent himself as an IFB-authorized representative, and what safeguards IFB has to prevent such incidents.
7. Take appropriate corrective action to ensure that only properly verified and authorized service personnel can access customer complaints and enter consumers’ residential premises representing IFB.

I have already suffered a financial loss of ₹3,800, considerable inconvenience and mental harassment, and my microwave has remained non-functional for approximately 20 days. I reserve my right to approach the appropriate Consumer Commission and other competent authorities if the matter is not satisfactorily resolved. Moreover there has been a contradiction from the ASM in charge Mr Ramesh Kumar who has allowed the service charged to be waived off but i will need to pay for the part. If IFB is very sure about no data leakage they should deny the complete claim. The proof of the ASM accepting a waiver on service charge is mentioned in the recording of an inbound call from the centralized service center on 24th Aug at around 1:15 PM.

Evidence available: IFB complaint acknowledgement, ₹3,800 service bill, telephone numbers used by the individual, call records, IFB email correspondence, and other relevant documents.

Image Uploaded by Abhishek Puri: