Bye bye Xcite Alghanim, you will not be missed.

I’m writing here after a year long absence just to vent, even though I know for a fact that this post will probably slip into the internet history unnoticed. 

Usually you’d expect the best after sales from the largest electronics dealer/distributor in your region. However, that has never been the case with Xcite Alghanim. The more they grow into the market the less adequate their aftersales become. I can only imagine the number of their customers and daily service requests but that should never be a persistent problem.

I’ve been a loyal customer to Alghanim Electronics all my life. I would compare products and prices between other dealers and Alghanim yet eventually I go with the latter due to their reputation. So, a little background to my recent feud with their customer service should mark my loyalty departure, and hopefully a lot of other people would do the same.

It all started back in 2010 when I bought a 10KG Whirlpool washing machine for ~KWD160. Less than a year and the machine had a faulty bearing. It was fixed under warranty. Few more months after my warranty expired the machine had the same problem again. This time, with no warranty, it took them a few days to come pick it up, a little over a week to fix it, and an absurd maintenance cost of ~KWD100. Exactly three months later the same problem started all over again. Now long story short I wasn’t going to fix it for another 100 dinar and they refused to fix it under warranty. Thus, I went and bought a new washing machine, yet again from Xcite Alghanim, to my misfortune.

The new washing machine was a 10KG/7KG Daewoo washer/dryer which had all the praise from their sales people. I bought it for KWD179.900 and extended the factory warranty from 1 year to 6 years (1+5yrs extension) for KWD61, that’s a total of ~240 for the whole thing. The machine was perfect in all aspects and I had no problems with it until the day it went back to their workshop.

After a few years being used on daily basis it started to have some rattling noise so I called customer service and they took it to the shop. It stayed there for well over a week justifying that there were no spare parts. Later when it got delivered I was certain it wasn’t working properly. It sounded different, it operated weirdly and started to shake when spin drying. It kept working that way for about a year until the bearing started to get worn out. Another call, another delay on pickup/delivery, and another awkwardly fixed machine.

Now up until last month it was working with moderate noise just like the day it came back for its last visit to Alghanim’s workshop. Suddenly, you guessed it, the bearing became faulty again, for the 3rd time in three years! However this time it took them about two weeks to pick it up and it stayed at their shop for well over a week.

It’s a major appliance and not having it for a day is hectic enough not to mention a week. I called to inquire and they told me to come personally to the workshop to receive a compensation voucher since it cannot be fixed due to lack of spare parts. I went there not thinking much of it since I’ll just have to use the voucher for a new purchase. To my shock, I got a compensation of KWD110, claiming that there is a 35% operating fees. Even up until here I didn’t argue but when they told me my 5 year warranty will be void and I can only use these vouchers to buy the same exact washing machine model I was furious!

Imagine that, even with their worthless vouchers, I will have to pay another ~KWD100 more for the price of that new machine even though I know for a fact that will have the same problems within a year or so. Not to mention that’s even without extending the warranty!

I had to speak to some of their disrespectful employees who either claimed they are managers or truely are managers but their attitude didn’t register as one of such a role in company that big. There were two more customers who had the exact same problem as I did and no one had a resolution to solve the issue except shouting back and forth with those so-called managers.

I stormed out hopeless from their trashy service and absurd attitude, googled LG, went to the closest Albabtain store and bought a new washing machine.To conclude I just want to say the hell with your service and obvious attempts to pin your customers to your disgusting after-sales polices. You may have lost one customer but I definitely won’t be the last.