Nokia Battery Replacement Choas in India

By Jalees Andrabi

New Delhi (INDIA): Thousands of Nokia mobile phone owners rushed to the organisation's service centres across the country after the mobile phone giant had announced that it would replace all 46 million BL-5C batteries manufactured between December 2005 and November 2006. The batteries manufactured by its Japanese supplier Matsushita received around one hundred complaints globally of overheating while charging.

Both shopkeepers and dealers in major Indian cities had a hard time explaining the procedure for the change, "From the last three days we have been attending to more than 500 customers daily, who come for battery replacements. We are trying to explain the procedure for the replacement", said Rajeev Sharma at a Nokia Priority centre. Nokia in its public notice advised that users could visit its website to find out if their batteries need to be replaced.

Most of the customers thought the procedure would be quick and convenient but they were in for a long wait. Impatient customers were clueless about the procedures, creating chaos outside the centres, "I am waiting two hours to replace this defective battery. There are not enough consultants to handle the customers. The least the company can do is give us correct information. Once the public is informed, there will be less chaos", said Shashi Dutt outside a Nokia Care Centre in Delhi.

This may be the largest product recall in India. Analysts say the recall could cost Nokia over 563 crore rupees. Nokia had made it clear to the customers that to get replacements, an online form has to be filled in, followed by a 10 day waiting period for processing the information before a replacement would be mailed to the customer.

Jalees Andrabi is a Delhi based journalist.