In Delhi’s scorching summer, anything that can beat the heat is an air conditioner. This is what I thought near April and decided to rent an air conditioner (Yeah! You can rent anything you want here, but this is not always a wise decision. Read further to know why). So, I paid 5000 INR to a local shop and this guy fitted an AC in my bedroom. It was supposedly a fair deal because I was given the authority to use it till October end, which means, I will be its proxy owner for a time period of 5-6 months and if anything (except some physical damage) happens to it, he will repair it (Although there was no written agreement or warranty). It worked fine for initial one month, although the cooling was not that well as it was an old AC but it was sufficient for my small bedroom. Then, on one not-so-fine day, it broke down. It felt like a thunder bolt in the middle of heavy rains. It stopped working when I needed it the most, in peak summers. Since, I had a verbal agreement with its owner, so I called up this guy and described him everything. He assured me to make it work that day only. He made promises and said soon he would send some technician to take care of it. I was not pretty sure but I thought that he agreed upon it so he would certainly do something to help me (The temperature must not be less than 35C – 38C during nights, so I desperately needed it to work).
I waited for the technician and kept on waiting. He did not show up the whole day. I was really upset with AC’s owner. So, I called this shop owner again and asked about this guy. He again made a few promises and I, again started to wait. Two days went by and this guy did not show up . Third day after waiting for almost whole day, out of pity or anger or may be, out of frustration (I am not sure to describe that emotion) I switched the AC on, with a hope that some miracle will turn it on and astonishingly the miracle really happened. I cursed the owner of the machine and thanked God for that much needed miracle. And when everything went fine, suddenly this technician showed up. I did not waste more than 2 minutes on him and showed him the door.
Then I thought about my decision of renting an AC. I paid 5000 INR for it, when the AC is not good, I am only a proxy owner, it does not come with any warranty and it is pretty hard to deal with these local dealers. Whereas, if I had bought a new AC, that would have cost me around 12000 INR. But it would have been in the best conditions, would have come with a company given warranty and I would have been its owner for its entire life (not for some months). Moreover, it is easier to deal with company people rather than some local shop owner.
I realized that I made a terrible mistake. Because while renting it, I was primarily thinking about saving my money but in fact, I did not save anything; instead, I wasted my hard-earned 5000 bucks. In any case, I will have to go for buying an AC next summer (I don’t want to rent it every summer) and AC’s prices will not go down at least, that means I will have to make an expense of equal or more money in a year’s time. And, it is almost impossible to make 5000 bucks or more with my saved 7000 bucks within a year (at least, by legal means).
Had I seen a little further, I would not have made this mistake.
I waited for the technician and kept on waiting. He did not show up the whole day. I was really upset with AC’s owner. So, I called this shop owner again and asked about this guy. He again made a few promises and I, again started to wait. Two days went by and this guy did not show up . Third day after waiting for almost whole day, out of pity or anger or may be, out of frustration (I am not sure to describe that emotion) I switched the AC on, with a hope that some miracle will turn it on and astonishingly the miracle really happened. I cursed the owner of the machine and thanked God for that much needed miracle. And when everything went fine, suddenly this technician showed up. I did not waste more than 2 minutes on him and showed him the door.
Then I thought about my decision of renting an AC. I paid 5000 INR for it, when the AC is not good, I am only a proxy owner, it does not come with any warranty and it is pretty hard to deal with these local dealers. Whereas, if I had bought a new AC, that would have cost me around 12000 INR. But it would have been in the best conditions, would have come with a company given warranty and I would have been its owner for its entire life (not for some months). Moreover, it is easier to deal with company people rather than some local shop owner.
I realized that I made a terrible mistake. Because while renting it, I was primarily thinking about saving my money but in fact, I did not save anything; instead, I wasted my hard-earned 5000 bucks. In any case, I will have to go for buying an AC next summer (I don’t want to rent it every summer) and AC’s prices will not go down at least, that means I will have to make an expense of equal or more money in a year’s time. And, it is almost impossible to make 5000 bucks or more with my saved 7000 bucks within a year (at least, by legal means).
Had I seen a little further, I would not have made this mistake.
