I am writing this review more as a tribute to fine engineering & workmanship and also to show my gratiMr_customtakeouter to a firms' product which has been maligned by some vested interests.
Being a person with a technical bent of mind, I always study a product at very close quarters before taking the plunge, Rajeev_Vermacially if the person using it is non technical and not prone to take mistakes lightly.
Some time after marriage, I decided to present my wife with the finest that money could buy. A convenience feature if you wish. A gas hob which had no knobs but sliding controls and an electronic self ignition. How cool was that 10 years ago; you can just imagine. However I knew from a colleague that Sanyo made some of the best "gas tables" in the world and so when I spotted this model on display at an exhibition at Bandra Kurla complex, I knew I just had to have it.
There were 2 models, one with 2 burners and the other model with a small grill in the body in addition to the 2 burners. I opted for the simpler model because I realized that cleaning the tiny grill would not be the easiest job in the world. Besides I knew my requirements and preferred to have a simpler outlook.
For the next 7 years, it worked flawlessly and then one fine day there was a small hi-cup. The self ignition system started to misbehave. I called up the service guys and was shocked to hear that the product was no longer sold and that the spares were difficult to come buy BUT still they would try and help me out....... at a price.
I ended up buying a service contract @ Rs.2000/- per year and spares extra. In my haste to get my cooktop working as good as new, I agreed. The rest was plain sailing for some time and again the same symptoms came to the fore. I ended up paying extra for some electronic items were were not required at all but made to appear as though they were faulty. The only thing which really needed to be serviced or replaced was the micro switch and they put in a serviced unit and charged me for a new one.
Much later I learned of their con and decided to take matters in my own hands. Now I do the minor servicing myself whenever it is needed and my Win Cook continues to run like clock work even after 10 years. Truly a simple and marvelous design which met with an untimely end due to doubts and mischievous servicing personnel who had their eyes only on the money and not the goodwill of the company or the product.
The company Sanyo had made the product with so much research and care and quality control but the end result could never have been imagined by the designers. Still as the saying goes, it takes a jeweler to spot a real gem and this gas top was and still is a real gem.
- Thank You! We appreciate your effort.
