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Question of the Day: What is your preferred Chinese car brand?
Defy Inverter Aircon, is it worth a buy?
- Thread starter Rickster
- Start date
Update:
The National Consumer Commission has assessed my case and recommendation falls under Section 56 of the CPA, a refund.
They have now referred the case back to Defy.
Have to say, NCC have been pretty quick on this, and their online portal works nicely
The National Consumer Commission has assessed my case and recommendation falls under Section 56 of the CPA, a refund.
They have now referred the case back to Defy.
Have to say, NCC have been pretty quick on this, and their online portal works nicely
The Darkness
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Go for it! Thanks for pushing on this. It's absurd their claim that the isolator plays any part in this - laughable really. I'll be certain to avoid anything Defy and will spread the word as I move through life.
Tongs of Destiny
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photos...
Get a registered electrician to sign it off and say the installation is correct.
The more evidence you provide, with photos etc etc in a clear and precise manner helps with these useless lawyers.
A useless judge / lawyer doesn't know fokall about electricity. I mean the **** an isolator is used to cool down a fan? Does this clown know what the word "isolator" means in English? comes from the word "isolate" jeezus
Was the unit "altered" you must refute the outcome if that is the case, they need evidence for all that.
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rather just stick to Hirsch and their installers, never had a problem.
Get a registered electrician to sign it off and say the installation is correct.
The more evidence you provide, with photos etc etc in a clear and precise manner helps with these useless lawyers.
A useless judge / lawyer doesn't know fokall about electricity. I mean the **** an isolator is used to cool down a fan? Does this clown know what the word "isolator" means in English? comes from the word "isolate" jeezus
Was the unit "altered" you must refute the outcome if that is the case, they need evidence for all that.
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rather just stick to Hirsch and their installers, never had a problem.
After they way they've been ducking and diving to avoid your claim I'd say that 10% of annual turnover is well justified.
And Defy didnt respond........ Nor surprised though.
The NCC says they will do a follow up email and call before escalating the matter to be investigated.
Seems Defy is attempting to drag this on for as long as possible.
Oh well, AC is working, but at this point, Im thinking of pushing that Defy refund the entire unit, reimburse my for my expense, etc, and I go with another brand.
They have properly lost my trust
The NCC says they will do a follow up email and call before escalating the matter to be investigated.
Seems Defy is attempting to drag this on for as long as possible.
Oh well, AC is working, but at this point, Im thinking of pushing that Defy refund the entire unit, reimburse my for my expense, etc, and I go with another brand.
They have properly lost my trust
Been a while since I posted an update, mainly because I've had no feedback from the NCC.
I received some feedback on 20 January that they will escalate to investigation and that an update would be provided once approved.
1 month goes by and no news, so I follow up, to which I receive the below response:
"
I trust this email finds you well.
After engaging with the supplier I would like to find out from your side whether if the product was repaired by the third party without the concern from the supplier."
It would seem that Defy is trying a different angle now. My opinion is that they've realised they stuffed up, now they're trying to void the units warranty because I had it repaired at my own expense.
Unfortunately for them, I have email record of me attempting to have them quote to repair or even just assess the unit, plus I have call logs showing 13 calls made by myself to Defy Customer service and 2 of their call centres attempting to get this resolved, which they never responded to.
The Defy crappy customer service saga continues
I received some feedback on 20 January that they will escalate to investigation and that an update would be provided once approved.
1 month goes by and no news, so I follow up, to which I receive the below response:
"
I trust this email finds you well.
After engaging with the supplier I would like to find out from your side whether if the product was repaired by the third party without the concern from the supplier."
It would seem that Defy is trying a different angle now. My opinion is that they've realised they stuffed up, now they're trying to void the units warranty because I had it repaired at my own expense.
Unfortunately for them, I have email record of me attempting to have them quote to repair or even just assess the unit, plus I have call logs showing 13 calls made by myself to Defy Customer service and 2 of their call centres attempting to get this resolved, which they never responded to.
The Defy crappy customer service saga continues
Been a while since my last update.
Not much has happened since.
Defy has however decided to change their excuse stating that my warranty was voided because I repaired the AC myself and not through them. This is now the 3rd excuse they've used.
First being that I installed the unit (when their warranty policy makes no such exclusion), second that an isolator wasn't installed (I provided photographic and timestamped evidence of an isolator installed 2 days before the AC was installed, and now that I replaced the barrel fan not using their repairers.
I have since provided the NCC with emails, and call logs showing multiple attempts to engage with Defy directly to get the barrel fan replaced, all of which failed.
Due to the above, the NCC has referred my complaint to investigation.
What this now means for Defy, this is no longer a complaint and is being investigated as possible prohibited conduct under the Consumer Protection Act.
They could now face compliance orders and a fine to 10% of their annual turnover.
What could've been easily resolved by reinstating my warranty and reimbursing the cost of the barrel fan, is likely to now cost them R50k - R100k as they now have to cover legal fees to respond to this investigation.
Not much has happened since.
Defy has however decided to change their excuse stating that my warranty was voided because I repaired the AC myself and not through them. This is now the 3rd excuse they've used.
First being that I installed the unit (when their warranty policy makes no such exclusion), second that an isolator wasn't installed (I provided photographic and timestamped evidence of an isolator installed 2 days before the AC was installed, and now that I replaced the barrel fan not using their repairers.
I have since provided the NCC with emails, and call logs showing multiple attempts to engage with Defy directly to get the barrel fan replaced, all of which failed.
Due to the above, the NCC has referred my complaint to investigation.
What this now means for Defy, this is no longer a complaint and is being investigated as possible prohibited conduct under the Consumer Protection Act.
They could now face compliance orders and a fine to 10% of their annual turnover.
What could've been easily resolved by reinstating my warranty and reimbursing the cost of the barrel fan, is likely to now cost them R50k - R100k as they now have to cover legal fees to respond to this investigation.
13 July Update:
Unfortunately there has been no movement whatsoever.
The complaint was originally logged with the NCC on 23 October, and has progressed through assessment, referral back to Defy, and then formally referred to investigation on 12 March.
Since then, despite numerous follow up emails and phone calls, I have not received any response whatsoever. The NCC call centre can only confirm that the matter is in the investigation phase and has been unable to provide any further information.
I've also attempted to contact the case handler directly without success.
The AC itself is no almost one year old (delivered 4 August 2025). I paid out of pocket to source and replace the failed barrel fan after Defy declined to honour the warranty and did not provide a repair solution. The unit has been operating perfectly since then.
My objective of this has remained unchanged.
1. Reinstatement of my AC's warranty
2. Reimbursement of the cost I incurred to replace the failed barrel fan
Regardless of the eventual outcome, the biggest dissapointment has been the time taken to progress the complaint and lack of any form of communication. The CPA provides consumers with rights, but those rights are only meaningful if disputes can be resolves within a reasonable timeframe. After almost 9 months, I still have no indication of when the investigation will be concluded.
@Jan @mylesillidge
I think this may now have become a broader consumer story than simply my dispute with Defy. It raises an important question: what practical recourse does a consumer have when a supplier refuses to honour the minimum protections afforded by the Consumer Protection Act, and the statutory dispute resolution process itself takes close to a year with little to no communication?
I'd be more than happy to provide the complete paper trail should either of you feel it's worth investigating.
Unfortunately there has been no movement whatsoever.
The complaint was originally logged with the NCC on 23 October, and has progressed through assessment, referral back to Defy, and then formally referred to investigation on 12 March.
Since then, despite numerous follow up emails and phone calls, I have not received any response whatsoever. The NCC call centre can only confirm that the matter is in the investigation phase and has been unable to provide any further information.
I've also attempted to contact the case handler directly without success.
The AC itself is no almost one year old (delivered 4 August 2025). I paid out of pocket to source and replace the failed barrel fan after Defy declined to honour the warranty and did not provide a repair solution. The unit has been operating perfectly since then.
My objective of this has remained unchanged.
1. Reinstatement of my AC's warranty
2. Reimbursement of the cost I incurred to replace the failed barrel fan
Regardless of the eventual outcome, the biggest dissapointment has been the time taken to progress the complaint and lack of any form of communication. The CPA provides consumers with rights, but those rights are only meaningful if disputes can be resolves within a reasonable timeframe. After almost 9 months, I still have no indication of when the investigation will be concluded.
@Jan @mylesillidge
I think this may now have become a broader consumer story than simply my dispute with Defy. It raises an important question: what practical recourse does a consumer have when a supplier refuses to honour the minimum protections afforded by the Consumer Protection Act, and the statutory dispute resolution process itself takes close to a year with little to no communication?
I'd be more than happy to provide the complete paper trail should either of you feel it's worth investigating.
Well for sure I will not buy any Defy product ever again. This whole sage so far is just scummy behavior that could have been sorted out on day one.
/sheesh
Were they bought out and new owners decided to go cheap ?
I know that is a business plan of some shady retailers, pressure reliable brand to cheap out on manufacturing, brand inevitably gets a bad reputation when that happens the retailer drops the brand.
One such story where the brand said no.
www.leanblog.org
/sheesh
Were they bought out and new owners decided to go cheap ?
I know that is a business plan of some shady retailers, pressure reliable brand to cheap out on manufacturing, brand inevitably gets a bad reputation when that happens the retailer drops the brand.
One such story where the brand said no.
The Man Who Said No to Wal-Mart
Fast Company Magazine ArticleHere's an interesting article about the company that makes Snapper lawnmowers. They decided that selling their American-made
www.leanblog.org
Last edited:
HandyTechTipper
Well-Known Member
Same here.... No more Defy appliances for me either!
W@P
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Saved yourself a future ball ache right there with that decision.