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1.0 out of 5 starsAnd the award for the worst purifier goes to...
Reviewed in India on 1 April 2017
HUL Pureit Ultima RO+UV is among the worst products out there. The internal mechanics are exactly the same as any regular RO+UV filter - the additional jazz of the LED and the sensors(that do not work) lead to the premium pricing.
Let me tell you everything I've learnt so far
The mechanics of filtration are exactly like in any regular RO+UV filter. All that HUL has done is add a layer of electronics on top of it(which dont work)
My filter stopped working when the LED developed issues. The LED caused the entire filtration process to stop. The fancy GKK system? They're just dumb counters. I've had detailed conversations with the technicians. Irrespective of whether or not you use it, the GKK indicators will blink in 400 hours/4000 litres - and nobody knows which. The whole thing is a tool to scam people of money - the sensors do nothing to contribute to filter change decision.
My woes started in Jan end when the device started throwing GKK1 errors. I called customer care and the technician came in and changed the kit. Shortly after, I started getting those same errors again. This time around the technician changed everything from the adapter to the sensors and couldnt figure it out. It took a few days and various iterations. I was without purified water for about a fortnight. I was repeatedly told by the agency that spare parts weren't available. Finally on creating enough noise about this brick of a machine occupying space in my house, someone came over. Again, the entire process of replacing all the electronics continued. Finally they figured it was the LED that was faulty. A non functioning LED stopped the entire filtration - and it took these guys 15 days to figure this out.
At this point, I'd like to emphasise that nobody in the support team(from the quality guys to the managers(city/zonal) knows much about the system. And with abysmal lack of understanding comes random baseless solutions - "replace the adpater", "replace the sensors", "reset the GKK clock" - with absolutely no response when asked "Why?". This also proves that GKK is simply a dumb counter that is reset at will. Its their mechanism to generate recurring revenue by holding the purification hostage.
Cut to the present time. ONE MONTH after changing GKK1 filtration, I now see GKK2 errors on the system. Essentially meaning that I consumed 4000L of water in a month! I raised a complaint 2 days back. The technician comes in and says, "How can this happen sir?". Brillaint. Now I must also troubleshoot for them. The guy reset the counter - told me that GKK1 was now in effect. I responded by saying that all he had effectively done was postpone the issue - to which he agreed. But lo and behold - I get the same GKK2 error again today!
And here's something that makes this more interesting - my warranty expired in March. All the reviews that state GKK failing shortly after the warranty - they're accurate.
This system will keep purified water hostage. I have bought more mineral water since I got this device. No such problem with my earlier Aquaguard unit. HUL uses this system to upsell AMCs and GKK kits - recurring revenue. Mechanical units wont stop filtering, you sense a change in taste - order new filters. This unit will stop water flow whether or not the filters need change - all based on a counter(GKK) which essentially says "time to pay money to HUL if you'd like to continue drinking water"
I'm looking for co-litigants for a class action suit in NCDRC against HUL. Should you like to join in, do get in touch.
