I Received a Used Kärcher SC3 Deluxe Replacement After My Faulty Unit Failed Twice
I purchased the Kärcher SC3 Deluxe steam cleaner in October 2024, and it has failed me twice already. The first time, I sent it to service, and they claimed to have replaced the hoses. However, after just one more use, the device stopped working again.
At the end of April, I sent the product back in for servicing. After weeks of silence, I was shocked to receive a completely different model, one that was clearly used, and this happened without any notice or approval from me. When I contacted Kärcher Türkiye’s customer service, they had no idea what was going on, likely because the service and delivery operations are outsourced to third parties.
All they could do was send a courier to pick up the product, but that doesn’t address the real issue: they replaced my defective unit with another used and unrelated model, assuming I’d accept it quietly. This is unacceptable.
Furthermore, every legal service deadline has been exceeded, and I have lost all trust in this brand. While Kärcher charges premium prices, the service quality and transparency are severely lacking. I know many people who use local alternatives at half the cost and haven’t had any problems in years.
Kärcher may present itself as a world-class company on platforms like LinkedIn, but my experience shows a lack of basic accountability and professionalism. I will never purchase from this brand again and urge them to resolve this situation by refunding or replacing the correct product immediately.
It has been 10 days since I shared this complaint, and during this time I have called customer service repeatedly to ask if there has been any progress. In my first call, they asked me to explain the issue with my product, and when they learned that I did not have the product in hand, they tried to understand the process from the beginning. It seems that this company neither keeps proper service records nor tries to solve customers' problems. In my subsequent calls, I only received responses like 'we are noting your complaint and adding it to your file, the relevant departments will contact you.' But no one has contacted me. The 21-day service period has entered its 4th month and they are still making the customer chase after them. There is no other option left but to drop everything and seek legal action. If I were to utter a harsh word while expressing this situation, the company would come after us, but they themselves neither care about the law nor the customer. Karcher Turkey is a company focused only on selling commercial class products. I wonder if Karcher Germany could do such a thing to its customers despite thousands of complaints? Let alone resolving this grievance, my product has now been officially taken from me and destroyed. What does Karcher Turkey plan to do about this?
On August 4th, Karcher customer service called me. According to what they said, they had not received the wrong product and asked me for the phone number of the courier they themselves had directed. After all, I didn’t find the courier by myself and send it. Even though I have politely explained the process multiple times, they still can’t comprehend it. I don’t know how I got involved with this company. Today, I will file my complaint with the Consumer Arbitration Committee. After that, I will file a lawsuit. At this point, I don’t even care about the exchange anymore. They have been deliberately victimizing me for months. This company is such that if I file a lawsuit, they would even destroy the customer service records they are required to keep. I wish I had recorded every conversation from the beginning. I wish I had taken precautions. I thought I was dealing with a trustworthy company.
As a result of my prolonged complaints on social media, I received the product on August 4th. They said they left an exchange card inside the box. What they call an exchange card is nothing more than a note on the service report paper that says 'exchange is suitable for customer satisfaction.' Apparently, I am supposed to handle this exchange process myself by contacting the place where I bought the product and shipping it. After this, I called Amazon Turkey, where I purchased the product. They rightfully said that the defects of the product need to be justified on the exchange card. Fortunately, after explaining how bad the Karcher service was, the Amazon representatives understood me and initiated the exchange process. I have sent the product to Amazon for exchange. Amazon will also inspect and approve the product in their own warehouse before replacing it. I hope they approve the exchange. The people working at Karcher Turkey have very limited competence even in reading and writing. It’s as if I requested the exchange for fun and they are graciously offering to replace a flawless product just to please me... Even just the start and end dates of the process are illegal. There shouldn’t be a service period like April 28–August 4. Moreover, the fact that the procedures regarding the product were hastily concluded on August 4 and the package suddenly appeared at my home is suspicious. I live in a city very far from Istanbul. The service report says August 4, Karcher calls me on August 4, and the package arrives at my home on August 4. Maybe this product never even visited the Istanbul service center.
Many thanks to Amazon Turkey. They resolved the difficult process with Karcher Turkey, which lasted 4 months, in just 4 short days and replaced my old and faulty product with a new one. I wish the service was also provided by a quality company like Amazon Turkey. I also wish patience to Amazon Turkey for having to work with a company like Karcher Turkey.
