The devastation that has wrecked major districts in Kerala with rampant rainfall causing floods across the state has resulted in damage to various houses, forcing people to abandon their belongings.
Many have been left without any means of communication, owing to damages to their mobile phones. Many phone brands have realised how bad the situation is and have decided to waive off repair costs and offer discounts as well.
Here’s a look at what brands like Samsung, Xiaomi and Huawei among others are offering.
Xiaomi
The leading smartphone brand in India is offering multiple benefits for Mi phone users in Kerala. If a customer’s phone has been damaged by water or any other cause, the labour charges for servicing the devices have been waived off.
The company is also giving discounts up to 50 percent on spare parts, just in case the incident has lead to physical damages to the phone. The company’s 27 service centers are also operational in the region. The discount on servicing is available till 31 August only.
Xiaomi phones like Redmi Note 4, Redmi 5, Redmi Note 5, Mi Mix 2 and Redmi Y2 among others, can avail this benefit.
Samsung
Just like Xiaomi, Samsung has also offered to waive labour costs for Samsung phone users whose devices got damaged in the region. In addition to this, any need to replace parts on the damaged phone will entail a discount of 50 percent, easing the burden on the consumer’s pocket in a situation like this.
Samsung didn’t highlight if the service centres are operational, but it is trying to reach out to people via Consumer Service Vans that will address grievance issues from its customers. Samsung hasn’t mentioned the timeline during which the discounted scheme will be applicable.
Huawei/Honor
From 21 to 31 August, Huawei and its sub-brand Honor, will offer free-of-cost servicing of phones damaged by the water in any part of Kerala. Both the brands have tweeted out this information, offering "no-questions-asked" timely repair of the phones via its service centre in the region.
Honor has even rolled out a toll free number, where you can get more information about the special benefits offer.
Apple Misses Out
While the Cupertino-based giant has donated a big sum to Kerala for the floods, it’s intriguing to see Apple not offering free-of-cost repairs for iPhones.
In comparison, an incident of this magnitude had occurred in Japan few months back, and Apple promised to fix all damaged Apple devices for free. We understand that India isn’t a big market for Apple (at least for now) with very few iPhone users in the country, but catering to damages for iPhones at such a time could have increased its goodwill.
In addition to Apple, other brands like Vivo, OnePlus and Motorola among others have so far not come out with any schemes for flood-affected people.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)