Retired Justice TR Ramachandran Nair and his wife had approached Nibav Lifts after coming across an advertisement for its home elevators on YouTube.
The couple wanted a lift since their bedroom was not on the ground floor and the judge’s wife had been medically advised to avoid climbing stairs.
A company representative inspected their house and identified certain portions as suitable locations for installing the lift.
After being assured that the installation would not disturb their existing furniture arrangements, the couple were asked to pay 25% of the total installation amount in advance before the technical team conducted final measurements.
The company representative also assured them that the advance would be refunded if the technical team subsequently found any difficulty in going ahead with the project.
On the basis of these assurances, the couple made an advance payment of ₹2.69 lakh in July 2022.
However, when the technical team inspected the house, it found that there wasn’t sufficient space to bring the lift inside the house from the entrance and suggested cutting open the grill of a window as an alternative.
The couple was unwilling to do so because of the possible damage and additional work involved.
They cancelled the order on August 8 and sought refund of the advanced amount.
When the company refused to refund the amount, the couple approached the consumer court alleging deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.