I read the post of Alok Khemka on my Facebook Feed by RODINHOODS Page. And It made me think on the big topic of maturity of E-Commerce Industry. It’s a growing Industry used by millions of youth today BUT have they reached a state of maturity where there is level of trust which should exist in business transactions like this however small or big they might be.
Now Businessman know how to handle other businessman. Every business keeps aside money to deal with legal issues but here we are talking about common man who is ordering stuff from 99 Rs to stuff worth Lakhs of Rs on Internet. If there is a fraud for a stuff bought worth 999 Rs would you take the pains of legal option / consumer complaint. I know a lot of people who just live with heartache and crib about it. True Story !!
Basically there is a larger issue of how to deal with E Commerce Companies in India in case of a wrong doing / fraud. There are companies like FLIPKART which are supposedly Big and I have heard most times they act on issues (though not without a jolt from customer’s side) but have launched a thing called “Wallet”. So if a customer Orders something and the order were to be cancelled because of Flipkart’s product unavailability Flipkart refunds the money in the form of Flipkart Wallet which is like Flipkart’s prepaid balance(So I don’t get my money back but I get money in Flipkart Wallet and I can use that money to buy any other thing from Flipkart. This promises them a sale) and I go like WTF – This is like some fraud or so I think.
In normal circumstance the customer care would tell you that they refund the money if the Order is cancelled by Flipkart but give the money back in Wallet if the Order is cancelled by Customer. So it makes sense but it’s a big fat LIE. Totally Untrue as per my own experience. If people have some other experience please do let me know.
Basically this is like – Hey Let’s put every damn thing in the world / under the sun on your website, when someone buys it tell them it’s not available and then refund the money in the form of Wallet. Don’t know when the customer will purchase again and mooch Interest of that money. Nice Scam I say !!
On the same lines, we all very well know of the problems which 99Labels is going through. Very well documented by Alok Kejriwal on the website. Now the website is still running and a lot of people are still buying. And please no one should say you are buying things on your own risk. That will bring the whole E-Commerce “house of cards” crumbling down.
So I know people(including me) who have purchased stuff from 99 Labels and then I cancelled the Order(because they kept delaying the delivery) and again the same thing. No Refunds. Lot of Dilly Dallying and Mooching of money from the customer and because the money is lying in their bank and there is the Interest which is forthcoming as well. Easy Money and Easy Malai(Cream). We all know Interest is more Interesting than the Capital.
(My Case : Order No. 99476683 / Dated 12th March – Just so if anyone from 99Labels needs to verify)
My Point is I had the resources (not the time, but I made up time because it’s an important issue and no one likes to get cheated). So I went for legal option and I will file a case with Police / with Consumer Court. In talks with Credit Card Company. Will use all resources in my hand to teach these people a lesson and get my money back including all the harassment. AND I will. I know It. But how many people will have time and resources to fight on small petty matters?
In my case even the money was huge around 15000. Even if the money would have been 2000-3000 I would have let it go. And that’s the sad part. I think a lot of people will let things go or just keep mailing and calling customer service and get fed up of Online Buying. This will eventually in the longer run HIT the Industry.
I think there are not enough mechanisms to deal with E-Fraud. And with an immature industry where fraud players like Timtara and other’s like 99Labels and many more are there things can only go worse. I think the dire need to make a central agency to deal with E- Frauds. What’s everyone’s thought on this?
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UPDATE (JUNE 13, 2013):
Ok so to put things on Record I have received my credit in my Bank. The Refund is done. But it’s been a harrowing journey of 3 months with almost a 100 Emails. I still feel E-Commerce needs a lot of maturity and there is a trust deficit gap which needs to be bridged. People should be able to buy anything without worrying about Delivery / Money Refunds etc.
Hopefully with time the Industry would grow and things would turn around.
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Sarthak Jain
Just to put this on Record, a very uncanny thing happened. After following up with 99Labels for 3 months and dealing with all their lies and frauds today morning I got an Email from them saying they have processed my refund. I checked my bank and there was no money. They could have done and RTGS/NEFT after all these months which would have reflected immediately but I guess not. They say there will be money in my account within 72 hours. I am not even sure because I have countless old Emails from them saying they will process my refund but nothing has been done. Hopefully they will deliver this time.
asha chaudhry
hi sarthak,
pls keep us updated on the refund issue…
all the best!
Sarthak Jain
Hi Asha,
No Refund as of yet. I just checked with my bank this morning and they said they will update me as soon as possible and it’s a VALID Transaction ID so there should be something by tomorrow. Hopefully !. But I so skeptical of this company now with all their lies and frauds over a period of 3 months so I have absolutely no trust. It’s only when they knew my Intent that I will take the case to it’s conclusion that they showed some Intent from their side else just Emails after Emails with no response. If you go to their blog it’s full of complaints like these. So many people saying the same to same thing. Hopefully my case will be resolved. Will keep updated.
yuvraj wadhwani
I’ve had similar issues with couple of companies online. One was Freecultr, my order was for a few t-shirts for total of around 2000 Rs. 2 days after my order I got a call from blue dart that I had missed the delivery. I told them I am present in my office 7 days a week and no-one came to deliver anything. Then came a call from Freecultr a couple of days later asking if I had recieved my order. I told them about the incident. Then a couple of days later Blue Dart called me to confirm a time for delivery. I told them the time. After that no delivery, no follow ups, no calls from anyone. I had chosen COD as payment so I simply let it go.
asha chaudhry
sarthark,
alok has shared your link on his fb page – https://www.facebook.com/rodinhood
perhaps you would like to read and react to some of the comments???
Sarsij Nayanam
Recently I wrote an article on what could be a good use of Wallet for an e-Commerce company, but I never knew that Wallet can be used for such a serious fraud 🙁 Disappointed with the way these companies are spoiling the mood of the customers.
In case someone is serious about using Wallet properly, do get some ideas here – https://onthejoblearning.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/5-uses-of-flipkarts-wallet-for-ecommerce-companies/
I would appreciate if you guys can help me make these ideas better 🙂
Nishant Agrawal
FreeCharge.in is doing the same thing. They keep the money for all failed transactions in your online wallet. Shameful.
Sarthak Jain
Ok so to put things on Record I have received my credit in my Bank. The Refund is done. But it’s been a harrowing journey of 3 months with almost a 100 Emails. I still feel E-Commerce needs a lot of maturity and there is a trust deficit gap which needs to be bridged. People should be able to buy anything without worrying about Delivery / Money Refunds etc.
Hopefully with time the Industry would grow and things would turn around.
Elroy Serrao
I have had multiple orders cancelled by Flipkart due to non-availability of product and in each case refund has been processed promptly ( no wallet ka funda ). So I guess I have been lucky so far …
asha chaudhry
awesome sarthak!!!
pls add this comment on to the thread on alok’s fb page as well, so everyone gets to know!
Govind G Prajapati
Cash On Delivery is the best option if its available, this removes yourself from hassle from Refund Delivery etc..
Sanchita Dutta
flipkart is going ebay way with higher % of refunds as they shift to marketplace concept. the efficiency of site is now a subset of that of its sellers who are surely no match to earlier efficiency of flipkart. but thankfully, they would be refunding amounts now. having bought many times before, luckily had never faced any cancellations before.
Sarthak Jain
COD is a good option but it has a lot of problems. One, I think to be fair it’s not a good option for websites / business. Customers mis-use the service a lot. Also a lot of people are working and Ordering at Home. So they can’t test stuff and pay. Of Course it prevents to from the problem which has been described above but I am seeing a lot of new companies don’t offer COD on all products (especially on expensive products). Also companies which are Ordering / Importing Stuff will definitely not allow COD’s.
Sarthak Jain
Sorry Asha,
I had completely missed this comment. I will add it on Alok’s Page (In Comments), writeaway !!. Thanks for providing me a platform.
aAlok Khemka
happened to me as well… Same problem that Flipkart first put the money in my wallet account. It was the strangest thing to so because firstly there is no reason for me to shop again on Flopkart after receiving junk and second, they have nothin worth the price they had put in the wallet… I still havent got the money in the CC back but hopefully it should also happen soon…
This wallet thing is now on most of the sites and its very cumbersome …