Eg: SnapDeal
There are forums like Akosha wherein, they help with resolving the full order complaint. If the complaint is genuine after verification, they will ensure to get your money back.
But what about Damage on one of the products from the Entire Range of products ordered? Eg: One Dumbell being damaged from an Entire set of Body-Fit Equipment.
If SnapDeal doesn’t respond, Who would be the correct person to approach for the same? Correct Website?
Can someone lodge an FIR against them for not responding and sending faulty products?
Vivek Aggarwal
Hi Apeksha,
It happened with me last summer – I had ordered a couple of AC’s from Snapdeal, and the outer unit of one of them was defective (gas leakage). I registered a complaint on their site, and got a standard tutoted response “Thanks for your email.. we are concerned… we will get back… blah blah”. 2 days later, I get a mail that please get in touch with the manufacturing company or their service center as they will cater to this!! I had to be rude in my response, saying that when I buy something from you, you gotta address my problems – not the manufacturer. 2 days later, I get a response that they have asked the local company service center to come visit me and check. The guys come, and they check, they ask to sign the visit form, and go away (Sir, yeh AC to change hoga. Hum nahi lekar jaa sakte – koi aur aayega!!) Another rude email from me to Snapdeal, and this time what I do makes the difference:
I mark to mail to Kunal Bahl, and simply state that the issue will be posted to FB/ Twitter etc., and TOI as I have all email exchanges as documentary evidence. The reputation destruction which will take place is something they are hugely concerned about .Next thing I know, the service center guys call me and tell me a new outer unit is on way from the Aurangabad plant, and they will install it asap. I get it installed 2 days later.
So, where I wasted around 6 days, just trying to make someone listen up, i should have directly written to Kunal, and then on social media. Trust me, its the quickest and most effective way. Try it. No one who is spending a fortune on branding and customer delight wants to get negative reviews on social media, more so when its not simply a grievance, but backed by facts and documents & evidence (I make it a point to back my statements with evidences – the auditor in me needles me in my personal space too :-))
P.S. This is as per my own personal experience, and should be applied as the case warrants.
Sai Rodinhood Pothuri
Good answer from Vivek. Rather than that, you can also tell snapdeal to take the product back and deposit your money back. its as simple as it is
Honey Syed
If nothing works , Hit the consumer court .
Gurpreet Singh Tikku
Hi Apeksha..
I got Damaged product from Flip kart once and once from PepperFry.
Flipkart was kind enough to send a person woth replacement and too the damaged prodct in2 days.
For PepperFry we had to mail thrice… and eventually they refunded the amount but didn’t send some one to take the product back (Rs 1000).
Except eBay, where they have no Standard Operating Procedure, all sites are very helpful.
Otherwise, Bombarding on Social media is the best option 🙂
Kamal Kalra
Hi Apeksha,
I am working for an ecommerce startup as well, so, generally most of the ecommerce websites have 30 days return policy.
Well, my experience with Yebhi was worst, but most of the times, you can simply ask them to take the product back within the stipulated time and there should not be any hassles.
However, If that doesn’t work, I agree with Vivek and Gurpreet, marking an email to the founder / CEO and social media, helps. Nobody wants to bad name to their brand , unless they don’t care.
Jitendra Gursingh
Just to understand, being from a consumer electronics background, what made you buy the ac online? Price / quality / previous experience with Snapdeal / convenience and / or other reasons? Please share so that I can get to know from a customer first hand as to why does he prefer to buy the ac online rather than from a consumer electronics store nearby?
Thank You
Vivek Aggarwal
I visited some stores… looked at lot of models and their prices… made a shortlist.. came back.. searched them online… read customer reviews.. compared prices, and if I was getting it couple grand cheaper, I went for it. And to top it, I even got voltage stablilizers and installation free, which was another 2K saving per AC. Hence, once I shortlisted the product by look and feel physically, I went to buy online as net net I saved 4K per AC!! that’s a cool 8K saved/ earned, and you still get the same product you wanted. Same brand & quality product, and warranty remains the same what I was getting through the store, so no issues there also.
Ya as I mentioned earlier, had an issue, which Snapdeal sorted out, but the same issue could have occured had I bought it from a nearby store, so I guess that’s not a showstopper.
Sai Rodinhood Pothuri
Dear Jitendra Gursingh
Because of E Commerce people started to act like lazy, to buy any item we used to go to shops, check the varieties, get the full information, check the product top to bottom and then bargain on price, discounts and finally we get the product that we really looking for .
These days people are buying electronics on 2 basis
1) They already know the product, used it and then they wanted to buy the same product online at cheaper cost
2) or because of COD they wanted to buy the product and then write a blog post or review if they faced some thing wrong.
in a day thousands of electronics products dispatched to customers, out of them only few will be delivered in damage mode and in those few only little cases take more time and those we read on blogs and posts.
the only plus point with e commerce is the convenience of shopping from home and the rest depends on the product, seller relationship, warranties and every thing
Jitendra Gursingh
Hello Sai,
Thank you for the reply 🙂 yes it’s true that convenience & hassle free shopping are clear reasons for customers to buy online. After books,electronics is the second largest category bought online in India. However, I was under the impression that electronics would mainly comprise of mobile phones, LED’s etc. So wanted to get a customer perspective on what made Vivek buy an air conditioner online, which is a highly service oriented product I.e. Installation. , maintenance etc.
I have an LG brand shop in Chembur, Mumbai. When a customer buys an ac from us, we deliver on the same or next day and installation & demo is done on the same or next day of delivery. The only things which go against us is our limited area of service (Mumbai),convenience (requires visiting our store once) & probably price (if the online store is undercutting or selling at a loss).
Jitendra Gursingh
Nice. Thank you for the reply Vivek. It is great to know a honest purchase decision making process from the customer. However, there is one thing, probably a bit inconvenient; if you would have gone to those retailers again after checking the prices online, do you think they would have reduced prices if you would have bargained with them a bit?
However, I guess more than the price it’s a matter of convenience & perceived value / savings in the mind of the customer that clicks the deal 🙂
paritoshsharma1231
Hi Apeksha,
I am Paritosh Sharma, part of special projects at Jabong.com
The quickest way for any customer to reach out to the company for any complaints/ issues/ problems/ feedback/ sharing experiences are:
I won’t take a generalist view and hence talk about Jabong only. Try tweeting out to @JabongIndia . You will be heard and every issue will be resolved. Whatever it takes. Period
With brand reputation riding on, I am sure other e-commerce companies will be as active in ensuring that its’ not just about resolving complaints BUT about making the customer with the worst possible experience say ‘WOW’ guys I love what you do!
And even after you make the effort, if the brand cares not to respond, go to Akosha or any similar ways that you feel, empower your consumer rights.
Sai Rodinhood Pothuri
Dear Jitendra
1) in e commerce you can sell to any customer in any location, which is not possible for a shop
2) Shop people maintain rates where they have to pay salaries, shop maintenance, profit and cover other misc expenses like door delivery charges, installation etc etc where as for a online seller, he can provide a rate that includes delivery and he will tie up with company to arrange installation and other things.
I think for a company, all it cares is about sales. so company will contact local dealer to arrage installation and other things to the customer.
I always believe buying any item that costs more, has to be bought from local store rather than online. where we touch and feel and also we build relationship with the local dealer.