Clever people , having fresh MBAs no doubt, are recruited by companies like Indiaplaza.in and they come up with truly imaginative schemes. Sometime back Indiaplaza ran a scheme that if you buy an air-ticket from them, they would give you “100% cash-back.”
Wow, I thought, that’s good, so I buy a Delhi-Bombay ticket from them at a price of about Rs 5000, I think. But the cash-back never comes. I write a few e-mails and then the website slumbers to a response. The vouchers will be sent soon, they say. Sure they arrive and I am so happy, for a few moments at least. When I read the fine print, the “100% cash-back” vanishes into thin air.
To avail of the vouchers, I have to further spend Rs 25000 on the website! That’s some cash-back. For the gullible, I suppose. I wonder what purpose these very clever schemes serve. In my case at least the scheme has warned me not to trust offers on websites such as Indiaplaza. I have stopped shopping on their site, even though I am a regular buyer of books.
Do not trust websites like Indiaplaza. Indiatimes is also offering such a scheme these days, of “60% cash-back.” Be careful. At least read the fine print before you think you are getting things cheap.