There is a new type of scam in the online retail space these days. And, I am one of the victims. This scam involves a nexus of 3 entities. Tradus.com, Verity Technologies and Aramex courier.
I ordered a battery for my phone from Tradus.com, which was sold by a verified seller "Verity Technology" from Mumbai. The shipment was sent via Aramex courier.
The courier portal after 3 days showed the shipment to have been delivered. But, the shipment never reached me or my address. Here starts the unraveling of the scam and my victim-hood.
Tradus.com do not have a customer service email address or phone number to establish direct contact. Then, they do not let us contact the seller directly either. The seller’s number found via google search is not working.
Aramex keeps saying that "the issue is registered and is being looked into." On repeated calls, they’ll simply put you on hold or promise to call you in a while.
Friends, you will not see a single rupee of yours returned from this black hole. Stay away from these dalali fools. They’ll steal your soul if they could. End of the day, there is no way to prove that there was an actual seller, or a shipment in the first place. I hope you see the picture, these cheats making money off mere electronic transactions. No physical activity takes place, all you have is a paper trail.
After years of shopping online, this is my first bitter experience. I am embarrassed for being conned in such a manner, but this just shows how fragile and full of loopholes the online retail space still is. Beware! You have been warned.
If anybody has a similar grievance and wants to take up legal action against these cheats, you are welcome to contact me. Consumerism needs Consumer Activism.
EDIT:16/5/2014. After many phone calls and emails, and good, courteous service from a Mr.Amit Soni of Tradus.com, I managed to receive a refund of my money and my order was cancelled. It turns out the problem was on aramex’s end and they had even submitted a fake proof of delivery to tradus.com. I want to thank Tradus.com for responding to my claim. Aramex finally delivered the item to me today(16/5/2014) after many complaints registered(last month) through this website, emails and phone calls.(Now, I do not know whether to return the item or pay for it).
Overall, it has been a quite unpleasant online shopping experience, which wasted my time, but atleast my money was spared. Thank you Mouthshut! Without this website, I was lost in a black hole.