Big Bazar is another retail venture from Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited. While Pantaloon caters customers with niche items, Big Bazar provides quality items but at an affordable price. It’s a very innovative idea and this hypermarket has almost anything under one roof….. Apparel and Accessories, Cosmetics, Crockery, Electrical Accessories, Footwear, Toys, Household Appliances and more…
They have around 3 outlets in and around Delhi.. more in various cities… The ambience and customer care adds on to the shopping experience.. You might most probably end up buying more than what u had hoped for as that is the way they promote their stuff..
And that is precisely why I would like to point out 5 things you should be careful about while shopping in this place.
Billing Software / Payment counter
The billing software that they use is good, though we need to be extra careful while the items we purchase are being billed. The executive at the counter most probably is extremely busy and tries his best to type in as fast as possible ending up in putting up wrong quantities…. Also be sure about the price of the particular item you have selected as they DO NOT HAVE REFUND policy. They don’t provide “cash back” services neither do they reverse your credit card entry…. All they do is issue credit notes worth the price of products you want to return. And please keep in mind that the validity of such credit notes are extremely low.. I had to almost fight with them to extend the validity till 45 days… All they offer is 15 days in most of the cases!!
Security Check at exit
They use Electronic Article Surveillance System or the tag and alarm systems for security. It simply means, every article has a tag attached to it and if the articles are taken out without removing the tag, the alarm goes off! Don’t try to remove the tag urself.. They ve security cameras all over the place too :O).. But make sure every article that u pick up HAS a tag on it.. as sometimes, therez no tag, and even after the item is billed, the alarm goes off at the gate… which means the guard would take out each and every item from your bag and show it under the scanner.. thereby wasting your time and irritating you in with his sluggishness…..
Contents of Food Bazar
I have noticed that, as the products purchased, (particularly food items), are in bulk, the expiry date (for items like Juice, soft drink etc) are over but the products are still displayed at the counter… So its extremely important to check the expiry date for all food items… Some people hv also complained in particular about the quality of RICE at big bazaar.. that they mix old rice with the latest stock.. I don’t know how authentic this statement is.. as I have not faced any such problems.
Various Offers not “offered” voluntarily
Big Bazar offers various discounts on each of their products. But besides such discounts, they have certain offers like.. on purchase of products for more than 1000 bucks.. the parking fee is waived off.. then you get bed spreads worth Rs. 600/- at Rs. 249/- and many more… but these offers are not given voluntarily.. You have to ask for them.. Also these offers are mentioned at certain areas and it would be easy for anybody to miss them if not very observant…
Pricing of Apparels
The main reason I go with my family and shop at big bazaar is because of the discounts they offer… but I ve noticed that certain items are not priced competitively.. for eg they might offer a discount of 30% on half sleeve shirts while full sleeves are offered at regular prices… (both same brands).. They argue that the half sleeves are off season products.. then how come they have fresh stocks!! I don’t find the pricing very exciting as most of the clothing brands offered are “in house brands”…. like Knighthood is a product of pantaloon retail only.. and thus if they sell it at a premium.. it makes no sense (for us) when we purchase it… I ve found the same kind of pricing at other hypermarkets too.. but big bazaar is supposed to be cheaper than others while maintaining the quality – “Isse sasta aura acha aur kahin nahin”… that’s what they say… and I do hope that they stick to their motto…
Do let me know if you find anything more.. do share your experiences..
……………………………..
kunchu