I bought a pair of Denon AHD320BUEM Headphones from Croma Retail( cromaretail.com, via groupon.co.in) last week. The invoice number is SL6G0010007Y61. The headphones turned out to be defective, producing more noise than they canceled. When I called Groupon, they asked me to contact Croma. When I called Croma Retail, they informed me very politely that I need to go to a Denon Service Center and get a dead on arrival CERTIFICATE before I could return the product.
After getting the certificate, I was expected to draft a letter and then their majesties at Croma Retail would consider taking a return. It’s almost like the insurance company asking for someone’s death certificate before processing a claim. It is unprecedented in the world of eCommerce. In fact this is the first time in my life I heard about this phrase of "dead on arrival certificate"!
Let’s be honest. Croma Retail knows that they are selling defective, fake and smuggled products, which is why they are making the return process so difficult and unfriendly to the customer. They are committing fraud against the customer by advertising attractive prices and pushing substandard goods, which they refuse to take back.
I spoke to Ms Sujata and Mr. Damareshwar from Cromaretail’s customer support and both were super unfriendly and hostile. And they were hiding behind the company policy. If you happened to buy anything from Cromaretail.com, it really feels like you are doing business with con artists. If something goes wrong with your product, god help you. Croma Retail will defraud you and they will tell you they are defrauding you too. And the policies of Croma Retail take you back to the days of East India Company - Head they win. Tail you lose. If the product works fine, great, they, made a handsome profit on a fake / smuggled product. If the product malfunctions, it is on you the customer!
Beware of Cromaretail.com. And be careful to read the refund / return policy when you buy from Groupon.co.in as well. While, Groupon is really friendly in terms of returns / refunds, they don’t extend the same courtesy to products that are fulfilled by CromaRetail.com