I have been shopping from eBay for several years now. The experience was always good - delivery etc. Now this time I got conned by a seller. He described the item as "Windows XP Original Sealed Box Pack" and then sent me a pirated copy of Windows with a CD key at the back of the box which is available through a simple Google. I opened a case, returned the item to the seller through courier, sent a scanned copy to eBay paisapaydocs email address. A call to customer support told me that it will take 20 days for the money to be refunded. Well 20 days passed and nothing happened. I called up the customer service no. again and was told that the issue has been escalated and the person handling my case will be calling me next day, that did not happen. I then made 2 more follow up calls to the customer service and each one told me that I will be getting a call immediately, that has not happened either.
I am glad that this happened for an item which was only costing 1100/- bucks and I learned my lesson. In the past I have purchased items costing several tens of thousands from eBay and had it happened with one of those items, it would have been a very expensive learning experience.
These characters should learn from Flipkart.com how to do e-commerce in India. I also request folks reading this review to not shop from eBay and Indiatimes. If things go well, you are fine, otherwise your money and item will all go in a blackhole. Forget customer service, you will be made to feel as if they are doing you a service by speaking with you!
EDIT:
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I finally caught hold of the person who was handling my case, just to give him a piece of my mind. His reasons for not meeting the deadline of 20 days:
I was not well, which is plain stupid, as this claim was filed on Apr 7 and he did not respond till May 1.
I was processing the high value claims first.
Finally, I will process it by today evening. At this point of time, the 1100/- bucks do not even matter, it is this whole shabby process of treating your customers which has really pained me.
The thing which eBay India is that it is entirely hosed. There are no processes, as was quite evident, and neither is there any escalation of any sort. Both the customer care executive as well as Mr. Srinivas(person handling this case) will not give it to me even if it existed. You are at their mercy! Save yourself now and never shop from eBay India, because if you face any problems, you are pretty much on your own.
So, if you are from eBay and reading this review, get your act together. In my case, I will happily go and shop from Flipkart.com but never from eBay.