The inspiration (or should I say instigation) for writing this review came from my utter inability to get a product, for which I bid and paid, delivered to me. The seller of this product is adjudged a Superseller by Baazee, and incidentally Baazee exhorts its buyers to buy from its Supersellers. In the process, I realized how many mundane Indians like me are made to gamble away their hard-earned money on Baazee, and infact received mails from some of the victims.
My story starts with me bidding for a product, a mobile phone, listed by a Baazee Superseller on 27th August 2002. After being asked by the seller, I paid the amount of Rs.4, 150/- into a Noida HDFC Bank account on 06/09/2002. The money transfer took place on 09/09/2002. Once the money was transferred, the seller as well as Baazee were informed over email of the transfer.
Incidentally, Baazee rules require the product to be shipped within 48 hours of the payment, and the seller promised delivery within 7 days through GATI in his listing. But instead, I was met with only UTTER SILENCE once the money was transferred. I sent several emails, and made several STD calls to the seller ; I did not receive any reply to my emails ; I got only slippery replies to my calls!
I got the shock of my life, when on 21/09/2002, I was served a ’’Sale Not Complete’’ Warning by Baazee, supposed to be issued to those buyers who had bid on a product but failed to pay, issued on the instance of the seller.
From this point onwards. I have sent several emails to the Baazee Fraudwatch Team, and also to the seller, asking them to remove my SNC, and give me the GATI Docket Number of the product. Not once did I get the reply, so much so for the fraudwatching! The seller meanwhile continued his ’’selling’’ spree, not withstanding plethora of negative feedback on Baazee from the buyers who never received their products. Baazee turned a blind-eye to the complaints.
On 03/11/2002, the Baazee team replied to my nth mail, stating they have given 48 hours time for the seller to get back to me and settle the dispute. The seller damn cared and never replied, and Baazee never took any action against him!
Frustated by the lack of response, on 11/11/2002 , I put the entire story on Baazee - Café - Feedback to Baazee Team, by posting a string with the seller’s name. The next morning I found the Baazee Team to have suddenly woken up, and posted a reply to my posting, in which they vaguely claimed that the dispute is ’’resolved’’ and the seller informed them that the product was already sent, and that the SNC warning against me now stands removed. But no date of dispatch and no GATI Docket Number were ever mentioned, which would enable me to track the courier consignment. I kept on asking for these, and never received any reply.
It surprised me even more, when on 14/11/2002, I noticed that the said Superseller is no longer listed on Baazee listings! After tracking carefully several items on Baazee, I noticed that the same seller is now listed under a different name, offering the same brand of mobile phone, for which we paid the amount, but never got the phone. I informed this to Baazee Fraudwatch, and was again vaguely replied that they have forwarded my case to their ’’Disputes Team.’’
In the process, I was browsing through various sections of Baazee for atleast two hours a day for the last two months. My observations on Baazee are:
1)Frauds are a regular feature on Baazee, and it is very difficult get Baazee Fraudwatch respond to a complaint and take decisive action against a seller. That technically implies consent to fraud, if not intentional!
2)A few sellers on Baazee auctions enter their auctions as bidders under pseudonyms to artificially keep the bid high. Not withstanding temporary suspensions upon being pointed out, these sellers continue to be listed on Baazee (If Baazee wants proof, I can provide!).
3)The seller may simply refuse to send the product after you have bid, won and paid, and it is very difficult to bring them to the book, because Baazee prefers to sleep over!
4)In high value items like jewellery, computers etc., the item shown in the picture in the listing on Baazee drastically differs from the item you would ultimately receive in hand. You may cry foul, but don’t expect much to be done about it!
5)90% of software, ACDs/VCDs sold on Baazee are pirated. You seldom get a bill for electronics related products sold on Baazee.
6)Some of the sellers on Baazee are minors. You cannot take any legal action against them even if they don’t honour the transaction, or commit fraud. Baazee terms explicitly allow minors to trade on Baazee.
In the process of calling for Baazee’s attention, I received a mail from a Baazee member, Ady Dalal, who was in the same predicament as mine. The mail was very interesting ; I am producing excerpts from the mail, and you may judge the facts yourself:
’’...The Super Seller rating which they tout so much is a sham. An example: Avnish Bajaj the CEO of this concern has given himself a SS rating, with over 75 PURCHASES, and at last count 2 SALES!!
...Baazee always claim that they are, ’’just a virtual trading platform’’ whenever there is a question about a seller or his integrity. Baazee is in fact a very biased trading platform, biased entirely in favour of their sellers. A Baazee seller can do no wrong, or so it would seem. Many Baazee SS have claimed in the past that they get goods at discounted prices FROM Baazee, this indicates that Baazee is not just a virtual trading platform as they claim, but a partner of selected Super Sellers, and they have a very vested interest in the sale proceedings...
...Remember, Baazee collects a Transaction Fee from the seller on each sale, so this is also a BUSINESS, apart from being a virtual trading platform. What Baazee does not yet realize is that though the Seller hands over the money to Baazee, IT IS THE BUYERS MONEY THAT BAAZEE GETS IN THE END...
...For those who don’t know, to claim from Baazee’s much touted Buyer Protection Program you can only start the process after 30 days of auction end. You need to provide proof of payment, which also involves showing YOUR bank statement to Baazee as well as copies of all mail regarding the transaction. Baazee will then take another 45 days to PROCESS your papers, which means 45 days to threaten, bully, or cajole the seller into providing the goods paid for, or returning the money. Again, everything is biased AGAINST the buyer. Why not ask the sellers to show their bank statements showing receipt of money encashed...
...In short, people like Manoj get 75 days of interest free credit on your money. If Manoj sold one lot of 100 GSM/DECT mobiles, he gets a cool 4 lacs interest free for over 2 months. I bet Baazee knows this too...
.... If you have noticed there will be a short period of time , where many different sellers will all have the same or almost similar products for sale, probably offered BY Baazee. There goes the ’’virtual ’’ trading platform. Baazee has a vested interest in all these sales, and the way they have gone out of the way to ignore complaints about Manoj make me wonder if there is more to this than meets the eye...’’
I would advice all the prospective buyers to be extremely prudent and careful before putting their hard-earned money on Baazee. Be prepared for long drawn battles once you have paid!