I have been shopping online for a long long time. Fabmart is no way near the best, and just hovering a little below average standards in my opinion.
The Pros
1.) Good collection of books
2.) Good reputation, you know you won’t be swindled
The Cons
1.) They slip up sometimes. This wouldn’t be so bad but for the fact that they have... (read number 2)
2.) Very very VERY bad customer service! I cannot stress this enough!!! Horrible service! Terrible service! Words fail me...
(Bad experience number 1!)
I had a complain to make, I was billed for something that I canceled. In the end, I did not get the product, but I was charged for it! I wrote 13 mails to them, the SOBs never took a second look. I CALLED up from Madras to Bangalore and SPOKE to customer service. I then sent mails to follow it up!! A customer having to followup her own complaint due to the total apathy on behalf of the staff, really.... how SHABBY can you get!!
In the end, nothing happened. I was just a few hundred rupees poorer for no fault of mine! And tell me, whom can I complain to? I’ve practically called up and told each and every member of their SO-CALLED customer service! And frankly, I am not going to spend any more time or effort or MONEY calling up those apathetic indifferent ARRGH!
3.) Too bloody cocky - too sure and too full of themselves that they will not STOOP to look into a customer’s complaint. They will however, put on the airs of one who is ALWAYS correct!
4.) If they do not have stock of something, they DO NOT give you the option to cancel it! They instead SUBSTITUTE the product for something else that you don’t want, that you don’t need and that is in no way even remotely connected to what you wanted in the first place!
(Bad experience number 2!)
For example - I had asked for a bag of imported chocolates to arrive on the day that my cousins were arriving home. Fabmart by the way, insists that you make any such food orders 3 days in advance. What for? I don’t know. I guess that’s how long it takes to any service around here.
Well, the ’’chocolates’’ arrived late and surprise! surprise! They weren’t even chocolates, They were 5 or 6 packets of XS lichee juice!! Why? There was nothing connecting the two items except for the fact that they swallowed my money, gave me something I DON’T want, something I don’t even like, and CUSTOMER SERVICE was just a big freaking laugh!
My verdict
If you havn’t figured it out yet, Let me spell it out for you!! STAY AWAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!
Try instead:
1.) http://www.gobookshopping.com- Shipping is free and FAST! and they give discounts on nearly everything
2.) http://www.firstandsecond.com is not a bad site either
3.) http://www.Amazon.com is THE BEST for rare, hard-to-find products provided you can pay for overseas shipping. One problem - no electronics!