This is what I have posted in my alumni network about flipkart and I have more to add here. read on:
fyi, Don’t buy products from them. if they work; good for you; if they don’t read on:
I purchased a 150 bucks usb light through them (this is way back in feb beginning) (along with other products). it stopped working in 3 days. ok, so I went online and asked for replacement. (the usual automated response and I am expecting the defaulted product to be replaced by weekend).
Some time pass by(say 2 weeks), nothing happens. So I contact our alum from flipkart and he escalates my concerns to the respective department. Some more time passes(its march beginning now), nothing happens. That usb light just lies there in my study table dysfunctional. So again I remind the alumni.
I am hoping, you know, that by now they will replace it. delay can happen. IT’S OK. Nothing happens. They just acknowledge that the product has to be replaced. And as always, they promise to deliver it ASAP.
But this time, I am a little desperate. its already been more than a month. so I request them to explain how the process works.(This is the same company whose product came in snapdeal packaging). "A guy would come and pick it up from your place. later, in a few days; you get your product."
fine, I have been a flipkart loyalist, I can let this pass. no guy comes. I remind them again.
April is Coming.
Finally, someone comes and collects the damaged product. IT’S APRIL 4!.
GOOD. TODAY, THEY WILL DELIVER IT.
NOTHING HAPPENS.
So, like always; in my desperation, I write to my Alumni for help. I remind our alum that the issue has still not been resolved.(By now I am sure I am never going to purchase from flipkart. AGAIN.) And I mention to the alumni that I am no more a flipkart customer.
I just want the product to be replaced. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THAT.
Since flipkart knows I am no longer their customer, their treatment changes. Now, its not the usual, that it would be delayed. IT’S, WHAT DO YOU WANT? DON’T YOU GET IT! IT’S BEEN DELAYED.
Me:- Which date are you going to deliver it? I need a commitment from your side. And please, record the conversation, I might go to consumer court if this doesn’t get resolved.
FK:- 21 April is the final date.
Me: mention it in an email, just for records. and also forward the previous conversations.
FK: OK. I GET AN EMAIL STATING THE PRODUCT FOR WHICH I HAVE BEEN POLITELY PURSUING FOR THIS LONG TO GET REPLACED, WON’T BE REPLACED.(THIS IS AFTER CONFIRMATION).
MY CHOICE, either a gift voucher or a 145 buck return through net banking.
This is how you treat your customers?
HOW Do you plan to adjust for time value of money?(that 145 buck aint 145 anymore!)
How do you plan to compensate me for the time I wasted with flipkart?
This experience reminds me of a concept from BFBV: Gambler’s Ruin.(You keep waiting for things to change but in that time you keep getting involved in the CRAP more and more, only to get more desperate over time, but the bullCRAP STILL REMAINS).
"Later on, through the discussions, I got the id of sachin@flipkart.com from our alumni and I forwarded the mail to him as well.
Guess What? NOTHING HAPPENED.
I have not got my replacement yet. Flipkart has told me that my product cannot be replaced.
This is after 10 days of picking the product from my house for replacement and being informed that it would be only a matter of days.
This is also after 2 months of my polite pursuing to get the product replaced.
This is also after me giving them an option to compensate by providing the same product from a different vendor.
Their customer engagement department is clueless. Or that’s how i felt after talking to them. Till i told them that i might file a complaint in consumer court. And that’s when they told me to do it.
So for a harrowing experience with flipkart over the replacement of a 150 bucks product; i have to go to court for justice, not expecting it.
How will a court compensate me. Just filing a complaint will take 100 bucks and the consequent visits even more, this is just the finance. And the time spent extra effort. My free advice: don’t buy from flipkart
Please share your opinion of how to handle the situation.