Six months back when searching for the best online deal on mobile phone, I came across timtara.com which was offering Motorola Defy XT at amazingly lower prices. While this piece was available on flipkart.com at around 15000, timtara.com was offering it at 13400. I was already impressed by website’s reviews posted there itself and its user rating as no1.
Without investing time on finding about website’s reputation, I placed an order for mobile phone on 19th September 2012 and started calling customer care after few days. The reviews mentioned on website said that users received orders within 3 days of placing an order. Customer care executives assured to deliver product within 21 days as per company terms. But when I did not receive the product after 45 days, I cancelled the order. Customer care said that it will take 48 hours for order cancellation, but surprisingly after 10 days, company couriered the product at my address. In the meantime, I had received the same product from flipkart.com within five days.
When I contacted timtara.com customer care, executives said that now when it has been couriered you keep the product. But I did not accept the product as I had already received another handset. Since then I have been making calls to timtara.com regularly to get my money refund. I have called them at least 300 times but to no avail. At times, their executives cut the call in between so you have to call again. The executives provide no more information than what is available on portal itself. Their standard reply is that “I have forwarded your case and you will receive a call back shortly”. I after 300 calls at their centro, I have never received any call back. We as users don’t want any call back.
All that matters to us is resolutions of our disputes which in my case is refund of my money. Customer care nor their supervisors are never provide anything in writing. Customer care executives say that they don’t have email access .what a joke it is and their supervisors just deny but make empty promises whole heartedly.
The intentions of the company are unclear and suggest strongly that it is a fraud company in the market.
Here are some reasons why timtara.com is to be considered a THUG in the online market.
The website mentions that it is no 1 company in user experience within 6 months of launch. When you ask their executives, they fail to provide a suitable reply. The company has itself started considering themselves no1. May be that’s true but for customer grievances. Clear indication of a fraud company
Reviews posted on website are chosen few and most probably by dummy users. There are some 3-4 reviews that keep on repeating. Try posting a review and your review will never reflect there unlike other websites. Also you will never receive any call or email from them. This is typical sign of a fraud company.
It’s a fraud company because neither customer care nor their seniors would ever commit to you anything in writing.
It’s a thug because company terms are valued least by company itself. May be the company should add a zero after every digit. For eg: If their delivery time is 21 days. it should mean 210 days. Don’t laugh, its just very practical for this website.
It’s a fraud company because after strong conviction to customer care executive, she/he will provide you a contact number: 0120 – 4267286. Sharing of contact number may cool off your mind for a moment, but when you try calling this number, it will be busy 24 hours of a day. You can try calling this number in mid night, it will still be busy while the office if closed.
Most importantly, it’s a fraud company because its CEO will never reply to your email. I tried doing it on linkedin.com hoping to get a reply because his company to a founder is dearer than his/her spouse. You can try writing to other executives, but you will still never get a reply.
Whenever you call customer care, you will always be assured of a call back, but you will never receive any call back. After 300 calls to their center, I never received any call back.
When you say them that you will go to consumer court, they proudly ask you to do so because they are not at all worried about it. After all they are experts at it.
How the website works(as per a Timtara.com supervisor): Timtara.com as such does not maintain an inventory of goods being sold on its website. When a large number of persons pay for a particular product, then only the website places order for the same and it is later dispatched.
After everything being fraudulent, the genuineness of products being sold on website is genuinely doubtful as how can products be genuine when almost everything about website appears a lie. How this website makes money: Company sits on huge cash pile paid by customers for products. Company instead of making delivery of products, sits on the cash till the last moment and makes good money in form of interest.
For example: I paid Rs 13400 in month of September and now at the time of writing this article, it is already 6 months. At 2% pm interest, which is very practical in business community, company has already earned around Rs 1400.
My order can be checked on their customer care with order ID 10328350.