After posting this review the customer care team at letsbuy.com contacted me on the phone and hence the review is being edited!
Please read on, the update is at the end of the review!
The only reason that I registered on this site was that Samsung launches its "Hot" phones through them(can’t understand why?). The product in question here was the newly announced Samsung Galaxy S II. I pre ordered the phone by paying an advance of Rs 1000/- on 01 Jun 2011. The phone was being offered at a price of Rs 32, 830/- with free accessories worth Rs 4599/-
The order was confirmed immediately and I received a confirmatory mail on 02 Jun 2011. Another mail was received on 04 Jun 2011 which asked me to pay the balance amount so that phone can be shipped it is ready for shipping and so that I can have it before it reaches the shops(the mail went to the extent of saying "that phone is packed for shipping" and will be dispatched immediately on receipt of payment).
I made the payment immediately and was expecting the phone to reach me in the next 3-5 day as promised on the website.
Now I tried to call customer care on the 09 Jun 2011 as this was the day that the phone was supposed to available in retail stores and I had not received it still. After innumerable tries I got through some lady on the other end who just told me that it will be delivered by this weekend(it was thursday already; shipping details were not known to her but she was certain that "it will be shipped today and you will receive the details by sms and email")
After that none of my calls or emails have been answered.Now comes the best part; as of now the phone is listed as "In Stock" on their website and for a cost of "Rs 30, 999/-" with free accessories worth Rs 4769/-.So basically I paid about Rs 2000/- more in advance for a phone that has still not been delivered to me and the customer care is not responding to any of my queries.Totally not recommended. Samsung, please find yourself a more professional online portal for pre orders. Till then pre orders not recommended!
Update:
Finally the phone was delivered to my Pune address on the 17th of Jun after a lot of haggling with Aramex courier service.
The customer care staff at letsbuy.com has contacted me several times since this review was posted online. They promise that they are trying to ensure that such instances do not occur in future with pre orders. They have given me a gift voucher for Rs 2000/- which can be used on their site, I am skeptical about using it though. I have asked for an alternate resolution. It might workout amicably.
Another update! dated 03 Jul 2011
I just checked that I have been refunded the extra amount that was charged to me by letsbuy.com
I am satisfied with the outcome.
Removing my negative rating but it still was not the most pleasant experience buying this product.
Another update to the review.
Since I was refunded some amount from the previous order in the form of vouchers to be used on letsbuy.com I was fooled into ordering from them again.
This time I ordered a Samsung Galaxy Ace and to avoid the problem of delayed shipping and my money being stuck with them I opted for the "Cash on Delivery" option of payment .
* *I didn’t know that letsbuy.com would find a new way to cheat me this time.
They sent me a used phone
*How did I find out?
The box had a lot of scratches on it and was crushed at a few places.The phone’s screen scratch guard had already been removed and re applied as was evident from the fact that there was a lot of dust and air bubbles under it.All the plastics bags inside the package(the ones containing the battery etc were crumpled.THE MICRO SD CARD WAS MISSING FROM THE PACKAGETHE PHONE DID NOT SHOW THE INITIAL START UP "SETUP SCREEN", INSTEAD JUST STARTED UP WITHOUT ASKING FOR INITIAL SETUP SETTINGSSo I have called them and sent them an email. The person on the phone asked me to send a picture of the phone via email(I don’t know how that is going to help) but said that the phone can be picked up by them and a replacement or refund would be provided but will take time.
Knowing their record, I think my money stuck again.
My genuine request to all readers is "AVIOD LETSBUY".
They may have good product portfolio but their poor business pactices and customer support neutralize all that and their are better alternatives available.
Update on 20 Jul 2011
Latest update.
I received a phone call from the customer care on 15 Jul and was promised that my phone will be replaced immediately and that they will arrange for a pickup simultaneously.
Since then I have been getting a phone call almost daily that it is being arranged and that someone will be contacting me.
On 18 Jul I again received a call where in one of the representatives told me that the pick up is being delayed. On enquiring about the replacement handset I was told that it will only be processed after the pickup. I therefore asked for a complete refund immediately and was told that I will be called back. No call till date.
By the way all the promises of the replacemet have been made only on the phone. They are very smart and are not sending any emails regarding the huge goof up.
I need sincere advice on whether I should consider going to the consumer court in this matter. The thing is that I am really amazed at the way these companies keep repeating the same things and keep getting away with it.
Any legally qualified experts reading this, please send advice!