Thats true, whatever you choose to buy at shopping.indiatimes.com, you will never get to see with you. Thats what happened recently with me. The Sunday Times of India had reviewed(read advertised) a book in their "Mind over Matter" section on May 24, 2009. They said "Buy this book @ 25% off. Our price is Rs. 93." The normal price was Rs. 125, as listed in the newspaper. On going to the website, it said "List Price Rs. 150 - 10% discount+ Shipping Charge Rs. 45= Net Rs. 180" Ok, so thats almost double the "advertised" price. Anyway, I went ahead with the order, adding a comment in their comments section to check the price of the book as it differed from the "newspaper" price. I also ordered another book along with this one.
After a couple of days got a call from a lady from indiatimes asking whether the order has been delivered or not. Obviously no and on reminding her that the price of the book on the website was more, she said that the books might be different, or that the author might be different!(Ok so Indiatimes acknowledges that they show something and give something else.) But, obviously, I had selected the book carefully, ensuring what they were showing on the website was the same as what was "advertised" in the newspaper.
The lady called again the next day again asking if the book was delivered or not, obviously not. In retrospect, the attempt to show extra-superior customer service, seems a disguise to pre-empt any effort to block the credit card payment from the consumer! Next day the courier person called and I narrated to him a very detailed route along with several landmarks to reach my house and also gave him my home phone number to call once he reaches nearby and specifically told him that even if I would not be at home somebody else would be there to collect . The net result: The courier person returned the courier mentioning "DOOR LOCKED". So I got to know that my home door was locked from the order history on the indiatimes website! I suppose the courier man never bothered to even call at my home phone on reaching near my home - but the more likely explanation is that he never even had a packet in the first place.
Now the second book they have listed in order history as "Out of Stock." And they sent a "Gift Certificate" for that refund. What "Gift" are they giving? From our own money. Shouldnt it be logical that they should be gifting back double the amount if they are not able to deliver? Too much to expect from such website?
The status is that they are not even replying to the email sent to customer "care"