All of us make mistakes. All of us regret a lot of things. We wish, if only I could time-travel...I could’ve made that one life-changing thing right.. If only.. Sigh! Fellow Indians... BEWARE!! Choosing Timtara.com for an online purchase with your hard-earned money could be severely life changing. Yeah, it could even take your dear life.
The very first time you visited Timtara.com, I bet you can’t argue over the fact that you were pretty much impressed by them, and thought to yourself, "Oh my, why didn’t I come here before?!" Yeah, they are loaded with all top-notch products, the theme line- "Rated No.1 in user experience", heavy discount coupons displayed on the main page itself, and what not! BEWARE! This is exactly where their marketing strategy succeeds, and you are lured in to buy the best products in the market at a considerably lower price!! That one moment. That final moment you give away your card details and click "pay"- You really don’t hear Mr.Arindam Bose (Director, Timtara) grinning and then bursting out to a loud "Buhahahahaaa". No you really don’t. But he does that laugh; that’s a fact now.
I’ve had this crazy life changing experience on 12-12-12, that GOSF day when everyone around ran about like crazy, getting what they wanted. I was recently researching on a good upgrade to an LED tv for my home, and had my eyes on a couple of Samsung 32" LEDs. The time was ripe, and expectant of some good discounts, started an online search that day. Though hearing about timtara.com for the 1st time ever, I found that I could get a discount of 5000Rs! What more could be appealing to a middle class 20-something IT guy?! So I finally made the purchase of a Samsung 32" HD LED 32EH4000, at Rs. 25, 691/- wide OrderID: 10367808. And it has been living hell for me since the end of December. Each time I called up the customer care they would ask me to wait 2-3 days.
However the product was not delivered even after the said 20 working days. On 9th Jan 2013 the customer care fellow said it would take another 10 working days for it to be shipped. And till this day, the product is in “Awaiting shipment” status. So I had no other way than to cancel my order. After sending 2 queries for the same on consecutive days (9th and 10th Jan) there was no response from them. I called up the customer care on 11th Jan and the executive said there is some delay with the cancellation team as well for processing. When asked whether I could speak to any senior personnel there she said they do not have the facility to forward the call. After a serious talk I was able to retrieve a phone number (01204267286) to contact someone else but that number is ALWAYS busy! After that I have contacted the Customer Care several times but each time they say they have forwarded it to cancellation team, and I would have to wait.
Even after 20 days after I filed for cancellation, they have not yet cancelled the order, let alone the refund! Yesterday, I mailed on whatever Timtara personnel mail ids I could find online, and have given them an ultimatum of a week to process the order, or else refund the money. Many of the mails bounced. I lodged complaints on some consumer forums and the Consumer courts fcamin.nic.in and nationalconsumerhelpline.in I have stated in my mail to them that unless they get back to me with a resulution within a week, I would be resorting to further legal procedures. Hope something good comes around.
I was really late to find out that a lot of customers have the exact same emotion towards this site and that it’s one of the best fraudulent companies India has ever seen! Their success lies in the marketing strategy. By providing some great discounts, they have lured much of the naïve, middle class consumers like me. Mr.Arindam Bose and his team have succeeded in making huge profits from the hard earned money of the hapless Indians entrusting it with them. The mental tension of the consumer, associated with the knowledge that such a huge amount has vanished into thin air is beyond the comprehension of thugs like these guys.
NEVER purchase from Timtara. And before you make any purchase from any of those 1000 lesser known e-com sites, do your research well before clicking "PAY". Learn from Steve’s mistakes. Hope this helps!
Regards, Steven Sam