[petrolhead_chn]

Originally Posted by petrolhead_chn

Can someone let me know what does "Retained by customs for unspecified reason" mean? I had ordered the dash cam from AE.

It is still with customs even after 5days of updating in the tracking portal. For knows why. I am thinking to visit them directly tomorrow? Or should I go to any post office for assistance?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Same packing today as yesterday, stuff barely staying in the box sealed in a single layer plastic bag. These bags used to be lined with bubble-wrap not too long ago. Have left feedback in delivery section. Nothing seems damaged, will need to inspect thoroughly later.

The camera strap, non-fragile, from a Kerala camera shop via AMazon, was so well packed that I had to praise it up on the feedback. There was bubble-wrap, there was cardboard, and there was a well taped plastic-sheet outer wrap that might even have waterproof. Couldn't have been further from chucking it in a bag. But that seems to happen quite a lot.

Originally Posted by naturaldisaster

That is what i have done. Within minutes, gave the product a 1 star rating stating my predicament, and opened a support ticket. I received a mail then from the support team apologizing and offering to ship another unit to me. Though a little ambivalent, i asked them to go ahead, this time giving a different address. Lets see what happens.

I'm an immigrant, and not really an India veteran even, in that I know people who have been coming here since 70s, nearly thirty ears before I first set foot in the country. But this is what the guide books used (?) to say: don't even trust postcards to the Indian post office: they will unstick the stamps and throw the card away.

Whether that ever was true, or just some foreign prejudice, I don't know, but it is the last thing that I would say today. My experience of India post has been honest and reliable.

I'm glad your suppliers are sending another item to you. The pilfering could have happened anywhere en route, so giving a different address may or may not make a difference.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Same packing today as yesterday, stuff barely staying in the box sealed in a single layer plastic bag. These bags used to be lined with bubble-wrap not too long ago. Have left feedback in delivery section. Nothing seems damaged, will need to inspect thoroughly later.

The phone I ordered came in regular white plastic cover amazon packing with a "fragile" sticker on the outside and the actual item inside with no further protection apart from its oe box. The Rs400 phone case i ordered for the phone came in brown corrugated packing of amazon. Both are amazon fulfilled, shipped separately. Wonder who makes the decision in choosing the packing. Ideally the phone should have come in the corrugated box.

Originally Posted by naturaldisaster

Yes there was one tape around the packing. The box inside was never shipped with any type of tamper proof seal or tape. So it could have just been opened and contents removed without hassle.

Yes better hope you dont. Nothing more unpleasant than receiving a package you have been awaiting since a month only to feel cheated a minute later. I think the issue mainly happens at our customs or even India Post.

Couple of years ago I lost two pairs of Philips PY21W (Amber) LED indicator bulbs bought from powerbulbs. It was a royal mail "signed for" package. I opened the box in excitement only to find a small hindi booklet stuffed inside. I complained to the postal dept and followed up with it, someone from the dept even came home to make a report. Nothing came out of it though, they washed their hands off saying I should have opened the box at the post office in front of post master. Powerbulbs refunded the amount, so I did not lose 7 grands, thanks to powerbulbs.

[naturaldisaster]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Couple of years ago I lost two pairs of Philips PY21W (Amber) LED indicator bulbs bought from powerbulbs. It was a royal mail "signed for" package. I opened the box in excitement only to find a small hindi booklet stuffed inside. I complained to the postal dept and followed up with it, someone from the dept even came home to make a report. Nothing came out of it though, they washed their hands off saying I should have opened the box at the post office in front of post master. Powerbulbs refunded the amount, so I did not lose 7 grands, thanks to powerbulbs.

I can understand. Thankfully these online sellers do take responsibility and consider refunds or re-shipments for failed/botched deliveries.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

My experience of India post has been honest and reliable.

I'm glad your suppliers are sending another item to you. The pilfering could have happened anywhere en route, so giving a different address may or may not make a difference.

Good that you feel India Post is reliable and i am sure they are. Just that my address is in UP(which is a whole new ball game.)

Anyhoo, as rightly pointed by you, I honestly cannot say at which level the pilferage has happened. The shipment costed me $29 but Banggood had undervalued to $17 which means customs should not have opened it. Plus the shipper label says 'if undelivered, return to Istanbul.' Maybe the seller is based there. Cant really tell then. Decided to with re-shipment even though Banggood has offered a full refund.

[5hadow]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Is Gearbest shipping faster than AliExpress? For a nominal 1+ $ the delivery time is stated as 7-10 days in GB, hence this question.

Yes, in my experience, Gearbest has faster shipping if you choose that $1 option. They send the item through GATI. I got mine in one week.

On AliExpress, Singapore post is much faster that China post.

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Called customer care as it was marked non-returnable on the site/app. .

I had ordered Hikari fish food. I wanted the micro pellets but in my hurry had accidentally ordered food for big fish. On receipt of the item, i realised I got the wrong'un , promptly requested for a return of the item (the item was marked non-returnable).

Within a few minutes, I got an email saying, the product is non-returnable, however they are processing a refund of the price paid for the product and I am free to dispose off the product. I feel that was Awesome customer service!

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

Is Gearbest shipping faster than AliExpress? For a nominal 1+ $ the delivery time is stated as 7-10 days in GB, hence this question.

I was tracking one of my Aliexpress order through 17track and it was showing a Alert status. When checked why the alert, one of the reason is it was shipped back to seller since it didn't pass the internal customs. Can some one decode the below status messages and provide a clear picture?

Item ordered, t-shirt for my son.

The item is still in transit. Wait till it arrives in India and you will get more info. Until then, what you get is the status translated from Chinese to English and sometimes it will show wierd stuff.

Yes, with gearbest when you choose the Priority shipping option for a nominal fee, it is usually shipped through GATI. However, you sometimes get two options - India Express and India Express for E-Commerce. The former will be through GATI and the latter through some Netherlands or Swedish post. GATI delivers the products between 7-15 days as they claim. Only in rare cases it might take longer. But usually it spends 3 days in the country of origin, 1 day in transit and 3 days in the destination country as per my previous experiences.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by Shubz

....Within a few minutes, I got an email saying, the product is non-returnable, however they are processing a refund of the price paid for the product and I am free to dispose off the product. I feel that was Awesome customer service!

This has happened to me a couple times now. I'm amazed how easily they're willing to write off a shipment and give away another one for free. Great for customer satisfaction, but can't say the same for profitability!

I understand it costs money for return logistics, but something like a laptop sleeve with a sizing issue can easily be exchanged for another size (this was my issue last time). They refused to exchange for a different size, refunded my money while letting me keep the one I had (useless as it won't fit) and asked me to order the right size separately. Unnecessary waste.

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

This has happened to me a couple times now. I'm amazed how easily they're willing to write off a shipment and give away another one for free. Great for customer satisfaction, but can't say the same for profitability!

Agree. They look at the buyers profile. If the buyer is a habitual offender. they probably are curt with the response as well and do not extend the same offer.

I've known of an acquaintance, who used to be critical of the service / products etc. One fine day Amazon got fed up of his rants and banned him and his rants continued on FB.

[carboy]

I want to file a consumer court case against an online service provider. The amount of money is not much - It's less than 1000 Rs. And I don't mind spending more money than that to file the case. How much runaround will it involve? Can I hire a lawyer to do the run-around - if so how much will it cost?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by carboy

I want to file a consumer court case against an online service provider. The amount of money is not much - It's less than 1000 Rs. And I don't mind spending more money than that to file the case. How much runaround will it involve? Can I hire a lawyer to do the run-around - if so how much will it cost?

Hire a lawyer to draft a legal notice and send it to the company first -

1. Stating the facts of the case
2. Giving them 30 days time to rectify the issue
3. Stating that if not resolved by that time you will place this before a consumer court.

Usually that should take care of it because for petty matters they will quickly settle.

The other alternative is to take to social media and talk about the issue.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by hserus

Hire a lawyer to draft a legal notice and send it to the company first -

1. Stating the facts of the case
2. Giving them 30 days time to rectify the issue
3. Stating that if not resolved by that time you will place this before a consumer court.

Usually that should take care of it because for petty matters they will quickly settle.

The other alternative is to take to social media and talk about the issue.

The amount involved is around 800 Rs. So I know that hiring a lawyer will cost me more than that. I am ok with that as long the company also gets penalised for more than 800Rs. That's why I want to go to consumer court.

How much will it cost me to hire a lawyer to draft a letter? How much will it cost me to get a lawyer to represent me in the court?

Where can I find a lawyer who understands a bit of technology - this is not a online shopping case (the mods moved it here)?

This may involve IP address, proxies etc.

[ani_meher]

^^^ Whatever consumer court orders I have seen/read in paper, the final amount ordered by the court is always the due refund + 9% annual interest + Rs.1000/max 5000 for court case expense. I have never seen any amount for mental harassment/loss of business or whatever. This in case that the result in your favour. Else there is additional cost of higher courts.

I would say that if you wish to argue for Rs.800 and don't mind spending money/time, better to use social media. Courts justice may give satisfaction, but it will be far away, uncertain and may be too less. Since the party you want to sue is online, they will (should) be far more sensitive for a public trial over social media than a court case which drags on and on.

[sagpatel]

Anyone using sanyo 49 inch 4k HDR tv. Model number :XT-49S8200U. Available for 49k on amazon and flipkart.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by carboy

The amount involved is around 800 Rs. So I know that hiring a lawyer will cost me more than that. I am ok with that as long the company also gets penalised for more than 800Rs. That's why I want to go to consumer court.

In Mumbai, initial consultation will be 500 - 1500 for consumer court cases. Lawyers will charge around 5k for initial notice (as you mentioned; this requires some case-specific research). If research needs lawyer competent in IT laws + IT consultant; you are looking at a cost of 20k - 50k.