[DieselFan]

Sad story Shankar. My Sympathies are with you. I always shop online with COD arrangement. I know you need to shell out cash upfront and not use credit card EMIs etc but it gives a great sense of security and peace of mind. Such peace of mind is priceless for everything else we have Mastercard. :-).

Wish your problem gets resolved ASAP and you get back your money. I would suggest you immediately contest the charge on your card with HDFC at least you are secured on your principle amount.

[greenhorn]

Have had similar experiences with FK and HS18. at least HS18 had the courtesy to send me a gift card (not discount coupon) for the inconvenience caused.

These days, other than ebay, I order everything COD.

[rjstyles69]

Sankar sad to know that you had such a harrowing time dealing with these guys. I put this thread on amazon.in's FB page and it was taken down in no time. Did it again, lets see what they do this time .

[abishek2222]

If you look carefully a lot of online re-sellers on ebay do not ship to quite a few states in India, as the item may possibly be seized by sales tax. this even applies to flipkart on shipping to Kerala. I guess in your case Amazon is ultimately responsible to refund you in a timely manager.

[lurker]

Sankar, this is to inform you that for some reason even Flipkart has stopped CoD to Kerala since past 3 weeks. I came to know this after buying a MotoG on CoD, I could not buy a flip cover since CoD was not given as an option for Thiruvananthapuram pin code for whom I intented to give this as a gift. And also another pin code for another town in Kerala was also rejected for CoD.

Now this brings me to the conclusion, that the local sales tax officials have started harassing inbound courier parcels and that is why there is a temporary delay in delivery.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by pramodkumar

You can borrow my camera. I have a couple of lenses as well, if it offers and consolation

Thats why i am old fasioned, no online business.

Pramod

Thanks!
This once incident has made me old fashioned. No more online business except for COD.

Originally Posted by rm_arjuna

Fed Ex service is hopelessly low ,they are our logistic partner and we have to follow-up on consignments half the time ,i have faced similar issues of false updates on transit even when the local office knows our office location very well and they do pickup and deliver on a daily basis .

I always use COD options for value above 2000 and have cancelled abt 5-7 orders from snapdeal / flipkart due to delay in delivery beyond commited dates.Never shopped at amazon till date and had very high hope abt them , will be more vigilant after your experience.

You could always raise a dispute with your CC bank and cancel your purchase .

I completely get your point, our logistics partner is DHL, they are not too great but is a lot better than FedEx.

Dispute is the next step.

Originally Posted by ani_meher

Sankar: I am not underplaying your story, and am fully sympathetic with your case. Have you visited the sales tax office?

...

Please assume that I am talking about some other person 'Rakesh'.

Later, Rakesh emails the receipt to Amazon and they refund that much money, which is MUCH less than 30k.

I have done this with pepperfry, where octroi people would charge a lot, and pepperfry would refund it after sending the scanned copy.

Is this the right way? No, of course not. A customer HAS to get a service that he demands. But it sure is an efficient way, where you get your product in hand, you get refund of the tax (I don't think reputed players such as amazon would deny this) and perhaps some coupons if strongly demanded for your visit to Sales tax.

I think you have only 2 outcomes now:
1. Call up CC phonebanking and raise dispute. But this can get messy, as Amazon has sent the package.
2. Call Amazon and ask whether they will be willing to reimburse any penalty that the sales tax people may issue.

I get your point and it was even considered. But i didn't want to go to the sales tax, because then i could have gone to a local shop and walked out with a camera on 29th itself and without any complications.

Amazon didn't present with that option either when I contacted them with the non delivery of the order. I asked them twice if i should go to the sales tax. They didn't answer and they never said anything like we would refund the tax if you have to pay any. If they had an option they could have asked me to collect it and the tax would be refunded. The customer service agents don't have any decision making power for non-routine scenarios. They have to "internally' contact their escalation team and their escalation team is supposed to contact me. That has never happened and i was being promised of an imminent First Encounter With The Escalation Kind since saturday 5th.

Yesterday Amazon CS on chat when i contacted them told me that they have instructed the courier to return the package to Amazon.

Originally Posted by DieselFan

Sad story Shankar. My Sympathies are with you. I always shop online with COD arrangement. I know you need to shell out cash upfront and not use credit card EMIs etc but it gives a great sense of security and peace of mind. Such peace of mind is priceless for everything else we have Mastercard. :-).

Wish your problem gets resolved ASAP and you get back your money. I would suggest you immediately contest the charge on your card with HDFC at least you are secured on your principle amount.

LOL well said
Sure will, one more day of wait. Tomorrow we are having general elections.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Have had similar experiences with FK and HS18. at least HS18 had the courtesy to send me a gift card (not discount coupon) for the inconvenience caused.

These days, other than ebay, I order everything COD.

The lack of courtesy from Amazon is surprising. Maybe its because i was used to amazon.com level of customer care.

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Sankar sad to know that you had such a harrowing time dealing with these guys. I put this thread on amazon.in's FB page and it was taken down in no time. Did it again, lets see what they do this time .

Thanks! I was waiting to do that once i reach home from my wife's FB account since i don't have one. Amazon's move is not really surprising.

Originally Posted by abishek2222

If you look carefully a lot of online re-sellers on ebay do not ship to quite a few states in India, as the item may possibly be seized by sales tax. this even applies to flipkart on shipping to Kerala. I guess in your case Amazon is ultimately responsible to refund you in a timely manager.

Originally Posted by lurker

Sankar, this is to inform you that for some reason even Flipkart has stopped CoD to Kerala since past 3 weeks. I came to know this after buying a MotoG on CoD, I could not buy a flip cover since CoD was not given as an option for Thiruvananthapuram pin code for whom I intented to give this as a gift. And also another pin code for another town in Kerala was also rejected for CoD.

Now this brings me to the conclusion, that the local sales tax officials have started harassing inbound courier parcels and that is why there is a temporary delay in delivery.

Yes i have noticed that too. First Snapdeal stopped shipping, then Jabong did and then many others followed suit, Flipkart too for some high value items. But Amazon even today they are saying that they can deliver this product to Trivandrum 695012 in 2 to 4 business days when they couldn deliver mine in 10 business days. isn't that misleading?

Screenshot i took now, with date. price also dropped from earlier 34,648 to 33,654. Still higher than what i paid.


http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00HY9CCNI/

If Amazon didn't ship this to my pincode location I wouldn't have bought from them.
If Amazon said they need 20 business days for delivery then i wouldn't have bought from them.
But here they are still saying they can deliver this within 4 days when my order placed on March 29th is not delivered yet.

[devrajman]

im ebay seller as well as buyer too. CoD for Kerala is disabled not just that, CoD on my account is temp disabled !

As per my opinion,

1) There is transact back facility with every credit card company, where you have to fill a form and submit it for case your having issue. It is a 90 day case. You money will be refunded immediately on condition basis. You can provide all same proofs you posted here in email with filled form.

Here is CitiBank Form i used:
http://www.online.citibank.co.in/por...orm_final1.pdf

Here is for HDFC i found:
http://www.hdfcbank.com/assets/pdf/C...SPUTE_FORM.pdf

2)Also go to sales tax office just to find out how much it costs to get it out. Talk to amazon and see what they say. If positive then go this route. There might also be a way to open guarantee claim for non-receipt of article. check that out too.

Just my 0.02$

[lurker]

SOmeone I know recently got a courier delivered by GATI in thiruvananthapuram only after submitting scanned ID proof. Now at first I thought that the seller didn't have a TIN number and that was the reason they were asking for the same. But then on the bill that my colleague received, the TIN number of seller was clearly mentioned. So it seems to be a new development and a new hurdle set up by sales tax. Maybe the elections are the reason for this, and maybe this will pass after the elections.

[Sankar]

A big thanks to all! Thank you for posting this on Amazon India FB page and getting their attention.

I contacted Amazon India through chat an hour ago. They finally accepted that the package was seized by the sales tax guys and that i had a tough time dealing with this order.

They have cancelled the order and issued a refund! That is good enough for me! below is the confirmation.


The CS agent on chat was very helpful and to the point. Accepted that there has been a issue with the order and that i have had enough problems with the order. So without wasting much time he said he will refund the amount by the end of the day. And he did so.

Originally Posted by devrajman

im ebay seller as well as buyer too. CoD for Kerala is disabled not just that, CoD on my account is temp disabled !

As per my opinion,

1) There is transact back facility with every credit card company, where you have to fill a form and submit it for case your having issue. It is a 90 day case. You money will be refunded immediately on condition basis. You can provide all same proofs you posted here in email with filled form.

Here is CitiBank Form i used:
http://www.online.citibank.co.in/por...orm_final1.pdf

Here is for HDFC i found:
http://www.hdfcbank.com/assets/pdf/C...SPUTE_FORM.pdf

2)Also go to sales tax office just to find out how much it costs to get it out. Talk to amazon and see what they say. If positive then go this route. There might also be a way to open guarantee claim for non-receipt of article. check that out too.

Just my 0.02$

Thanks!
All this reminds me of how many ebay sellers wouldn't ship to WB because of some bureaucratic red tape. But it seems to be resolved now.

Originally Posted by lurker

SOmeone I know recently got a courier delivered by GATI in thiruvananthapuram only after submitting scanned ID proof. Now at first I thought that the seller didn't have a TIN number and that was the reason they were asking for the same. But then on the bill that my colleague received, the TIN number of seller was clearly mentioned. So it seems to be a new development and a new hurdle set up by sales tax. Maybe the elections are the reason for this, and maybe this will pass after the elections.

I had done this in the past several times with BlueDart surface consignments which mostly come from TN. I had to submit Kerala VAT Form 16 along with the copy of my ID proof to Bluedart office well before he package reched trivandrum. But this time with FedEx and Amazon the issue was not regarding this.

[bullboy]

There seems to be some issue of sales tax dept with Courier companies in Trivandrum. I heard that every packages are checked and this results in delayed delivery.Some of the courier companies were closed and I recently met a guy who just lost his job because the franchise has closed down.
So some of the online sellers now does not ship to Trivandrum.

[Chetan_Rao]

Nice to know it's resolved. Reminds me of something my first boss taught me about customer service.

"Most customers are willing to wait a reasonable time for a resolution, as long as you acknowledge the problem and assure them someone responsible is handling it. Communication and ownership is key. Resolution will eventually happen".

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Sankar

A big thanks to all! Thank you for posting this on Amazon India FB page and getting their attention.

They finally accepted that the package was seized by the sales tax guys and that i had a tough time dealing with this order.

They have cancelled the order and issued a refund! That is good enough for me! below is the confirmation.


The CS agent on chat was very helpful and to the point. Accepted that there has been a issue with the order and that i have had enough problems with the order. So without wasting much time he said he will refund the amount by the end of the day. And he did so.

Still the fact that you had to run around and go public before they gave you a refund is not so confidence inspiring. Not everyone is social media savvy, or have access to platforms as big as team bhp. This sort of issue never happens even with Amazon US orders to India, despite the additional complexity. Perhaps we need to tone down our expectations, and bring them in line with our own homegrown eCommerce players - in fact, my respect for them has grown after this episode.

[fine69]

Glad that this is resolved. I have learned one thing from all the online shopping experience I've had so far and that is to never rely on the online sellers to deliver a product by the exact date mentioned by them during the checkout, especially if you have dependencies on that product. Most of the times they will but those rare times when they don't, you would end up like this.

[HillMan]

There seems to be sales tax rules revision in many states. The form requirement is based on value of goods ordered in most destinations. They want to treat the sales like it took place within the state where goods are delivered.

I see info like this listed in many items on eBay now a days;
State / Unio Territory --> Sales Tax Form / Permit
Andhra Pradesh --> 10-A for outgoing consignment
Arunachal Pradesh --> FORM FF07
Assam --> Form 62
Bihar --> 28 B Road Permit / Form D-IX
Chandigarh --> VAT No./ TIN No. & Invoice
Chattisgarh --> Form 59 A
Delhi --> T2
Gujarat --> Form 403
Guwahati --> Form 24
Haryana --> Form 38
Himachal Pradesh --> Form No. 26
Jammu & Kashmir --> Form VAT 65
Jharkhand --> Form No 28B/504G Road Permit / Form D-IX
Karnataka --> Form E-Sugam
Kerala --> Form 16
Madhya Pradesh --> Form No 50
Maharashtra --> Form N / Octroi / LBT in municipal zones as applicable
Manipur --> Form 27
Meghalaya --> Form 40
Mizoram --> Form No 33
Nagaland --> Form 23
Orissa --> Form No. 402
Punjab --> Form No 25
Rajasthan --> Form 47/47A
Sikkim --> Form No 26
Tamil Nadu --> Form 20
Tripura --> Form XXIV / XXVI
Uttar Pradesh --> Form No. 38/39
Uttaranchal --> Form 16/17
West Bengal --> Form No 50

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by bullboy

There seems to be some issue of sales tax dept with Courier companies in Trivandrum. I heard that every packages are checked and this results in delayed delivery.Some of the courier companies were closed and I recently met a guy who just lost his job because the franchise has closed down.
So some of the online sellers now does not ship to Trivandrum.

Sad to hear about your friend.
Was he working for one of the well known courier company?

It is just ridiculous on the part of tax dept on out of state purchases with proper Invoice. Issues like this and the Bangalore RTO tax problem makes me feel bad about our country.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Still the fact that you had to run around and go public before they gave you a refund is not so confidence inspiring. Not everyone is social media savvy, or have access to platforms as big as team bhp. This sort of issue never happens even with Amazon US orders to India, despite the additional complexity. Perhaps we need to tone down our expectations, and bring them in line with our own homegrown eCommerce players - in fact, my respect for them has grown after this episode.

You're right it is not confidence inspriring and i am not happy about the whole incident even though they refunded it. You're also right about the righteous resolution a non media savvy person would get in this scenario. Resolutions shouldn't be based on how media savvy a person is and should be equally applicable to all. This is not ideal i agree.

They may have refunded the amount but still I lose out on EMI charges. CS executive Mukesh K promised the reimbursement of EMI charges too, but the mail received today didn't say anything about that instead says the issuer might levy a charge for EMI cancellation.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Nice to know it's resolved. Reminds me of something my first boss taught me about customer service.

"Most customers are willing to wait a reasonable time for a resolution, as long as you acknowledge the problem and assure them someone responsible is handling it. Communication and ownership is key. Resolution will eventually happen".

Here i didn't see anyone taking ownership of the problem till the very last chat conversation i had couple of hours ago. That contributed to the problem. The last person to deal with me said positively that he is taking charge of this and resolving it. Maybe he was from the escalation team.

Originally Posted by fine69

Glad that this is resolved. I have learned one thing from all the online shopping experience I've had so far and that is to never rely on the online sellers to deliver a product by the exact date mentioned by them during the checkout, especially if you have dependencies on that product. Most of the times they will but those rare times when they don't, you would end up like this.

I can wait for a reasonable time for the product to reach me. In this case I would have waited for another 3 or 4 days if the courier had the package with them and if they can positively deliver it. But when there is an uncertainty factor like when the courier doesn't even have the product to deliver i see no reason to wait any longer.

The way the local fedex guy told me on April 5th "now the package is with sales tax and only you (that is me) can get it released and not even the person can do anything to release it, you should go to the sales tax with the paper issued by them which our guy will deliver" sounded something wasn't right. I started pressing for refund after this.

If the fedex guy had told the package was being checked by sales tax and will only be released on monday or tuesday and we would deliver it on wednesday i would have waited instead.