[speed_edge]

Hi,

Hope this is the right thread to pen down the bad experience I had with flipkart on buying premium phone. During this Diwali sale, came across this Sansung galaxy S20+ at price 49,999/-. Price was very attractive and hence went ahead with ordering one. Seller in this case is "TrueComRetail"


I ordered this phone from the seller and it arrives on promised date. And when I opened it, box seemed already opened before. There were dust inside, USB cable doesn't seemed factory finish wrapped and there were scratches though minor on chargers and clear cover which comes with box. I still went ahead and switched it on and see that battery is just 19% instead of usually ~50% in new phone. Later, I still went ahead and tried using for a day. Realized battery is too weak, just in half a day with moderate usage it dried out. So went ahead created a return request. Flipkart has only replacement policy once mobile is delivered for first time.


Process followed in this case is

• Registered return request through app.
• Flipkart rep called me for few diagnostic steps if it can resolve the issue. This also took multiple blank calls from flipkart. (They call but no one speak at other end, and it felt like they are just burning time).
• Finally after convincing rep, there is a technical person visit schedules by flipkart (From Jeeves)
• Next day technician visited my place, it was quick 5 min job. They inspected the device and found that display has been replaced on the phone. Gap between body and display was evident only on carefully closed look which I completely missed. They took picture of the gap and uploaded and replacement has been approved quickly.
• Replacement shipped same day again from same seller "TrueComRetail.

For replacement, same flipkart delivery person pick the defective phone while delivering replacement. To my surprise similar used S20+ has been delivered again. This time I was little diligent, made video while opening box and on same day through app requested refund(Second time you have an option for refund).

• On replacement piece there were enough scratch on device, accessories and clear case.
• I called flipkart and per them, seller has to approve refund
• Somehow refund approved after few days and then comes the wait for them to come and pick the phone.
• Flipkart moved the dates back by 4 days, but finally return pick-up happened. Refund was pretty quick (Back to my credit card) on same day.

Wondering if they have refused return/refund would have been stuck with this defective piece, that too for amount close to 50K. Now I'm bit apprehensive about going with flipkart for costly items. Wondering how for such expensive phones they allow seller to cheat. I went ahead with Flipkart because of HDFC smartbuy option thinking will get good reward points while same phone was selling costlier on Amazon.

Regards
SE

[AZT]

Originally Posted by speed_edge

Wondering if they have refused return/refund would have been stuck with this defective piece, that too for amount close to 50K. Now I'm bit apprehensive about going with flipkart for costly items. Wondering how for such expensive phones they allow seller to cheat. I went ahead with Flipkart because of HDFC smartbuy option thinking will get good reward points while same phone was selling costlier on Amazon.

My aunt who is over 75 years old ordered something from Naaptol, the only thing I hate about Tata Sky is they have by default their advertisement channel on starting TV and more often than not it is Naaptol selling their overpriced garbage.

My old aunt ended up ordering something and paid COD to the delivery guy. The piece turned out broken and it was a pain getting them to refund. They first said we will give you a credit note type thing which you can use to buy something else or you can replace the item, no refund. This is probably the shadiest company I have ever come across and it took me multiple emails to get them to refund the amount to my bank account.

My point of telling the above story is, i feel a lot of these sellers make massive money just by working capital management. They get money from you, then send a dud replacement and then refund. This whole process takes around 2 weeks or more and imagine doing this at a national level. Someone with an efficient working capital management practice can make money just doing this.

[Artyom]

Amazon has their warehouse near Bangalore so I order most of the stuff from them and specifically from the seller "CloudTail".
I have observed they are stocking pretty much everything nowadays which results in the same day or next day shipping.
2nd reason is the ICICI Amazon credit card which offers me cashback in the form of Amazon Pay balance which is a decent amount every month and Amazon Pantry is the 3rd reason to vote for Amazon
With Flipkart, my experience has been good so far with whatever I have ordered and by default its the 2nd choice for ordering.

[whencut86]

Had a really bad experience with an order from Amazon this past week. Lesson learnt. NEVER ORDER ANY BIG HOME APPLIANCE FROM AMAZON.

I ordered a Whirlpool 440L refrigerator from Amazon it was mentioned free home delivery and my address clearly mentioned that my home is in the 4th floor. Amazon doesn't deliver large appliances on their own and they had partnered with a delivery partner - Delhivery. The Delhivery guy was pestering for 1500-2000 and that he had only himself and van driver. I had told him that I will talk to customer care regarding that and the Delhivery guys just unloaded the fridge in my apartment complex and left. The delivery happened at 6PM in the evening. They were so unprofessional that they unloaded it horizontally instead of vertically and on the side of the package which was not to be on the floor during horizontal unloading. Worst service not delivering to customer and even worst service having buffoons who don't even know which side should a package be unloaded horizontally.

Amazon customer care was useless. Talked to customer care multiple times and to their supervisors as well but to no avail. The package with the packing materials won't fit inside the lift in our apartment and I asked them if I could open the packing and take only the fridge through the lift to my home by myself but they declined that it would not be returnable in that case if any issues with the fridge. The customer care will not call their delivery partner and ask them to properly deliver at my home.

I asked them for a return and refund but they mentioned it won't happen as per their policy. I asked them if Amazon follows policy now then they should have done home delivery properly as per their own policy. Very pathetic response from their customer care.

The worst part was passing the responsibility to me. They asked me to call Whirlpool customer care to arrange for moving the fridge to 4th floor at the time of installation/demo. Whirlpool customer care mentioned that they do only demo/installation and only Amazon was responsible for home delivery.

Amazon customer care then wanted me to arrange guys to move the fridge to 4th floor and that they would pay me 300 to my Amazon pay balance as per policy. They put me through the hassle of trying to find 4 guys who would do the shifting and somehow I managed to do it by around 11PM. Had to pay 800 to those 4 guys and Amazon won't even refund the balance 500 because as per policy, 300 was the max they would give.

Was a nightmare that trying to talk to Delivery guys who wont pick up and their customer care, Amazon customer care who were pathetic in response, trying to get 4 guys who could move the fridge upstairs and help them in moving. From now on whatever be the size of the product, I will go to nearby dealers or multi brand showrooms and try and get better deals and order from them instead of online portals. Very disappointed with Amazon that I have decided not to use Amazon much or even renew my Prime. Life will be much easier dealing with people in dealers or multi brand showrooms than some unknown person in customer care.

Post this episode, I came to know that Amazon won't even let users post negative reviews with actual pictures when I tried to post it. They filter out negative reviews and discard them. So the few negative reviews you see in Amazon can even be fake or just a few one line negative reviews added to not arose suspicions. They lost a customer today. For any emergency, I would order from Flipkart for small items.

[GeneralJazz]

Originally Posted by whencut86

Had a really bad experience with an order from Amazon this past week. Lesson learnt. NEVER ORDER ANY BIG HOME APPLIANCE FROM AMAZON.

Learnt this lesson long ago. The discounts are not worth the hassle if anything goes wrong. I had ordered a TV via Amazon around a year back, and had given my office address for delivery. I got the call from the delivery guy, and had a mild panic attack when I went to collect it. He had come in an Omni and had unloaded many of the packages onto the footpath (to make it easier to search I guess). The TV being the largest package, was at the bottom of the pile, directly on the footpath and there were multiple boxes stacked on it. Thankfully it was undamaged, but the installation turned out to be yet another headache. It was supposed to be done in 1 week, but I never received any calls from the TV company. Following up with them, seems they never got the request from Amazon. Amazon customer care asked me to take it up with the TV company. After 2 weeks of this BS back and forth, I borrowed a drill from a friend and fixed it myself.

Having learnt the lesson, I bought my AC, geyser, water purifier all from the nearest Croma. Very prompt delivery (brought it to my 4th floor apartment and placed the items inside) and installation from the respective product companies the very next day!

[BackInTheFold]

Originally Posted by whencut86

Had a really bad experience with an order from Amazon this past week. Lesson learnt. NEVER ORDER ANY BIG HOME APPLIANCE FROM AMAZON.

Sorry to hear about your experience - sounds like a nightmare. Your feelings are understandable.

I guess we've been fortunate. We've ordered multiple TV's, washing machines, dryers and dishwashers from Amazon. Great door-door experience every time - they even scheduled the installation service from the manufacturer automatically.

[avira_tk]

Originally Posted by whencut86

Had a really bad experience with an order from Amazon this past week. Lesson learnt. NEVER ORDER ANY BIG HOME APPLIANCE FROM AMAZON.

...
Post this episode, I came to know that Amazon won't even let users post negative reviews with actual pictures when I tried to post it. They filter out negative reviews and discard them. So the few negative reviews you see in Amazon can even be fake or just a few one line negative reviews added to not arose suspicions. They lost a customer today. For any emergency, I would order from Flipkart for small items.

This is applicable to flipkart which damaged my dishwasher on delivery. We've decided only Croma for any appliance upgrade, the warranty experience alone is worth it. Amazon reviews for nearly any product is worthless.

[whencut86]

Originally Posted by GeneralJazz

Learnt this lesson long ago. The discounts are not worth the hassle if anything goes wrong.

Felt the same. The discounts are not worth the harrowing experience during or post delivery. In my case I called the Whirlpool customer care directly and they arranged for the Installation & Demo the next day.
They need to improve professionalism in the delivery department when handling such products and they are lacking severely in this. Evident when I saw how my fridge was handled.

Originally Posted by BackInTheFold

Sorry to hear about your experience - sounds like a nightmare. Your feelings are understandable.

I guess we've been fortunate. We've ordered multiple TV's, washing machines, dryers and dishwashers from Amazon. Great door-door experience every time - they even scheduled the installation service from the manufacturer automatically.

It was the case so far for me. These home appliances can be delivered easily compared to a nearly 6.5 feet package. That is where they messed up. They shouldn't list such big home appliances if they can't do the delivery properly or by themselves.

Originally Posted by avira_tk

This is applicable to flipkart which damaged my dishwasher on delivery. We've decided only Croma for any appliance upgrade, the warranty experience alone is worth it. Amazon reviews for nearly any product is worthless.

Agree. Have come across reviews of Flipkart in this thread. I am sticking to only groceries or small items now on. No electronics or anything worth more than a 1000 bucks.

[Eddy]

I ordered a TV from Flipkart during the Diwali 2019 sale and it was a stellar experience. The delivery and installation were very prompt, and I was consulted on the time slots for both beforehand.

[Lobogris]

I mostly use Amazon and so far have had great experience with them for several large items like a 75 inch TV, laptops etc. I also got an MSI laptop worth around 96k from Paytm without any issues. However. Later I ordered a UPS from Paytm Mall and it was delivered broken. Raised a replacement request and another broken unit was sent. This time they issued a refund. I hadn’t used Flipkart much but last month I bought a Dyson V11 pro vacuum and Mi purifier 3 from Flipkart. Both were delivered the next day and in perfect condition. I also purchased a Mi air purifier 3 from Amazon last week and it was delivered the next day in perfect condition. So overall good experience in online shopping but definitely would prefer offline shops for expensive items as long as the price difference is not too large.

[Candy$Cars]

Guys, those of you who have ordered large items like refrigerators and air conditioners from amazon/flipkart, do delivery people just leave it at your door or say, if you want it in the first floor of your house, carry and place it in the first floor?
We live on the first floor of an independent house and hence the question.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by Candy$Cars

Guys, those of you who have ordered large items like refrigerators and air conditioners from amazon/flipkart, do delivery people just leave it at your door or say, if you want it in the first floor of your house, carry and place it in the first floor?
We live on the first floor of an independent house and hence the question.

Personal experience - the fridge was delivered to the 1st floor & the washing machine was delivered to the 2nd floor by Amazon delivery personnel. Installation was done later by the company technician.

[sups]

Originally Posted by Candy$Cars

Guys, those of you who have ordered large items like refrigerators and air conditioners from amazon/flipkart, do delivery people just leave it at your door or say, if you want it in the first floor of your house, carry and place it in the first floor?
We live on the first floor of an independent house and hence the question.

Bought dishwasher and washing machine from Amazon during 2018. It was delivered to the 2nd floor. Installation was done by Bosch delivery person 2 days later. As I was not in a hurry, I did not press for a faster installation. It was a smooth experience overall.

[JithinR]

One against Flipkart. If it was me I would be vary of pissing off the kids of well to do parents and youngsters with cash to spend. It's literally like handing over your future customer base to your competition.

https://in.ign.com/playstation-5-pla...-restock?amp=1

[Maverick Avi]

My 90 percent of shopping including big appliances like fridge, a/c and TV has been from Flipkart and till now the experience has been very good. In case of issues things were handled promptly and replacements/refunds were smooth too.

BUT, lately things are not that good as they used to be. Their customer service is a mess and hard to reach. They even discontinued their CS email ids so you can't even write emails to them now. Call center is a joke with reps going silent on calls and waiting for you to disconnect. Returns not getting accepted online even though product is eligible for return. I tried for multiple days and on different systems but still got the same error. As a result got stuck with those products. Thankfully those were groceries and not some high value product. Next time would think twice before ordering something from flipkart. Not sure if Amazon is also going that path.