Team-BHP - The Online Shopping Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by mxx (Post 3565371)

I hate the way Amazon forces customer to save their credit card info, if I want to pay with cc. Because of this I never buy from Amazon when it comes to high value goods. I dont like the my cc information being retained by the merchant

You are still safe when you buy using an Indian Bank issued Credit Card because we have to go through the "Second Factor" authentication.

However, in the case of iTunes, Kindle, Uber and various other companies, there is no second factor authentication at all.

I am having bad experience with www.amazon.in. Last 7 days they are rescheduling delivery of my ordered product and blaming me. Above all my house is not closed even for single minute in last 10 days.

They mention the reason as "Customer requested appointment to be rescheduled". This is straightaway blaming me for their incompetence. See the tracking history below. I'll be going to give them strong feedback this time. How come they blame me for delay in delivery without any reason or without any request from me?

25 October 2014, 12:19 pm, Bengaluru IN The customer requested the appointment to be rescheduled
23 October 2014, 9:24 pm, Bengaluru IN Delay Delivery on customer request
23 October 2014, 1:25 pm, Bengaluru IN Out for delivery
23 October 2014, 12:28 pm, Bengaluru IN Out for delivery
20 October 2014, 8:05 pm, Bengaluru IN Delay Delivery on customer request
20 October 2014, 12:04 pm, Bengaluru IN Out for delivery
19 October 2014, 11:00 pm, Bengaluru IN Package arrived at a courier facility
16 October 2014, 8:01 am, Bhiwandi Maharashtra IN Package has left the courier facility
16 October 2014, 4:38 am, Bhiwandi Maharashtra IN Package arrived at a courier facility
16 October 2014, 3:43 am, Mumbai Maharashtra IN Order details shared with the courier

Quote:

Originally Posted by anujmishra (Post 3565421)

Which courier is this? I guess the delivery guy is trying to play tricks here. They once did this to me. An item was shipped through blue dart and on the day of delivery, I got a message saying delivery was attempted and door was locked. Got really furious at them and next day, I had instructed my security to call me down when he came. Took that guy to task asking how he declared it as delivery attempted when the security will be present all the time. He gave lame reasons saying the guard wasnt there and so but I told him I would show him the CCTV clip for the entire day. When I asked him the number of his manager, he finally confessed that he was late for the day and hence did such a thing. From that day bluedart usually delivers within 24hrs of in-scanning the package, even during the festival rush last week.

Quote:

Originally Posted by carwatcher (Post 3565134)

That's news to me. I was under impression that they sell originals.
So that explains the Law of Caveat Emptor. We have to be prudent enough not to believe the unrealistic prices they offer.

Exactly. I was searching for these earphones since they were doing a good job and did not want to experiment buying a different thing I didnt like. When I saw the price I was shocked since it even stated that the MRP was 899 and these sellers sold it at a huge discount. Thankfully we didnt purchase.

When it comes to this aspect, I would trust Ebay anyday. That is because products arent grouped together depending upon the model or brand. Each product by each seller is a separate listing. At least, we can know what to expect for the price we pay

Quote:

Originally Posted by carwatcher (Post 3565134)

That's news to me. I was under impression that they sell originals.

Please don't misundertand me: I am not suggesting that they are not, in any way, genuine, original, new hard disks. They are.

All I am saying is that Seagate, or WD, or Whoever, packed these particular disks in boxes by the dozen, for machine builders to sell as part of their machines, rather than individually, for shop keepers to display on their shelves.

My only reservation is that an anti-static bag is not sufficient protection for a hdd.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shankar.balan (Post 3565384)

To add to the list - aliexpress

There is no pin authentication for this site. All that is required is written on your card. If someone has these details he can easily buy from Aliexpress. And this very info is stored by Amazin. Scary!

Quote:

Originally Posted by audioholic (Post 3565106)

I disagree mate. Flipkart has fake products being sold in the name of popular brands being sold by random sellers. If at all I do trust, it would be WS Retail only.

Case in discussion here is Nokia WH 208 earphones that is being sold on flipkart for as low as Rs. 180. The page says goods sold are 100% original, but the earphones are a replica of the original ones. Only one seller has the genuine version at 500 odd rupees. My dad was about to order a few until he read the reviews and came to know that it was a fake.

Regarding hard disks, the last four I have brought have always come in anti-static bags but they are stored in a cushioned box. I even got an optical drive in a sealed bag instead of the box I used to get before. Nothing to worry about warranty since I've been there, done that too :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 3564708)

My theory: These drives are bought-in-bulk OEM drives. A retail unit comes in a printed box such as one might expect to see on a shop shelf.

Why? Obviously, lowest-price buying option for the dealer: No idea how many would have been in the outer packing.

Any problem? Well, they certainly should have more protection than an antistatic bag. The should at least have a shell package that gives some protection against shock. A hard drive is still a fairly fragile thing, even though things have moved on from the first, full-hight (brick-size) IBM hdd I bought that said on the box: Warning: dropping this drive one inch is sufficient to destroy it. :eek:

Apart from that there just possibly might be difficulty in claiming warranty from the manufacturer. OEM drives are supposed to be supported by the seller of the machine they get installed in.

All in all, I do consider it a scam, but a fairly minor one. As long as the drive works, and goes on working, I don't mind not having a box to throw away. And I have a whole tin full of assorted computer-insides screws.

Yes the HDD came in a cardboard box with cushioning. So no complains there. Yet to test the HDD.

Quote:

Originally Posted by v_2rahjo (Post 3564651)

So my question/confusion is-
The hdd came in a static free plastic wrap which is sealed and does not look it was opened. And was put in a cardboard outer shell. The shell was a mcb box. Is this how internal HDDs are sold. Because whenever I bought an external USB HDD I always got the manufacturer outer shell

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 3564708)

My theory: These drives are bought-in-bulk OEM drives. A retail unit comes in a printed box such as one might expect to see on a shop shelf.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 3565454)

All I am saying is that Seagate, or WD, or Whoever, packed these particular disks in boxes by the dozen, for machine builders to sell as part of their machines, rather than individually, for shop keepers to display on their shelves.

Not providing a 'proper' manufactorer box is not only an online retail or OEM issue. I have bought internal HDDs from two reputed shops about seven times in all over the last fifteen years and in no case did they provide anything other than an antistatic sleeve. Based on this I doubt any manufacturer makes packaging for retail sales of internal HDDs. External HDDs, of course, invariably come packaged.

Nonetheless having gone to the Seagate service centre twice to deposit, ironically enough, two external drives, I noticed many people in queue with internal HDDs, with nothing other than the sales receipt - so I think lack of a box will have no effect on warranty.

Of course, none of this is to take away from the online seller the duty to pack the HDD properly, knowing how cavalierly the product might be manhandled in transit. Just that I would not be perturbed by lack of an 'original' box.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shankar.balan (Post 3565384)

However, in the case of iTunes, Kindle, Uber and various other companies, there is no second factor authentication at all.

Not just these, pretty much any online merchant outside India can proceed without the additional authentication. I recently renewed my subscription for The Economist online and they did it with just the card number, expiry date and CVV.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shankar.balan (Post 3565384)

Being charged by Amazon itself (or whatever online platform) is only part of the problem.
The bigger problem, is that no network or platform is 100% hacker proof. Anyone who has works with IT security systems will tell you that. we have heard about high profile breaches like that of the sony's playstation network or RSA secureID system. I dont see any reason to take the risk by saving cc info in any network

Quote:

Originally Posted by carwatcher (Post 3565481)

Please check the number you have dialed stupid:, I posted in reply to audioholic.

Whoops, sorry!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kumar R (Post 3565487)

Me too. The stores buy and sell in the same way.

Quote:

Nonetheless having gone to the Seagate service centre twice to deposit, ironically enough, two external drives, I noticed many people in queue with internal HDDs, with nothing other than the sales receipt - so I think lack of a box will have no effect on warranty.

I've seen something about OEM warranty on one of the HDD manufacturer sites. It basically said, if your drive is OEM, don't talk to us, talk to the machine supplier.

I can't remember where and when that was: sorry, it is a bit vague, and I don't mean to spread FUD about this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dry Ice (Post 3565270)

7 days later, no change, inspite of sending them an email. And here we are complaining about 'wrong product'. Just shows the commitment to quality these days. :)

Attachment 1303180

This is getting funnier by the day. :)

They mailed me yesterday saying my order has been delivered! That is when I haven't ordered anything! Lol!

Quote:

From: Flipkart Customer Support <cs@flipkart.com>
Date: Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 12:25 AM
Subject: Update from Flipkart Customer Support [Incident: 141027-074524]
To: ---------@gmail.com

Hello,

Thank you for taking your time to write to us.

I understand your concern.

I would like to clarify that as per the update that we’ve received from ekart logistics, your order (Order ID - OD40827082108) seems to have already been delivered on October 27, 2014.

I request you to check with your (family/neighbours/security/reception) for this.

If no one has received your order, please get back to us and we’ll certainly look into this and assist you further.

Hope this helps.

Please write back to us should you have any other questions or need further assistance.

Regards,
--------
Customer Support

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 3565532)

Whoops, sorry!

Me too. The stores buy and sell in the same way.
I've seen something about OEM warranty on one of the HDD manufacturer sites. It basically said, if your drive is OEM, don't talk to us, talk to the machine supplier.

I can't remember where and when that was: sorry, it is a bit vague, and I don't mean to spread FUD about this.

There is a warranty check page in seagate's website. I once pulled out the HDD from my laptop and put its serial number in this website to check. I got the message you said above. That it is an OEM drive, so contact the device manufacturer.