[nagr22]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Although I ordered the same Product that was delivered intact and has been working fine in terms of all the functions, I tried to register the product today and realised that the I am also a victim of this SERIAL NUMBER SCAM.

What doesn't seem like a mere co-incidence and makes me doubt about this malpractice is that the serial number in my invoice matches to that in your invoice .

That is very shocking! I saw a reviewer in flipkart has also mentioned about serial number mismatch in his order and he got it replaced. I did not expect that flipkart would have committed this blunder on so many orders!

I have an update regarding mine. After raising my issue in twitter, flipkart agreed to refund my order and a 'wishmaster' came for pickup. He once again rejected pick up saying serial number is not matching invoice. I showed him the UPC barcode on the box and he agreed for pickup. I casually asked him if he has encountered such issues and he told me that it happens a lot. During packing the person responsible for invoice generation uses a barcode reader to scan for serial number. Many times they are in a hurry and don't properly see what they are scanning. Since there are multiple barcodes on any product box, these incidents happen a lot. He mentioned he has even seen courier tracking numbers entered as serial numbers. He took the product and I got refund too.

I asked him why they are so particular about serial number while reverse pickup but don't bother to check during delivery and he said they started checking for serial numbers during return to catch frauds who return a different product than what they purchased and agreed that serial number should be checked during delivery also but no such policy exists as of now.

I wonder what would have happened if I had noticed the issue after the return period is over and the manufacturer rejects warranty? Learnt a lesson to not trust the 'Easy return' policy of e-tailers and do due diligence going forward.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

So I lay this speculation of SCAM to rest since Blaupunkt accepted the copy of Invoice I uploaded too.

I would advise you to return the product if possible and get a replacement with correct serial number mentioned in the invoice even if Blaupunkt accepts your registration today. You will never know if they will ask for invoice at the time of warranty claim so it's better to be safe. Atleast insist for an updated invoice from flipkart.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Looks like a scam to me at the outset.

What I think is that these units were procured via grey market. A few genuine units were procured and the serial number of those units is re-used on all the other units sold.

I don't think this is due to malice on part of the seller. It looks like a case of utter incompetence shown by the packers and data entry operators employed by flipkart.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by nagr22

I don't think this is due to malice on part of the seller. It looks like a case of utter incompetence shown by the packers and data entry operators employed by flipkart.

You are right. Just because the discount is heavy we cannot claim the seller to have procured the product via grey market. The serial number issue seems to be a practice for no gain as it is very evident from my earlier post that Blaupunkt India very well verified, acknowledged and accepted my Invoice with a wrong serial number but with a proper image of the serial number on the product box.

Now that my Warranty is activated, I feel Blaupunkt India should be aware of this and they only look for the seller name on the invoice and the serial number on the box and accept the warranty registration.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by nagr22

I don't think this is due to malice on part of the seller. It looks like a case of utter incompetence shown by the packers and data entry operators employed by flipkart.

If my understanding is correct, the seller would scan the product and upload the details to the Flipkart seller platform and hand over the parcel to the eKart. The invoice would be generated by the Flipkart Seller platform application .Why would flipkart scan the bar code? This might be the case if the seller is RetailNet or any other retail arm of Flipkart who have all the products listed under them in a large warehouse and it ships directly from there. But here the seller is an independent seller.

Also, the seller would know what is the Serial number and what is barcode.

I Hope Parag gets this resolved. I am being paranoid that is all.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

I Hope Parag gets this resolved. I am being paranoid that is all.

My issue is resolved and my Warranty activated. I posted details above.

My worry was what if Blaupunkt rejected my product and warranty registration just because the serial number is different from one on the box. Thankfully, all is well.

[Aditya]

Serial number scam when ordering electronics online - Posts moved to a new thead.

[sidzz]

I was in a similar situation.

Bought an AC from Amazon. When the installation guys came they opened and found that both the units were previously installed somewhere. The outdoor unit was damaged as well.

I immediately called up Amazon customer care to get a replacement. I was asked to send pictures of the machine and the serial number. To my amazement the customer care rep informed me that the serial number doesnt match my billing details and hence it cannot be returned. Lot of arguments went on for about an hour.

Finally, they settled on taking it back and offering me a refund. Later I bought the same model AC from LG Shoppe at a lower price.

Another incident was with a dishwasher I bought from Amazon. It never arrived and was marked as delivered. After a lot of calls to the customer care it was found that it was damaged in transit and was returned to the seller.

Later bought the same from Pai Electronics at a lower price.

After these two incidents, I never bought any big appliance online. I am okay to pay a little more and have peace of mind.

[Romeo_Mike]

Hearing about these scams quite frequently these days. Which is why, I have started filming the unboxing of every high value item I purchase online. I make sure to capture the s/n and seal intact state in the video before I open the packaging, to avoid any back and forth later on. And before you ask, no I do not have any plan to upload them to youtube at any point in future.

[itwasntme]

Irritating issue for my new OnePlus 7T Pro bought from Darshita Electronics, a big seller on Amazon.

When I tried to buy the screen protect plan through the inbuilt OnePlus Care app, it indicated that the purchase date is 26 March 2020, even though I bought the phone just 4 days back. The same is evidenced by the Amazon invoice.

Will be calling OnePlus of course as well as Amazon, but any tips would be highly appreciated! I don't think it is a scam though.

[Knight Rider]

I believe there is a big scam on 'Returned items'. Bought a fan from Amazon and was not working. Raised a replacement request and the new package was entirely different. Then understood that the old one may have been a returned package.

Bought a portable Bluetooth speaker from flipkart and it was not functioning properly and raised a replacement request, The replacement arrived in a shabby condition with no packaging as compared to the previous one. Had to leave it there because there was no refund option and replacement can be done only once.

Just yesterday had received another package from flipkart containing a mixer grinder which was clearly repacked and arrived with a torn carton box. There were even remains of food from the previous use.

It maybe the case that these returned items are circulated till such time that it gets accepted by an unsuspecting scapegoat. If it was in some other developed countries, the case would have been completely different.

[suzuki san]

Hi Guys,


Just as well I read this thread a few days ago.
Similar thing has happened to me.
A Canon MFP Printer was purchased from Flipkart during the BBD Sale and delivered 3 days ago.
Set up 2 days ago after waiting for "sanitizing" time. Sadly I forgot to do the filming while "unboxing".
I downloaded the invoice right away and noticed there was a huge discrepancy in the serial numbers marked on the box, the machine (both same) and the Invoice (completely different).
It has taken me about 13 hours to get a call back from Flipkart. Just finished with them a few minutes ago. They have "escalated" the matter and promised a resolution by the 22nd. of November.
I mentioned this "Scam" was now common knowledge on the "Net" but did not mention TBHP. There was pin drop silence on the phone when I said this. Lots of apologies and now they have sent me a feedback form!!
Sadly, they do not have an email address one can contact and neither do they have a direct Customer Care number one can call.
Think this may be the last thing I buy on FK!!

Regards,
SS

[coolmind]

Originally Posted by nagr22

3) If no serial number is mentioned in the invoice or if it is different from what is shown in the product, DO NOT accept the package. You never know if they will accept it if you end up in a situation where you have to return it.

I doubt if they takes return immediately even if you open the box infront of the delivery person. They may insist you to raise a new ticket for return pickup as the box was opened. After all, their job is to deliver it but not to take return.
However the case would be different if it was not opened at all.
Anyways thanks for propping up the issue. Personally I have never checked this till now. Will ensure from now on.
The only point of argument to win with flipkart should be that it is their/seller's mistake to raise wrong invoice so they must arrange correct product with correct invoice mentioning the serial number.

[SideView]

Maybe this scam is not affecting the customer but are they doing this just to avoid taxes/GST?

Since no serial number increase they can claim less number of units sold thereby paying less taxes. This is the only reason i can think of.

[logicalidiot]

This is quite scary. I never check the S/N on any of the products I buy online. With all this S/N scams and empty boxes being delivered by e-commerce sites. I guess I'll have to record unboxing videos on every purchases. I'm an avid online shopper and this comes as a bummer but better to be safe than guilty later!

Originally Posted by Knight Rider

Had to leave it there because there was no refund option and replacement can be done only once.

Please don't settle with defective pieces stating their internal policy doesn't allow so. They sure can bend the policy most of the times. But you'd have to waste a LOT of time and blast them at the top of your voice.

Once I bought a Vacuum Cleaner for mom without checking the reviews on Flipkart. Mom started using it immediately but noticed that the product does not work for more than 5 mins at a stretch. The product gets heated and the power gets cut-off. Later, I noticed that all the users had given negative reviews stating the same issue. The brand service centre did not even attend to us despite creating numerous service requests. Eventually had to contact Flipkart only as I had no other option. Got the product replaced twice, but both had the same problem. Eventually demanded a refund, even though their product was not part of the refund policy. Blasted them at the top of my voice for selling defective pieces and they finally budged.

[DHARM]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Although I ordered the same Product that was delivered intact and has been working fine in terms of all the functions, I tried to register the product today and realised that the I am also a victim of this SERIAL NUMBER SCAM.

What doesn't seem like a mere co-incidence and makes me doubt about this malpractice is that the serial number in my invoice matches to that in your invoice .

Attachment 2076168

And when I check the serial number on the box, it is obviously different.

The product registration asks me to upload a copy of the invoice and a photo of the serial number on the sticker on the product box. I am not sure if their system will accept this and register my product if the serial number in the invoice and the one on the box are different!!

I am going to call their customer care and if their response is cold, I will be tweeting too. If this seems like a planned tactic, will also ask mods to create a new thread so this gets highlighted and gains more visibility.

As I said earlier, the product works absolutely fine including steering controls but the mismatch of serial numbers is just not done.

EDIT: I have been able to complete the registration "process" of the product as it asks me to upload images of the invoice and the serial number on the box, verification is pending. The Product will be officially registered after verification and to me this doesn't look straight since numbers don't match. Will wait if I get a rejection e-mail before contacting Flipkart:

Attachment 2076194

Hi Parag,

Have you received any confirmation of your registration after two working days? I just received the product and registered as advised by them and while registering received similar email.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by DHARM

Hi Parag,

Have you received any confirmation of your registration after two working days? I just received the product and registered as advised by them and while registering received similar email.

Guess you missed reading subsequent posts on the same thread where I have shared further details on how the Warranty was activated and I received a confirmation email within an hour after registering and uploading docs.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

Warranty Activated based on the documents I uploaded.

Attachment 2076206

So I lay this speculation of SCAM to rest since Blaupunkt accepted the copy of Invoice I uploaded too.