Team-BHP - The Online Shopping Thread

On Aug 26 (late night) I ordered two Philips Xtreme Vision H4 55W bulbs from www.autotrends.in. They cost Rs 1140/- for the pair which was reasonable and fully in line with what other websites / vendors were quoting (Most quote Rs 1200+). Shopclues had a seller quoting Rs 1090 but I did not want to take a chance with quality. While browsing through their stuff I also bought a cheap 12V mobile charger for Rs 199/- (make Avery) which was selling for Rs 250/- on other sites. I liked the charger because it comes as a detachable USB + Cable unit instead of a single solid piece. Payment was by CC.

The morning after the purchase I received an email with an Aramex tracking number. Today (Aug 28) the package was delivered at about 1700. The product is shipped from Mumbai.

Here is an outside view:

On opening two layers of plain plastic wrapping there's a bubble wrapped package.

Inside the bubble-wrapping is the charger in a paper box and another cardboard wrap. Under the cardboard is another layer of triple bubblewrapping with the blister-packed bulbs safely cocooned with newspaper padding.

Here are the bulbs themselves (date of manufacture is 04/2014 and make is Poland) The blister pack looks a little different (red colour) from the ones seen on google images (blue) but it looks genuine enough with hologram and all.

Overall excellent shipping and packaging was first-class! Now to install the bulbs and hope they are worth it :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by deathwalkr (Post 3518008)

Have had multiple cases where i had to claim for refund due to seller mistakes. Never once have i been let down.

True, And the point is ebay doesn't want to listen to customer, they show there so called timelines, which are always in favour of seller and ebay. And most amazing part, with all harassment we as customer doesn't have rite to cancel the order (isn't this enough to stay away from these cheaters)

Quote:

Originally Posted by phamilyman (Post 3517205)

Please share more details- did you change your address to a new one, or was it the same address you order your stuff and still it got canceled?

It all started after I had ordered Moto G. I paid for it online and it reached me in no time. After that I ordered a Karbonn phone for a friend ,that also I got. Then all my orders have been cancelled. Clothes,mobiles,memory cards ,perfumes .I can give many examples. I changed my address when they said not reachable (!) then again cancelled. Paid or COD ,it got cancelled.
This time it was an 8GB memory card :Shockked:
Yes I took it up with customer care and still nobody is sure if they will deliver the next item I want. I am wonder with the excuses they give .Once they even told that they lost the package from the courier boy.

In Flipkart is there a rule that I cannot order for somebody else?
But around me people are doing that and they are getting the items.
Waiting for a Karbonn Octa phone now. (COD).No idea what will happen for the Redme now.:Frustrati

Snapdeal had provided much better services.So preferring Snapdeal now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by commonman (Post 3518031)

Interesting. Please put up a blog etc with detailed information and we can raise some noise on twitter to get them to respond.

Quote:

Originally Posted by commonman (Post 3518031)

Snapdeal had provided much better services.So preferring Snapdeal now.

It's Flipkart's loss anyway. And offlate I don't see any price advantage on flipkart which previously was the case.

As I said, SD has improved a lot as compared to their earlier reputation. Have ordered lot of items from them in last one year and they have delivered to satisfaction-everytime . The prices are lower than flipkart. Once they shipped the wrong item to me. I put up a complain. They arranged for a pickup and the item was replaced with the correct one.

My wifey wanted to order some nice track pants, which were not available in brick and mortar shops. The price difference between Flipkart and Snapdeal was about 90 bucks. Cost 450 on FK and 360 on SD.
Interestingly, the seller was the same on both sites. I guess they need to pay more commission to FK for listing.
I went ahead and ordered from SD and saved 270 bucks.. The price advantage in FK is restricted to only a few products if at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sam003 (Post 3518010)

Think you misunderstood me. I meant that even after issues due to seller error, ebay has always refunded/credited the amount back after claiming it under paisa pay protection.

True they have timelines and such but then i do keep a track of everything and ensure ball is in their court always.

Recent experience was with a mobile phone pouch which even though it was advertised specifically for that particular mobile model, it did not fit.

Claimed it.

Got amount of money spent and 10% additional as store credit. And the pouch is still with me.

Me & Pepperfry...

At least they didn't ignore my complaint this time, and I received an apology, a statement that they were unable to obtain the item from the supplier, and a assurance that the item would be refunded.

They do have a good range of household items and furniture: I guess I'll be giving them another chance.

i bought a Philips universal USB Charger from Ezoneonline.com for a 60% discount,
I got a damaged package where one of the pin was bent by a impact even though the charger was in a packed box which was punctured by the impact.
Upon calling customer care there was little response, after 8 days I got a reply from Ezoneonline that I should visit a phillips customer care center to show them the damaged pin :)
Stay away from Ezone , or be cautious if the discounts are more.
Healthkart , Snap deal ,homeshop18, have better customer care and they respond well and promptly

Quote:

Originally Posted by F150 (Post 3518350)

@ Common man - Have you purchased the device successfully at least once ? I mean do you already own a Mi3 purchased from Flipkart with the same account ?

Flipkart should not cancel an order just because he/she has successfully purchased Mi3 during a previous sale

(The restriction on purchase is 'One phone per registered user per sale')

Wanted to update people about this site - http://planetsportsonline.com (part of future group)

I ordered a beige size 9 skechers sports shoe which was on offer early August. First, they sent a navy blue shoe. Raised a complaint & after follow up, they took it back but sent me the same shoe back again (same torn box even). Upon further escalation, they managed send me a beige shoe this time, but size 7 now! So, awaiting for feedback on what to do next with my 2 pairs (beige7 and blue9) of shoes which I are currently delivered to my residence.

Customer care is not responsive. However, their escalation contact - Mr Joseph (who seem to be very popular on the internet for complaints addressal - I am praising him here based on internet feedback & my experience) is very responsive, but some how they seem to be failing miserably with their logistics here. Reminds me of Future group's earlier online disaster named futurebazaar.com where they ran into all kinds of problems.

So, as a rule (which I preach always, but goofed up this time), we should always stick to COD option for any unknown/new/untrusted e-commerce sites in India to avoid spending hours on follow-ups.

I ordered a Tablemate-II from tbuy.in yesterday. Rs.50 for 24-hour delivery and they were true to their literal word: it arrived just short of 23 hours later than checkout!

It is not the greatest piece of furniture I ever saw, but my wife wanted it and I think it is going to be very adequate for her use. The delivery guy had a stack of them on a bike. Obviously popular!