Flipkart: feedback on their business practices.

[Shivam]

All my problems have been with WS Retail.

 

[manzb]

2. It seems Flipkart is not selling most stuff; private sellers do. One "WS Retail" is the most common one I saw.
3. The shipping thing mentioned above is for that seller only. So the order amount of minimum 500 should be from the same seller.

I don't want Flipkart to go down. It's the only Indian eCommerce portal that raised people's hopes.

It's good that Disney responded and sent the Bluray packs. I guess most people who do face the issue of region coding etc, just find a PC and rip it and burn it on a blank DVD and then watch it on the PS3. Most people don't have the patience to followup and put up a fight. No wonder people turn to pirated internet downloads when so many hurdles are created to cripple genuine buyers.

WS retail is Flipkart themselves.

I agree that as of now it is the only one, which is giving hope of being someone who can give proper service to customer. Though sites like Yebhi, Jabong etc are also not bad (my experience so far is good with them) but they are more of Apparel portal.

Regarding the region coding, I also agree with you. God knows, what fun they gets by that. If someone is paying for the media, they should be happy, irrespective of which region he belongs. It is a kind of apartheid of modern era.

I now own few BDs of region A & B, which I can't play as my BDP is of Region C. Only official way is to have a BDP of all region or region free. So I am forced to go for the Downloaded stuff for such restricted titles. It's a loss to them and not mine. I am ready to pay, they are not ready to sell.

 

[just4kix]

Regarding the region coding, I also agree with you. God knows, what fun they gets by that. If someone is paying for the media, they should be happy, irrespective of which region he belongs. It is a kind of apartheid of modern era.

I now own few BDs of region A & B, which I can't play as my BDP is of Region C. Only official way is to have a BDP of all region or region free. So I am forced to go for the Downloaded stuff for such restricted titles. It's a loss to them and not mine. I am ready to pay, they are not ready to sell.

That's very appropriate. I agree with you.

 

[Vijay_s]

Beware of buying items like belt, shoes etc from flipkart without knowing the size. They will not exchange. Here is the reply I received from flipkart,

-------------------------------------------------
Product : United Colors of Benetton Belt (901)

I would like to inform you that we have already mentioned the dimensions belt on the product page.

On checking the records I see that you have placed an order for "United Colors of Benetton Belt (901)" and we have delivered the same to you. Hence, I will be unable to take the product back.

Please be informed that as per the company procedure we do not have the exchange policy.

I request your kind cooperation and understanding in this regard.
------------------------------------------------------

Lost Rs 1469/- in this deal

 

[Santy]

But I could see the size is mentioned precisely

SPECIFICATIONS OF UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON BELT (901)
GENERAL
Ideal For Men
Belt Size Small
Reversible Belt Yes
Material Leather
Body Features Rectangular Buckle
Style Code 13P6BLGN71XMI
Color Code 901
DIMENSIONS
Width 35 mm
Length 939 mm

 

[Vijay_s]

But I could see the size is mentioned precisely

SPECIFICATIONS OF UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON BELT (901)
GENERAL
Ideal For Men
Belt Size Small
Reversible Belt Yes
Material Leather
Body Features Rectangular Buckle
Style Code 13P6BLGN71XMI
Color Code 901
DIMENSIONS
Width 35 mm
Length 939 mm

There is belt measurement guideline available in website that says measurement is upto the third hole of the belt so I bought it, but turned out to be total length of belt in reality

Anyway I have deactivated my account, no longer want this hassle..

 

[Rupam]

Flipkart always delete any negative comment / criticism from their website review. I have seen my reviews vanishing just because I wrote that delivery took exceedingly long. I received an e-mail saying that my review has been removed and the complaint was reported to the concerned person. But instead of sending an e-mail they could have replied on my review page itself so that other potential buyers could see the problem and flipkart's reaction. I think its a very one-sided policy where only the praising reviews of flipkart will be tolerated and other are selectively removed.

 

[Santy]

Oh sad to know that. As many people seem to agree, Flipkart is great as long as things go well. But when it comes to issues such as this which need a sensitive customer support, things seem to go awry.

 

[ruenigma]

Had decent experience so far with Flipkart. But recently had a really weird incident. Daft Punk's Random Access Memories CD was available on pre-order. The pre-order offer clearly mentioned a free Daft Punk mask with it. (The Vinyl is still on pre-order and also has the same offer). I placed the pre-order hoping I'd get the mask.

I got the CD last week, and there was no mask. I mailed FK support about it. By that time the "pre-order" item was turned to "Available" and the offer was gone. The customer support rep insisted on seeing the item on sale that I ordered which obviously is not there now. Since I was dumb enough to trust FK on the offer and not any screen-shots while ordering I have no evidence about it. The way this was handled really left a sour taste.

Going ahead, though I'll continue to shop online, I'll be very very skeptical and cautious. :-/

 

[jsmithe]

Had decent experience so far with Flipkart. But recently had a really weird incident. Daft Punk's Random Access Memories CD was available on pre-order. The pre-order offer clearly mentioned a free Daft Punk mask with it. (The Vinyl is still on pre-order and also has the same offer). I placed the pre-order hoping I'd get the mask.

I got the CD last week, and there was no mask. I mailed FK support about it. By that time the "pre-order" item was turned to "Available" and the offer was gone. The customer support rep insisted on seeing the item on sale that I ordered which obviously is not there now. Since I was dumb enough to trust FK on the offer and not any screen-shots while ordering I have no evidence about it. The way this was handled really left a sour taste.

Going ahead, though I'll continue to shop online, I'll be very very skeptical and cautious. :-/

They tried a similar trick on me too once. Mentioning consumer court, false advertising, the fact that my invoice clearly indicated the freebie as well as that I had saved the FK page showing the freebie with the item got them to reincarnate the freebie double-quick and send it across.

Apparently, freebie's get swiped somewhere in the fulfillment chain and the hope is that the customer doesn't notice. On the flip side, on other occasions I've had FK's customer service actually call and check whether I received freebies that were listed with the item.

Check to see if your invoice mentions the free item. FK used to respond quickly enough on Twitter and sort things out, so you could tweet them with a #FalseAdvertising tag and see if it gets them to wake up and do the right thing by you.

 

[ruenigma]

Thanks jsmithe. I am not really keen on following it up, it was just a mask anyway, just wanted to bring to the forum's attention so that all of us could be a little more alert going ahead.

 

[Rgn1]

From the Times of India:

'Just for fun' orders trip Flipkart, company stops goods delivery over Rs 10,000 to customers in UP - The Times of India

LUCKNOW: India's largest e-commerce dealer Flipkart has stopped delivering consignments worth more than Rs 10,000 to customers in Uttar Pradesh, including NCR regions of Noida and Ghaziabad. While Flipkart said the decision was "purely business oriented", insiders said there were numerous instances of customers ordering expensive goods on the cash on delivery scheme and refusing to accept their orders. There have also been cases of fraud in which lost or stolen credit cards were used to book orders online.

The company said it was a conscious business decision and refused to give details that led to the money cap in UP, the most populous state in the country which also happens to be the largest consumer base for all trading companies.

The portal's shipment delivery staff in Lucknow, however, gave insight, saying there were incidents in which customers ordered expensive goods and then refused to accept them. Sources said many people logged on to Flipkart and ordered "just for fun".

"It takes a minimum of 10 days to ship a product to a customer and back to the company if it's not purchased. It causes loss to sellers, selling through Flipkart, as their products get blocked in transit," a senior Flipkart executive told TOI.

A lot of logistical cost is added while moving an order from the company's warehouse to a consumer. This included shipping and insurance costs, especially in case of expensive products, besides state taxes. The transportation cost is in proportion to a products' value, hence return of any expensive product would mean incurring greater loss than rejection of a small value order, priced less than Rs 10,000.

"A company takes such extreme decisions only when its overall profitability gets affected while delivering high value products. While delivering across the nation, a company has to comply with a lot of taxation policies of state governments. Scaling up the order value means increasing the risk factor," commented the portal's nearest competitor in the country.

 

[Shivam]

(on a lighter mood this can be interpreted as- )

Going by the Times of India article, Buyers/Customers should stop paying using other methods too in the light of multiple orders which are recently getting cancelled very often. The money remains with flipkart for a long duration and then is returned back to the customers.

This leads to loss of whatever minimal interest the money might have earned, problems in maintaining the balance in the bank account (non-maintenance charges) and the obvious frustration at not getting the item ordered after a long wait.

 

[anm]

it may be the beginning of end for flipkart. Amazon is here so anyways they don't have much chance of making profit for maybe another decade. Then there were reports in forbes about in-fighting and favortism to ppl from a particular hostel from IITD. Forbes India Magazine - Can Flipkart Deliver?

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

it may be the beginning of end for flipkart.

That would be such a shame. Not only did Flipkart give me as close as possible to the experience of browsing in a good bookshop, they also gave me books that I long failed to find in London shops

 

[sbg]

it may be the beginning of end for flipkart. Amazon is here so anyways they don't have much chance of making profit for maybe another decade. Then there were reports in forbes about in-fighting and favortism to ppl from a particular hostel from IITD. Forbes India Magazine - Can Flipkart Deliver?

to meeee this looks like a smear campaign to an extent....from Network 18.

Flipkart also has to fight off aggressive competition from the likes of Infibeam.com, Homeshop18.com (owned by Network 18, Forbes Indias publisher), Snapdeal.com and Indiaplaza.com. In books, for instance, Flipkart has over the last few months started raising prices across the board.

Read more: Forbes India Magazine - Can Flipkart Deliver?

 

[just4kix]

Amazon has still a long way to go. They are not allowed warehousing add per FDI rules. So they have to depend upon others for customer satisfaction - not something that would make me comfortable if I was Amazon chief. Flipkart will survive; for quite some time at least. Our who knows? Amazon may fold up.

What I mean to say is, let us not jump to premature conclusions.

 

[echo77]

At least FlipKart can end up becoming a very good courier service!

 

[Rupam]

Well I think flipkart is going to survive for some time. Becoz of their reputation and good service. They have readjusted their vectors according to the demand and stopped selling LCD and other heavy home appliances such as washing machines.
Its true that their book inventory is the best in India, they also import books from abroad.

 

[Santy]

If they (amazon) are not allowed to stock items in their own warehouse, then what do they do at their 2.5 lakh sq ft fulfillment centre in Mumbai ? Is it same as 'Sorting facility' of flipkart? But still, that is humongous.