Flipkart replacement- refund experience - eNidhi India Travel Blog

Flipkart replacement- refund experience

This is not a complaint on flipkart, just narrating my experience.

I’ve had a largely great experience with flipkart so far. Recently we bought a Micromax A58 budget smart phone and a flip cover for it, both from flipkart. The phone was priced about 20% cheaper compared to a physical store near us (Sangeetha guys quoted Rs 4500 for Micromax A58, while flipkart price was Rs 3600) Along with the phone also placed order for a flip cover for Rs 299. (AGS Flipcover for Micromax A58, white, sold by Unbeatenrates.

When I received the cover, I tried to mate the cover and the phone. Surprisingly it won't fit. Cover is apparently of the same size or smaller by few mm, so it couldn't accommodate the phone.  For a cover to fit on a phone, it should be few mm bigger or should have a flexible body to expand-fit the phone-then grip it. The flip cover I got had none. It was brittle and if I try to force fit, I ran a risk of breaking it apart. If there're some unconventional ways of fitting the cover on to the phone, there should have been a piece of paper explaining it. There was none.
Flip cover that doesn't fit- notice the extra dimension of the phone
Either the manufacturer made the phone bigger without telling the accessory maker OR accessory maker got the dimensions wrong and built a shorter case. Or do you think I am missing something?

[Update: One possibility could be that one needs to remove the original back cover on the phone and then use the flipcover's back as the only cover. None of my other phone covers were like this, so it didn't strike me to try this possibility. Neither there was any leaflet to explain this, nor did flipkart support team ask me to try this out]

I raised a request for replacement online. Gave description that the model doesn’t really fit. Without any question, replacement request was accepted. Within few days, I got my replacement. But to my horror, replaced unit was of exactly same size as the exiting unit. Understandably no one read the reason for me asking replacement. They just picked up another piece and sent across. May be the entire batch of mobile covers were of faulty dimension- any number of replacements won’t get me right unit, unless someone intervenes, understands and acts.

I told this to the delivery guy and asked him to take it back- he refused. His job was to delivery and that’s what he did. He said I should accept the piece and then deal with it separately- either file a replacement request or a refund request. He actually appeared little scared that I might file a complaint without collecting the consignment.
Replacement is exactly same dimension as earlier unit, which won't fit again
I called Flipkart support, they said they can’t do anything as the piece is not being shown as ‘Delivered’. I told I am right in front of the delivery guy and just got the piece, but  call centre was helpless. They said collect the replacement, wait till you get a confirmation SMS, then raise a request for refund of the money. I said fine and disconnected.

Eventually got the delivery confirmation msg, raised a request for refund, which was promptly accepted. No questions asked. However, money will be transferred to my account many days later, not instant. Same day flipkart guy came and collected it back. I am now awaiting for refund.

I suggest 3 process improvements here:
1. When someone raises a replacement request, do read the description. Blindly sending replacement for a faulty product with another equally faulty unit is waste of everyone’s time.
2. Give an override option for the process- if the delivery guy is right in front of me and I realize that product is faulty, I should be able to return the product then and there, without having to wait. It helps everyone involved.
3. While giving out combo offers or shipping/listing accessories, some basic checks to ensure compatibility can save lots of efforts later.

This post is not really to blame flipkart-they’re now just a marketplace where different vendors sell their stuff.  The accessory maker who put up his covers for sale claiming compatibility with a phone should have been more careful. As Sheshadri commented below, I should thank Flipkart for their no-questions-asked replacement and refund policy. There're lots of websites out there who won't even bother replying- let alone refund or replace. 

The product is just worth 300 Rs, but the time and effort spent on it- to order, to walk from desk all the way to office entrance to meet delivery guy 3 times, then the disappointment that it is not fitting, effort in logging a refund request, follow up etc is not worth it. These are some limitations of online shopping- you can’t feel the product and check its quality. Of course the reliability of online shopping is increasing day by day and incidents like above are very minimal. But this has made me think one more time before ordering everything online.

I've given a negative review for this product on flipkart- let me see if that gets published

I will continue to buy from flipkart, but will be little more careful.

Update: I've received the full refund on time.

Similar: Cashkaro cashback site * Shopping complex at Marina bay sands * 10 tips to avoid Diwali shopping templation *

57 comments:

  1. Does flipcart has reviews like Amazon? That might help a great deal when placing an order?

    ReplyDelete
  2. It does. We referred to all reviews while buying the phone. they were very helpful.

    However I didn't bother researching much for the cover- kind of took it for granted. And there were no reviews for this product

    http://www.flipkart.com/ags-flip-cover-micromax-58/p/itmdvz7mrmjguptg?pid=ACCDVZ7MBJBG7PU7

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is pretty interesting. I have never really tried their replacement bit, but its quite nice they are improving on many fronts and owning up. I really like their philosophy of putting the customer first. Having said that, I think you are right, they need to read the customer feedback properly, esp when someone asks for a replacement. I always thought they were a step ahead from the mechanical delivery system cos they tried to understand the customer. Looks like lots of work to do :) ..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Nidhi,

    Appreciate flipkart and thank them, there are lots of website today which takes money, ships a nonsense product and give a damm to customer complaints,

    its pretty difficult for one to take it up legally also because of the hassles that are involved,

    @times flipkart may not meet your expectations (may be 1 in 20 times), but you can be rest assured that they wont let you down.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for sharing your experience.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sheshadri: True. I've updated the post with your opinion

    Vinay: They have good process in place- a bit of human touch could do wonders

    Linda: Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am also facing the same issue. how can i get refund after delivery of the item? pl guide me. by the way have u got the money refunded? if no, when r u expecting the money into your account? pl help me out

    ReplyDelete
  8. Call their helpline and log a request for refund. You need to return the goods in its original packing.

    I've got few calls and emails, stating refund has been initiated and may take 3 days...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Nidhi,

    Did u get the refund back within the mentioned time period.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi

    Yes, I did get the amount credited to my account on time

    ReplyDelete
  11. How can we get the refund? Didn't they offer replacement instead of refund?

    ReplyDelete
  12. They did offer replacement. I have written about it in the post

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Nidhi,

    First of all thanx for sharing your experience.I bought a watch which has a black dial.In the pics posted it looked very much visible and bright but when i got it i could hardly make out anything in the night under normal household lighting.

    Raised a refund request as replacement of the watch wont help , as the original product is no where near in the one in pics.

    Please share your thoughts in a suitable course of action if my request is denied..

    Thanx.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Well, they usually entertain refund request without much questioning..

    If they deny, then you can opt from following options-
    Buy from competition now onwards
    Go to Consumer forum
    Log a complain and request flipkart to reconsider their decision
    Or live with the watch

    ReplyDelete
  15. OMG SAME EXPERIENCE!!!!! But I'm yet to initiate refund procedure. Is it complicated? Can u please describe? Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  16. First of all your complaint itself is wrong, and your update quote is perfectly the reply for your problem, I got a Lava phone with a flip cover(of a different colour), to use it the very first time I removed the original back cover and inserted the phone into the fllp cover and it fits perfectly tight with a click, this is purely common sense to find out rather than blaming the company and the manufacturer/provider of flip cover, such a long process of returning and claiming refund would have been avoided with a little thinking, however I like and appreciate your other posts.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anon: Refund process is simple

    Prabhu: Agree.. I should have done more research, but what surprised me is that slightest effort was not done to understand why customer is not happy with the product.

    ReplyDelete
  18. There was nothing wrong with the dimensions of the flip cover.
    You can't put two covers on the phone.
    You should take off the original back cover and put the new one.

    ReplyDelete
  19. @Naveen, as explained in the article, I realized it little late..

    ReplyDelete
  20. I too have my story.. i purchased a s3 Neo samsung mobile which does not read the memory card and i asked for refund... the story goes on and on..on 16th feb i got the parcel and i unpacked it on 19th and found the fault. so i immediately reqeusted for refund.. they said 5 days and in my order section they quoted it will be picked up on 21st feb 15.. and another mail told it as 24.2.15 .. another online contact person told it as 25.2.15 and on 25th they.. say it is 26.2.15.. GOD ONLY KNOWS. the problem is that this mobile is not sold in stores and these people are the only resort and they try to send waste ones and utilise our money at free of cost.. just think 13000 for 25 days.. in this world of interest rates.. it is free money.. so ENJOY FLIPCART.. as long as fools like me exist.. you people should enjoy our money at free of cost.. kudos.. keep it up..

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks for sharing your experience. Keep us posted

    ReplyDelete
  22. Since it has become a market place, flipkart has to balance both sellers and buyers... sometime sellers also get arrogant or demanding and it gets touch

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hello, this is really very good blog post, thanks

    ReplyDelete
  24. Am facing on troble my moto e phone not working speaker problem so please help my mail id ponnesh.bandi44@gamil.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. thanx for exprnce,,, itz superb post blog,,, i loved it..

    ReplyDelete
  26. I've purchased a 5k headset from seller big retail through flip kart 26th morning got my product after 8hrs intense testing found that its not compatible with my device then today morning I requested flipkart to refund my money since I don't want that product any more ... Can they accept my request if not then what.

    ReplyDelete
  27. hmm, didn't know buying headset is so complicated.. what was incompatible? Let us know if they accept refund request

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hey friends..I v ordered and received a RC helicopter today. Remote and helicopter both r not working..its in dead condition..i raised a return request to flipkart..don't know how long it will take to get a new one...fully waste of time..

    ReplyDelete
  29. Did you get the money back? How many days did it take?

    ReplyDelete
  30. I received full refund within reasonable time. Don't remember exact no of days

    ReplyDelete
  31. Return process is pretty straight forward. Not sure why you are having concerns

    ReplyDelete
  32. Flipkart Cheating people buy delivering cheap quality of product while festival season !


    I have purchased Sansui LED TV from Flipkart.com OD404348646881274000 @25000/- on 04 November 2015, delivered tv has many issues regarding quality and features.


    This Full HD TV has low quality of resolution like cheap led. i can't connect my home theater with this Tv, some video formats doesn't support with it like MKV and Divx.

    while watching led tv i can see so many snow and patches over screen that doesn't give Full Hd tv's output.

    i request for return/exchange but they denied.

    we trusted on flipkart that they will deliver us to a genuine and best product but now i am very disappointed they have cheated us.


    if i would have purchased this tv from market it could exchanged with another TV but flipkart does't return or exchange.


    Now I don't know what to do with this TV.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Curious why are they refusing a replacement.. Was it a reputed seller?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Extremly disappntd...i ordered corioliss hair straightener on fipkrt n they sold me fake one..now dont know whethr they will retrn my money back or not..(confused )...whethr it will be worth lodgng cmpln fr money back!

    ReplyDelete
  35. do they offer replacement even if i dont have original box ?! i got all the things i recieved in packaging...

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hi, the same thing happened with me also, Where did you receive your refund (flipkart wallet or bank account) ?

    ReplyDelete
  37. I had purchased Lee 1s cell phone, it has lot of problems, so requested for money return, but they send a email by saying out technicians have solved the problem, so we cannot refund, nothing is refunded, STEP BELIEVING FLIPCART.

    ReplyDelete
  38. @Derick- I got back into credit card account...

    @ K V G: Thanks for alerting others.. Refund request is big loss for flipkart and seller, so they try to avoid it as much as possible- particularly big ticket items.

    ReplyDelete
  39. flipkart says that money will be credited in 8 business days can I get it or not pls say

    ReplyDelete
  40. can I get my refund because it is cancelled because of pincode mismatch it is a 25000 purchase
    they say it will we get in 8 business days
    can I get it or not
    pls give your opinion about refund from flipkart

    ReplyDelete
  41. @Sumin
    If they have accepted refund claim then usually it will be honored and will be credited within reasonable time. Wait for a week

    ReplyDelete
  42. Tracking No. : FMPP0059118542 Order ID - OD506768458259781000
    Product - SAMSUNG Galaxy On7 (Gold, 8 GB) [Incident: IN1608301955196547333] Display issue, Replace same prdouct.

    Flipkart is not taking any responsibility for their courier partner mistake, I placed an order and courier person didn’t handover to me without any reason and informed that customer refuse to accept which is totally false. I kept writing and following flilkart for more than 5 days for this issue and nothing they resolved. I had loss of time and money in re order same items as price of product has been changes . I was expecting that flipkart will provide me that item in same price to correct their end mistake but they didn’t and totally refused. I am really very disappointed and give minus marking to FLIPKART.

    Tanmay Kumar - 9818502078

    ReplyDelete
  43. Sumin Santosh ... Did u get ur refund back n on time??

    ReplyDelete
  44. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Shankar ghode replacement order moto 3 sorry

    ReplyDelete
  46. Never ever buy any electronic item from Flipkart. The quality is very bad. they do not deliver what they display. I recently bought a Philips BT64B/94 Portable Bluetooth Mobile Speaker which is really bad and not worth the price. I asked for a return and refund but I was told that it cannot be returned. I even said that I would buy some other product in lieu of the same but that too was not allowed. The worst part is that their prices are also much higher in comparison to other online sellers such as Amazon. I am going to file a complaint with the consumer forum shortly.

    ReplyDelete
  47. I have ordered 2-3 backcover s and I want only one will I be able to return the cover after it gets delivered to me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hmm, why did you order more than what you needed?
      If they have a 'no question refund policy' then yes, but not sure for cheap items like phone covers- cost of shipping back n forth will be more than cost of product- why burden them unnecessarily?

      Delete
  48. I recently buyed moto g40 fusion from flipkart but it has display problem so I contacted the customer service they telled do troubleshoot but nothing worked it is defective product so they rejected 2 times after they approved technician if technician don't solve then we will replace it then I returned that product today so I want refund because they are wasting so much time and they sending other mobile. if I not accept that order then what happens if they refund my money or I lose both money and mobile
    So please help me guys

    ReplyDelete

Appreciate your efforts and interests to comment. Comments may be moderated due to increased spam. Will ideally respond to comments within few days.Use Anonymous option if you don't wish to leave your name/ID behind- Shrinidhi

Powered by Blogger.