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ravi_patent

Ecommerce Websites - Good, Bad and Ugly!

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hi all

the purpose of this post is to share information on ecommerce websites and their best and worst practices.( irrestible deals are increasing day by day and we some times become apprehensive of the seller, while the price keeps tempting) . by sharing problems and methods approached in solving , i hope everybody is empowered/ benefited/motivated.

i share my experince with naaptol to begin with

boought a rel netconnect modem worth rs990 using sosata coupon ,for rs 590

didnt receive the modem even after 10 days.writing to CEO only resulted in single liner response asking some subordinate to look into . the sunordinate took inordinate time and another 10 days passed.nothing happened

so wrote to sosasta ceo asking him why

they are promoting naaptol who doesnt know to even respond let alone honouring the deal.i have reminded about ethics of groupon .(sosasta is now part of groupon.com ).

got refund with out giving no reason after sosasta ceo intervened with naaptol.

mailed to ministry of consumer affairs also ,some how i have not got any response.

my experience with firstcry/hushbaby/adexmart/tradus /ebay has been very good till date .

my experience with naaptol is bad but i consider it as a learning experience

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Good Topic. +1

Naaptol begun as a Price comparison engine. Later decided to jump into Selling also. Problem with it is that it does not sell directly & don't stock the items but procures from hundreds of sellers registered there.

Most of sellers there are typical Brick & Mortar Shop Sellers looking for some additional sales. But sales at Naaptol currently constitute a very miniscule portion of their total sales. So it's more of an amazement activity for them rather than serious selling unlike Ebay, where many sellers are specialist online sellers only.

And unlike Ebay, Naaptol don't have good protection policies or proper selling structure with vendors. So in the event a seller don't honour the deal, they pretty much can't do anything except turn the tables on final customer which is what must have happenned with you.

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you are correct rajan.naaptol as search engine for price comparision is good just as shopmania.in .it is indeed strange to say that for a miniscule amount of turnover ,they want to tar their image .

just as an example tradus has mailed me on their own in view of a 2 day delay that i will be refunded in case the item is not delivered in 3 days. unlike physical transaction, in online transactions such things play an important role.as soon as the money is paid electronically ,the customer becomes anxious to receive.thats the reason why many ppl refrain from online transactions in first place.

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I have ordered books from Flipkart and Nbconline and never faced any issue .They have promptly delivered the books right on time.

Once ordered from bookadda.com and it took 10-12 days for them to deliver the book.Infibeam is worst.They will show the item on their website available and the wait for delivery is too long after the order date.As the delivery date comes near they will update the website and also mail if the book is not available.I dont understand why the inventory on the website is not updated and customers are kept waiting for long time :'(

My suggestion for book lovers is to call all these online ecommerce site before placing the order and confirm the stock.

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Flipkart, gr8 inventory,tracking,

and best service.

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i had the worst experience with indiatimes ...thy still owe me money and nobody is ready to listen....napptol was no better as whn thy took order thy told me tht thy will send by my choiced courier but ultimately thy sent it by thier choiced courier only which didnt provide any service to my city .....flipkart was fast in sending ...though infibeam took time of abt 8 -10 days but since both flipkart and infibeam were providing COD option i did not worry since no money was paid at the time of ordering ....only once thy deliverd the goods thy took money from me....

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Helpful post. Thanks Ravi :)

I have done some 50+ transactions in ebay and baring two stray incidents where defective products were send to me (and later replaced on raising issue) everything worked smooth.

Points to note :

  • Learn all you can about the item. Read the item description carefully.
  • Read Seller’s feedback. From the item page, click on the number in brackets after the seller's User ID. From here you'll see what other buyers have had to say about doing business with the seller. This is an important piece of information about the seller. You can alsu use ‘Contact eBay Member’ feature to ask a buyer his experience with the seller.
  • Research the item's value. Look at similar completed eBay listings using the completed listings search. You can also visit online shops that sell similar items and ask friends to help determine what the item is worth.
  • Review the seller's current items to get an idea of this person's areas of expertise. For example, if the seller has only sold recipes, and then lists a plasma television, make sure that you’re comfortable with the transaction before you bid :P

Have used Flipkart couple of times without any pain.

You may also want to read my earlier post on safe online shopping.

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Had a similar experience with Infibeam. Had ordered 2 rare books which were to be procured from the US. So delivery time was some 20 - 25 days something, but they took MONTHS to deliver it! The excuse given was that the parcels are stuck with US customs. However, they were rare books and at a good price. They were 2nd hand, but as promised, they were in pretty good condition. Worst thing was they never replied to any of my emails and I had to keep making STD calls to their customer service. Twice they gave false timelines for delivery.

Also experienced delays with NBCIndia - around 2 - 5 days. Not too bad, but then they shouldn't promise shorter delivery times. The worst thing about them is the website, (esp. the earch engine) - it plain sux.

The fastest delivery times I'v experienced by far is probably Crossword. Also the packing was amongst the best I'v seen... with bubble wrap and all. Packing is really important, as otherwise there is additional risk of damage by the courier company... and I can't stand damaged books. A close 2nd would be Landmark. However, their packing was nowhere close though books were luckily undamaged. Unfortunately, both have very limited catlogues.

The overall best is of course Flipkart. Except for slightly longer delivery times compared to Crossword, they win on every count, esp. really good customer service. However, their prices are not always the best.

Edited by raccoon

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thanks kartik.

i have sent complaints@core.nic.in at min of consumer affairs .can anybody

share any other email address for consumer grievances .

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Any opinion about this site - spicybids. The offers look out of this world :blink:

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It is penny auction website nothing but trap, I have wasted money buying bids to bid on items so advice do not go for these.

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Had a good experience with yebhi.com. Ordered this item http://www.rimweb.in...post__p__231720 Order placing time was 3.35 p.m. It was shipped by 4.52 p.m. same day through Blue Dart... Received a tracking number on SMS as well as reflected in the Online Account immediately.. Received delivery... Goods were authentic as described...

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@rajanji, Yes yebhi is good site, I have ordered 5 items till now.. All are delivered promptly.. Quality also good

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Tradus

Ordered Philips USB charger with INR100 discount coupon, got refund as the product was out of stock. They gave INR100 discount coupon.

Ordered book with the INR100 discount coupon, order got refunded inspite me communicating not to refund, but they initiated order refund.

Poor customer service, no acknowledgement of concern. Worst point is they make repeat mistakes.

1/5.

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Tradus always delay products ordered on coupon that in last you'll ask for refund. I have stopped using them.

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Tradus - bought twice using coupons. Didn't have any issues. They replied to email promptly too. However, in one of those instances they sent the pen drive in just a plastic bag. No other packing at all, except the pendrive's own packing which hardly offers any protection. Thankfully, it arrived without any visual damage.

Futurebazaar - On the other extreme when it came to the packing. The last order was for 3 items which arrived in big boxes. Heck, even the towel was sent in thick box! With all that packing, one would think the stuff would survive coming thru a war zone, lol! But no environmental concerns about using so much packing material? :Equivocado:

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raccoon

may be the packing depends seller. sd card bought through tradus was well packed(dont remember seller) .hope you brought to the notice of tradus

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what do u guys think about lynx-india

i've heard people have had bad experiences with it.. should i go for it?

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raccoon

may be the packing depends seller. sd card bought through tradus was well packed(dont remember seller) .hope you brought to the notice of tradus

Are all items on tradus sold thru individual sellers? The plastic bag had Tradus printed on it and as far as I can recall even the address was of Tradus itself (don't recall for sure though). I did think about bringing it to their notice, but due to lack of time and due to the fact that there was no visible damage, it skipped my mind.

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^

i think so. u can still raise the issue.they ought to not repeat the mistake .i have seen sellers with different addresses .

Edited by ravi_patent

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:previous: Its been approx. 3 months since it got delivered. Raising the issue now will not be appropriate.

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seems that tradus is rejecting majority of orders which are coming through disconut coupons on the basis of product out of stock

unethical and unprofessional practice because it should be mention on the buying page that the product is out of stock as flipkart and letsbuy do.

so far in electronics category letsbuy and flipkart are clear winner

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Ordered Items but not delivered / failed to get response from Customer Care - Frequently reading such posts under other Topics. ence I thought it will be helpful to consolidate such posts / feedback about the Online Stores. For those who are ordering new, with any such companies to be cautious or be prepared for delay or Order cancellations.

Recently (2nd May12) I ordered for a Logitech Mouse with ShopClues.com - paid thru my Credit Card, Order also accepted and till now showing as "Processing". I sent couple of Reminder mails & tried to reach their phone support - totally no response. Even the so called "Live support" is dead - unanswered :(

Previous experience with Shopclues for 2 silly items were really good - delivered fast but this one is testing the patience.

How to go about?

stop_shouting.jpg

Edited by Arun
<< Topic Merged >>

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^ posting on their fb & twitter pages may be of some help..

ordered yesterday's deal of mortein and paid through icici netbanking, but the status of the transaction appeared as "incomplete checkout". calls made to customer support were unanswered, mailed them the reference no., but till today afternoon the status was same... tried their live chat, but didn't get response for 25 mins. or so.. then messaged them on fb & immediately i got the chat response & then my order status was updated..

almost same instance earlier, ordered 3 parker pen deal on cod basis & my order was cancelled citing reason phone not reachable, then i reordered it, again on cod, and got ONE pen only.. :bash:

Samsung earphones stands nowhere, in terms of sound reproduction (at par with cheap maxx or beetel earphones - costing 30-50 Rs.)

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^ posting on their fb & twitter pages may be of some help.. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . :bash:

Thanks, I posted as you have suggested in both fb & t

and I received reply in a days time. (.....Inventory problem .......will be shipping tomorrow.. . ..)

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