It is very sad to see so many people wasting their hard earned money on bad products and/ services in India. Tech savvy consumers prefer to go to various online forums in order to vent their anger. Sometimes this works and after seeing the online repercussion, few companies change/ repair the product and/ or make refund. But hardly you will find a company in India compensating you for the negligence on their part unless and until there is intervention of courts. WE THE CONSUMERS ARE MOSTLY TAKEN FOR GRANTED IN INDIA.
This post is written by me so that you can have some technical knowledge of suing the sellers in case there is some deficiency in products or services.
Step I
In case you have received any product and/ or services with which you are not comfortable/ happy/ dissatisfied or just say the product is bad or defective, directly communicate [either customer care via phone but preferably by email] and try to settle the issue. Ask for refund or a fresh product within a specific deadline, say 3-7 days, and if the seller obliges, move on. No need of further investment of time with the issue. But remember, it is your hard earned money which you have paid, and it was instantly transferred to the sellers account, so getting a refund should be as quick as you have made the payment. But unfortunately, while receiving the amount the companies do it in a second, but 99% of these companies have a very slow and stupid refund policy. Again here, you are taken for granted. During the course, you can also write reviews/ feedbacks etc. on various online sites but getting a positive response from the company is very rare. At the most they will replace the product and/ or refund the price. But will they pay you any compensation/ damages for the sufferings of yours? Will they pay the interest on the money paid to them? Answer is NO. But mostly, we are happy to get a proper product or full refund. We are also least bothered about any damages/ compensation. In this premises, if your issue is solved within a week or so, move on. If not, read the next step i.e. Step II.
[As far as I remember, some FM down south was having issues with Sonodyne speakers, the MD called, talked, assured, speaker was tested, sent to lab and blah blah… and finally the FM got a proper set after a long (guess after 2-3 months) time. What was the buyer paid for 2-3 months harassment? Did the company offered him a complementary bs or fs or a 62% discount throughout the year?]
[Few days back someone was having issues with Sony TV, you pay nearly a lakh and then you get damaged tv/ or even a demo/ used tv. And when you catch them, they say “SORRY”.]
[And now the latest issue with speaker damage in courier, surely they were playing football with your parcel in the rain]
Step II
You have come to Step II since your problem was not solved in the first step. You have waited too long, very dissatisfied and feel like killing the seller.
Don’t kill.
Write a formal complaint to the company and send it to their customer care email and other important email ids that you have. (make sure its their official id) and if possible also send a hard copy of the said letter to the company via registered with a/d or speed post with pod. And always keep a copy of the said letter and postal receipt and the acknowledgment card, which returned with you for future reference.
How to write an effective complaint letter
• Write your name, address etc.
• Write what you have purchased including the model no./ make/ serial, for what price and mode of payment and other relevant details of the product, if any.
• Please mention the name, address and other details of the seller from whom you have purchased.
• State the kind of fault that you noticed (explain as elaborately as possible) and on which date.
• Suppose, after receiving the product you have noticed a defect and you immediately informed the Customer care but in spite of their promises and several phone calls they are unnecessarily dragging the matter. In this scenario, please mention that you have contacted the customer case over phone several times [mention the date and time of all calls] but your problem has not been solved.
• Give the seller a chance, not all seller are cruel. Ask him to change/ replace the product within a deadline (you should mention the date) and if the seller is unable to change/ replace the product and on expiration of such deadline, ask for full refund (again give a deadline for refund too)
• And finally say that in case the seller is not willing to change/ replace the product and/ or refund, you will deal this matter in accordance with law.
Please note that the nature of incidents should be stated datewise and as much as details should be given. And send this letter via email to the customer care as well as all other official ids of the company as CC so that each of the recipient get to know that you have sent the same email to everyone from the security guard of the company to the MD. LOL.
In case, the Step II does not work with you, you have to move before the Consumer Forum. And frankly speaking it is not a rocket science. However, I will discuss about the next procedure i.e. Step III on how to file a complaint before the Consumer forum on my next post.
I have learnt a lot (related to AV) from the forum members here and thanks to their helpful nature and free advices. I will never meet many of you in life, but it is my humble way of helping you guys in my own way.