Consumer Court orders Snapdeal to compensate for delivery of wrong bed

 

When you order an iPhone online and you get a piece of rock bubble wrapped in the parcel, how would you feel? Outraged and cheated.

 

Syeda Sharmeen Afza, from Frazer Town went through this ordeal early last year when a package that arrived from ecommerce site Snapdeal, did not match her product requirements. Afza had placed an order for a queen size bed along with a side table. The colour, she had specifically asked for was chocolate brown. However, when she unwrapped the cover she found that the furniture supplying agency from Snapdeal had sent the wrong coloured bed and that too of inferior quality.

 

Afza has said in her complaint to the Bangalore Urban I and II Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum that instead of sending the chocolate brown coloured bed, Snapdeal sent a white colour bed, which she found to be of low quality.

 

So now, the Consumer Court has pulled up Snapdeal for supplying a low quality bed to a customer.

 

Afza had even sent a notice to Snapdeal in March last year requesting for a refund of the amount of ₹10,669 within 8 days, however, as there was no reply she approached the court.

 

The court observed that the online shopping major Snapdeal and Spacewood Furniture, one of the agencies associated with the brand in making such goods, had indeed caused inconvenience and mental agony to the said customer.

 

The court then passed an order on December 12 stating that the queen size bed, as desired by the customer, must be supplied within 30 days, and a compensation of ₹3,000 and another ₹3,000 towards litigation cost must be paid.

 

Snapdeal has a notorious reputation for mixing up orders and sometimes even cheating the customer. For example, a Pune-based man who ordered iPhones from Snapdeal got pieces of wood in the parcel in 2014. In another case, Snapdeal reportedly sent a bar of Vim soap and a brick to a person who had ordered a Samsung Galaxy Core Duos smartphone.

 

Afza is lucky, she got a bed at least, instead of a block of wood.

 

As of now Snapdeal has not responded to the District Consumer Court’s order and it is not known whether they will pay the compensation within the designated 30-day period. In case Snapdeal refuses to pay, Afza can take up the case in the National Consumer Court.

 

So the next time when you see jaw-dropping offers from online shopping portals, pray you get the right order delivered or else you will find yourself running to the Consumer Courts.