[Resolved]  India Today Book Club — Cheating by Teleshopping

Address:

Delhi

Dear Sir,

I got a call from India Today tele-shopping department ([protected]) along with an offer of some gold box on 23-Jul-2010. For this I purchased Samsung handy-cam combo of Rs 15990 and also paid Rs.1160 with transaction numbers[protected] and[protected] respectively. I was informed that I will be getting Samsung Handycam worth Rs 17000 and will get a free Philips home theater worth Rs 12000 as free gift. Also, I will get flight coupons of value Rs 7000 and one surat diamond coupon worth Rs 5000. I got the package on 26-Jul-2010. To my shock, the Handycam which I got is of Rs 10990 and the home theater is of Rs 10800. No coupon was sent as well. After repeated mails to [protected]@bagittoday.com, I received the vouchers and flight tickets. But my main issue was the handycam and the home theater. The products mentioned and the products received are totally different. Whenever I emailed asking the situation of the problem, I was asked to wait for some more time. This game is going endlessly till today. I mailed them on 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 18th, 23rd, 26th, 29th and 30th of Aug-2010 and 1st and 3rd of Sep-2010 and got the same reply that my problem has been forwarded to the concerned department and will be solved at its earliest. Finally I got a call on 6th-Sep-2010 from their tele-shopping department number [protected] and I was told that I will be getting the refund in maximum 3 weeks time. I asked how and where to return the product as it was purchased through tele-shopping and the website www.bagittoday.com does not mention any address to return the products purchased through this mode. I was told to wait and they will themselves inform me accordingly. Again no email or call from their side. I mailed them on 13-Sep-2010 about the status and return of the product for which I got the reply that my case has been forwarded to the concerned department and I have to wait for a while. Again no communication was done. So I mailed them on 21st, 22nd and 23rd of Sep-2010. On 24th I got the most shocking reply from some Lalit whose details I am pasting here- “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to you in this regard. We assure you to provide our best possible services in future. We would like to inform you that as per our company terms & condition its not possible to refund your product money to you & already a one month. We will be happy to render any other clarification that you may require in future. Your valuable association with India Bagittoday is prestigious for us.” I called the customer care department ([protected]) on 6-Aug-2010 where I was told that the issue will be resolved in 72 hours. I called on 23-Aug-2010 and had a word with Neeraj who suggested me to keep the product as it is as the process of refund is too lengthy. In other words he was telling me to forget the money spent. I am totally amazed by the attitude. After the shocking mail from Mr. Lalit, I called to the customer care department again last Friday i.e. 24-Sep-2010 and had a word with Rahul who told me that the refund process has not been initiated and suggested me to return the product without which my refund won’t be initiated (One more new information!!) but didn’t provide the address. I called again same day and had a word with Kuldeep who told me that the system was down and I need to call on Monday. Today I called again and same executive Neeraj answered the call who told me flatly that my ground for asking the refund is not worthy and well enough and I won’t get the refund. I still asked him to register the complaint and give me the complaint number for which he initially told the complaint number is of no use. But when I insisted, he gave me the number as 635948. I asked him that should I return the product, he told me not to do so as I would lose both the product and the amount paid and I would be responsible for this!!! For the information, the products are kept packed in the same box and in the same condition in which I got them, totally unused. We customers are paying our hard earned cash for these products. And these people cheat us? I trusted the brand "India Today" that is why I spent such a nice sum just by a phone call for tele-shopping. This is not done. I want my money back which I paid towards the Handycam combo as soon as possible. Is this some kind of fraud game going on with you guys where you people send cheap products and charge whatever you want and if some customer is not satisfied, you tell him this? India Today is a very big brand and don’t spoil the name of such a brand.
I hope my problem will be addressed properly this time and I get my refund as soon as possible and the suffering I am facing for past 2 months will come to an end.
Regards,

Dr Kumar Aseem