[Resolved]  Croma — Fraudulent Business Practices

I ordered a split ac from the Croma website on Feb 18, 2023 and had to make the full payment of Rs. 43, 990 upfront. When I was ordering the product, the delivery date was being shown as Feb 20, 2023. One day after I placed the order, the delivery date was changed to February 22, 2022. On February 22, 2023, the product had not even been shipped, and I was unable to track the order because no real-time tracking information or the courier details are provided by Croma.

I have been trying to follow up with Croma customer care to know the delivery status since February 20, 2023 and wrote several emails and made multiple calls since February 20, 2023; however, there are multiple requests created but no real action or explanation. In one of the requests raised, a call was made by Croma from the number[protected]; however, whoever made the call disconnected the call after a single ring on my phone. Later, I received an SMS from Croma saying that they were unable to reach me.

When I checked the Croma website on the evening of February 22, 2023, the delivery date had again been changed to February 27, 2023.

Croma's modus operandi seems to be to display all fast-moving items on the website regardless of whether a product is available in their inventory or not, make the customer pay upfront, not respond to any queries about the delivery status, not really show any tracking details in real time, let the customer cancel the order when they realize the scam because by then Croma has already kept the money for almost a week. Once the customer cancels the order, they are told that the order is in transit; this is despite the fact that the customer cancelled the order before the product was shipped. Please see an excerpt from an email sent to me by Croma Customer Support:

"We would like to inform you that the order cancellation has been proceed (sic) and incase if delivery partner calls you simply deny him (sic) from taking the package, So once the product will reach our warehouse refund will be initiated from our end and it will reflect in your source account within 5\7 working days."

Thus, Croma is effectively keeping large amounts of customer money for two weeks and more, without ever dispatching or delivering a product.

I escalated the issue and told them on February 23, 2023 after cancelling the order that considering that no product was ever shipped by the original delivery date of February 20, 2023, Croma should process my refund immediately. However, the CEO's office was of no help either because I was again told that it takes 24-48 hours to cancel an order and that they can initiate a refund only after the product reaches their warehouse.

It's actually a shame that a TATA enterprise engaging openly in such unethical business practices.

My advice to all prospective buyers is to avoid Croma altogether, and, if that is not possible, buy only products that are available on COD.