Flipkart asked to pay customer Rs. 50,000 for deficient service

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad consumer disputes redressal forum, on 12 July, directed Flipkart Internet Private Limited to pay a compensation of Rs. 50,000 to a customer for deficient acts.

In May 2019, G. Surarchita Reddy, a resident of Ghosa Mahal, had placed an order on Flipkart for an LG Q Stylus in exchange for his mobile phone and also a ROCK 13,000 MAH power bank. The products were scheduled to be delivered between 17 and 19 April 2019. He had paid Rs. 20,000 for the same through his credit card.

Mr. Reddy received the power bank but to his surprise, he found that it was an old and outdated product. He contacted Flipkart customer care and requested they replace the power bank. They accepted the request.

The product was delivered while Mr. Reddy was out. Meanwhile, his father handed over the old mobile to the delivery executive in exchange for the new phone. The latter took the old phone and left without delivering the new mobile.

“I contacted the delivery person after I returned home. He promised to deliver the new mobile within an hour. But he did not turn up. I waited till evening and sent a message saying the mobile phone was not delivered. The delivery executive has not verified that he has received my old mobile as required under the terms and conditions of the purchase order,” said Mr. Reddy.

He again contacted Flipkart customer care and complained about the delivery person. He also shared pictures of his old mobile phone as required by the opposite party. “Flipkart informed me that the delivery person would verify the images and take a final decision on the matter. The delivery person again came to my house to deliver the new phone. However, he refused to validate the images of the old phone and left without delivering the new phone. He returned the old mobile phone,” said Mr. Reddy

The complainant received images of his mobile by email. The images showed that his phone had been damaged. He informed Flipkart by email that the images were not of his phone. Based on the wrong images of the phone that did not belong to the complainant, the purchase order was cancelled. Even though the complainant explained that the delivery person had committed fraud, Flipkart failed to deliver the new mobile phone till the day of the redressal hearing.

Flipkart didn’t respond to the forum.

After examining the evidence provided by Mr. Reddy, the forum said “Flipkart didn’t take any step to deliver the mobile, as per the purchase order. The complainant has already paid the price of the mobile to Flipkart. Therefore, it is a deficiency of service on Flipkart's part.”

It added that the complainant is entitled to a refund. The forum also asked Flipkart to pay a compensation of Rs. 50,000 to the complainant. If it fails to pay the amount in 30 days, then Flipkart has to pay interest of eight per cent of the above amount per month till the date of realisation.