Those who know me would know that I am a Sucker for anything online, and can proudly claim to be one of the early adopters of e-commerce. US trade data says e-commerce continues to trounce physical retail stores. I still very strongly believe in it, and prefer buying things online, if a decent option is available, be it books, electronics, and of late apparel too! ( travel tickets of course)
About three weeks back, in the last week of June, I was looking to buy a sports shoe for myself, and had checked them out extensively over the Internet and in retail stores too. I did not want something expensive. And then, I see this mail from 
snapdeal.com, saying HUGE DISCOUNTS ON SHOES. I am interested, and check out the collection. After spending a good one hour searching for the right looking shoe, and also exchanging links of the same, to get it ratified, i place the order. A shoe, worth 2k, for 1.6k – cool! Snapdeal is cool! Or so I thought.
This I order on thursday, June 28th. When i check the status on July 1st, it shows the shipping date as thursday, July 5th. One whole week to ship the product? Not so great by ecommerce standards, but am cool. It is worth the deal provided. Or so I thought.
Friday, July 6th, I check the status online, expecting that it has been shipped and i would receive it today. Well, the status still shows “to be shipped on july 5th”. I am surprised. Can they not even update their system, and this particular bit can be automated. I tweet snapdeal.com about the case, and get a quick response that they would check and get back within 24 hours. I am impressed by their customer care, and responsiveness. Or so I thought.
Saturday, sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday – no response! I kept tweeting them each day, but no response there either. I am surprised. The website status still shows the same ” to be shipped on July 5th” now this gets worrying, and I decide that I would call their customer care the next day. Expecting that they would call before that, or the status would change. Or so I thought.
Thursday, I again tweet my agony to snapdeal.com, and this time they respond – “our customer representative tried calling you yesterday but no response. Will arrange for a call again today” I have now totally lost it. Are you doing a favor to me by calling me about my order? If I was not available on the phone, mail me the issue! I have ordered it online, and would appreciate digital communication. And instead of “arranging” for a call, you should have just called.
The “arrangement” clearly did not work, as I never got that coveted call from snapdeal.com. Finally, giving up, and realizing that it is my money at stake there, I had to call them (I was so wishing that I had opted for COD. Now i know why the return rate is so high on COD orders)
By now I am totally miffed, and furious at snapdeal.com. My money was stuck with them, and I had to call them for that. I call up the customer care, and after a wait, a customer representative responds. After another long arduous wait, and being on hold after mentioning my order details, the representative there, in a very non-chalant manner, in a matter of fact way, tells me that the vendor does not have this particular piece, and they would be refunding my money.
Yes, I want my money back, and my mental peace. After keeping me waiting for two weeks now, this is the least you would do. But the important question, it would have been appreciated if you had shown some remorse or some guilt on this whole fiasco.
I would never ever buy again from snapdeal.com!
There is a reason why Myntra does so well, and why people are ready to pay a premium for better service. Snapdeal is 100% Marketplace which makes their delivery times more and quality always in doubt. For any branded stuff, myntra will be a lot better n even had Nike shoes at 1100 n 1300. So if you know English and some bits of grammar, leave Snapdeal for your own good