Flipkart Sends an Empty Case Instead of a Pen Drive: Facts

Story:

Flipkart sends an empty case instead of a pen drive.

Other Versions

1. Man orders Pen-Drive from Flipkart but receives an Empty Box.

2. Flipkart caught red handed delivering empty package.

Picture: Flipkart Sends an Empty Case Instead of a Pen Drive — Flipkart Sends an Empty Case Instead of a Pen Drive

Analysis:

The messages along with a video proof claim to show that ecommerce site Flipkart has sent a customer an empty case instead of a pen drive he ordered from the site, and that he recorded the delivery in the video shown. It is a fact unfortunately, with some missing information.

The Incident

As reported in Daily Bhaskar (daily.bhaskar.com), Mysore’s Adarsh Anandan ordered a Rs 550 pen-drive on the Flipkart, but received empty box not once, not twice, but thrice! Adarsh said that on 24th October 2014, he ordered a pen-drive from Flipkart, but got an empty box delivered to his house by e-kart. When he contacted Flipkart with the issue, they assured him a monetary compensation of Rs 55 along with the product. He asked Flipkart for an apology letter with the product, but did not get any, and instead, was shocked to see another empty box delivered to his home when he was not at home. This time when he brought the issue to Flipkart, they did not accept the fault, and on the contrary, they indirectly started suggesting that maybe the customer has kept the pen-drive and is making a ruckus for no reason. Upon spending so much time and energy on this, Adarsh Anandan thought of having the product and placed a fresh order for Cash on Delivery. This time, however, he decided to video record the order delivery and asked the e-kart delivery guy to open the Flipkart package in front of him.

The conversation in the video is mostly in Kannada. As he receives the Flipkart package from delivery guy, Adarsh Anandan becomes skeptical about the contents in the package, and insists the delivery guy to open the package. The delivery guy seen wearing e-kart uniform says the ‘open delivery’ option is not available, but after the customer argues and pressurizes, he opens the Flipkart package (with seal appearing intact) only to find an empty box. When Adarsh says it has happened with him three times and questions why, the confused delivery guy (perhaps pretending?) tells him to call customer care.

This incident where a customer receives an empty box instead of his product ordered does not seem to be a case where the courier agency is playing foul. This is because e-kart happens to be Flipkart’s own trusted logistics partner to deliver packages to all major locations across India. And moreover, there have been few other complaints from users of Flipkart’s ekart service.

Flipkart’s Response

As seen in the screenshot of emails shown in Image above, Flipkart has been taking time to resolve the delivery issue of Adarsh Anandan. To the same query posted on their Facebook page on 21 Nov. 2014, Flipkart responded saying they’ve already taken up the issue internally and are working towards resolving it at the earliest. It is to be noted that in recent months, there have been few such issues, where some Flipkart customers have been receiving magnets, stones and wires instead of the products they ordered.

All these issues certainly raise a question-mark on the services of such online stores like Flipkart. We hope Flipkart would make necessary changes in their business and delivery strategies to avoid any such incidents in future.