My experience with Flipkart.com - A Review

First and foremost, let me inform you about two things:

1. I am not a shopping freak at all. To add on, the only "shopping" I do online is to buy movie tickets, train tickets, flight tickets, pay bills, buy books etc. Basically, 'need' based transaction or low risk transaction.
2. This review is purely based on my interaction and experience and might be different from your experience.

One fine day, one of my luxurious need became my basic need - to buy a camera. As is always the case, I do a lot of research before buying things that, I consider, are slightly expensive. After a lot of in-depth research and budget constraints, I finalized on Canon Powershot SX-150 IS. Flipkart was providing it for Rs. 9695/- with some freebies. Other sites were providing the same for the same price without some freebies. I went to some shops and realized that the price is slightly higher than what's quoted online by e-tailers. Giving into a better deal albeit moderate risk prompted me to opt for online shopping.

I bought the camera from Flipkart.com!

Once I entered my debit card details and clicked on "Submit", the next screen I got had the following message: "The page cannot be displayed". Just a second later, I got a message on my cell: "You account has been debited Rs. 9695/-..". So, I lost my money and I have no idea if I bought the camera! After cursing my decision of buying online, I called up the toll-free number. To my utter surprise, after navigating through some numbers, the person who received my call called me by my name! Now, I know, technically, that's possible as they will have my number stored and when I call them, their system will provide my name along with the number. But, through all my toll-free talking experience, no-one has ever addressed me by name. Instead, they all would cross-verify to ensure that "I am me". But Flipkart did it. In marketing terms - Flipkart's moment of truth with the customer - Perfect!

They informed me that they have received the amount and the camera will be delivered within 2-4 working days. As was promised, it was delivered within 2 working days. So now the cycle has been completed, I paid - and I received!  When I checked the invoice, I found that one item was missing. It was present on their website but on in the invoice. I contacted the customer service again. After verifying my claim, which took them a couple of minutes, they accepted it, apologized for it and promised to add an equivalent amount to my digital wallet within 1-2 days. I received the amount on my digital wallet and bought the remaining item from the site. Now the cycle has been fully completed.

Positives:
1. I got what I paid for. The product is exactly what is shown on the website.
2. Much better customer service team.
3. Better tracking mechanism and updating the customer throughout the delivery via e-mail, sms and by tracking the order from their site.

Negatives:
1. They should ensure that the sales package contains everything they have mentioned on their website. I suggest an added level of cross-verifying. Though they provide an alternative, it is cumbersome for the customer to search for the remaining product and buy it separately. Else, they should have a system where an incomplete order should be completed from the back-end without having the customer's involvement.

Overall Experience: Not bad huh? If this is how online shopping goes, I am sure this is not the last time I will log on to Flipkart.