Ghadi detergent instead of laptop! Flipkart's not-so-great Big Billion Days surprise to IIM-A student

An IIM-Ahmedabad student who ordered a laptop for his father, received packs of Ghadi detergent instead from Flipkart! The order was placed during the Big Billion Days sale. The e-commerce giant has refused to fix its mistake, said the graduate in a social media post.

Yashaswi Sharma, in a LinkedIn post, said that despite sending Ghadi detergent packs in place of a laptop, Flipkart’s customer support is blaming him. He said that he also has CCTV evidence to prove that he is telling the truth but to no avail!

Sharma said that the one “mistake” his father made while accepting the package is that he was not aware of the ‘open-box’ delivery concept. This requires the buyer to open the package before the delivery agent and give the OTP only after inspecting the item. Sharma said that his father assumed that the OTP was to be given upon receiving the package, which is the case with most pre-paid deliveries.  

“I have CCTV proof of delivery boy coming and going without the box being inspected. And subsequently the unboxing revealed no laptop inside,” he said in the post.

However, Flipkart’s senior-most customer support executive said that no return was possible since they failed to withhold the OTP, and that the matter cannot be escalated further.

“My father's fault is that he assumed the package - coming from a Flipkart assured seller - will contain a laptop and not detergent. Why couldn't the delivery boy inform the receiver about open box concept before asking for OTP?,” he said.

Sharma said that he made the post as a last attempt to resolve the issue before approaching the consumer forum. He also tagged Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy and Union Minister Piyush Goyal in the post.

This is not the first such case. In one of the many cases, an individual had ordered an iPhone 12 but received two bars of Nirma soap. In yet another case, a man received a detergent bar instead of the iPhone 8 he had ordered.

Flipkart, in response to this incident, replied Business Today and stated that “in this specific case that offered an Open Box Delivery option, the customer shared the OTP with the delivery executive without opening the package. Once the details of the incident were verified, our customer service team initiated a refund that will be credited within 3-4working days. We have identified the issue and have also initiated action against the errant party.”

The e-commerce company also explained that its Open Box Delivery is an initiative to safeguard the customer's interests. It further stated that as part of the Open Box Delivery process, Flipkart’s delivery partner opens the product in front of the customer at the time of delivery and customers need to accept the delivery only when their orders are present in an intact state and then share the OTP. The company claims that this prevents any financial liability on part of the customer.

Also read: Amazon, Flipkart sale: Samsung creates new record, sells over 12 lakh smartphones on Day 1

Also read: Flipkart Big Billion Days 2022: Apple iPhone 13 orders being cancelled; here’s how netizens reacted