Chandigarh:Dress not delivered on time, seller told to give full refund
Consumer commission directs Delhi-based firm to provide complete refund of ₹55,000, along with ₹6,000 as compensation and litigation cost
A Delhi-based clothing firm has been penalised for failing to deliver a dress on time despite promising it through the invoice.
Disposing of a complaint by Nidhi Jain, a resident of Sector 15-B, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed Kumud Designs, New Delhi, to refund ₹55,000 paid for the dress with an annual interest of 9% from the date of filing of the complaint till realisation. The firm will also pay ₹3,000 as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment, and ₹3,000 as cost of litigation.
Jain had submitted before the commission that she was to attend a wedding in April 2021, so she placed an online order for a dress worth ₹55,000 from Kumud Designs in March 2021.
The seller promised to deliver the order before April 2, 2021, as mentioned in the bill. But it was not delivered until May 3, 2021. Consequently, she was left with no option but to buy another dress after paying a huge amount.
When she sought to return the outfit as it had become useless for her, the seller denied the refund.
Alleging deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on the seller’s part, she filed a consumer complaint.
In their response, the seller informed the commission that though the date of delivery was mentioned in the bill as April 2, 2021, it was never guaranteed that the dress will be delivered on that date. The firm averred that due to complete lockdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the item could not be delivered within the stated time frame.
Later, the complainant clarified that she had ordered two dresses, one for herself and another for her daughter. Both the dresses were promised to be delivered on the same date, but only one was delivered on time.
Considering this, the commission observed, “When both the dresses were to be delivered by the seller only, it is very surprising that they delivered only one dress on the promised date, which caused immense mental harassment to the complainant forcing her to purchase another dress.”
It added, “Not only this, the seller denied refund, despite the fact that due to late delivery the said dress lost its utility for the complainant. Hence, it is well proved on record that the seller utterly failed to deliver the dress on the promised date despite receiving payment thereof in advance.”
Observing that there was a deficiency in rendering proper service on the part of the opposite party, the commission ordered the seller to refund the price of the dress to the complainant, along with compensation and litigation cost.