Case of cheating against Flipkart for delivering soap instead of Samsung phone

The Malabar Hill police in Mumbai have registered a case of cheating against online shopping portal Flipkart for delivering a bar of soap to a customer who had ordered a Samsung Galaxy Note 4.

Anand Bhalakia, a resident of Walkeshwar, was excited to receive the parcel, but was shocked to find a bar of Nirma soap instead. Bhalakia, who works at a leading global IT firm, decided to register the complaint after the company initially said his complaint was not genuine.

“I had ordered a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 on May 25 and the product was delivered on May 30. I had opted for cash-on-delivery and paid Rs 29,900 to the delivery boy,” Bhalakia

Minutes later, he opened the box and saw it contained a bar of soap in place of the smartphone. “The box contained a soap bar and an Android phone charger. I telephoned the deliveryman immediately. He was 10 minutes away from my home but said I would have to call Flipkart’s customer care number to lodge a complaint,” said Bhalakia.

He called the customer care but was shocked when he was told his complaint was not genuine. He reported the matter to the Malabar Hill police and lodged a complaint, after which a first-information report under Section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code was registered.

“My experience with Flipkart has been disgusting. I received Nirma soap instead of a smartphone. Over the next few days I called them several times to inquire about the issue but received neither the cell phone nor my money. They initially denied me a refund or replacement, claiming that my complaint was not genuine. This was very annoying, so I filed a complaint with the police and on various customer complaint websites, after which they refunded my money on Tuesday,” Bhalakia said.

“We will begin our investigation by taking the statement of the delivery boy, after which we will look into other aspects of the case,” police sub-inspector Devidas Chaudhary from Malabar Hill police station said.

For its part, Flipkart said in written statement: “Flipkart observes a zero tolerance policy on incidents that impact customer trust. We are conducting an internal investigation into this case and are putting all efforts to find out the real facts of this incident. Meanwhile, as a responsible marketplace, the money has been refunded to the customer in good faith.”

First Published: Jun 07, 2016 23:38 IST