Review of Letsbuy.com - Delivered an old used Samsung LED TV

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My experience with letsbuy.com for a TV purchase has been very bad.
(Later edited - 1 Nov 2011 - Issue resolved after raising issue with Letsbuy - Below are details of overall experience)

Placed order of Samsung Series 5 LED TV UA32D5900EA (UA32D5900VR) from letsbuy.com on 24th Oct 2011 with Samsung Company offer of a Blueray player free plus a surprise Diwali gift on offer by Letsbuy.com. On each followup I was told that both items are in stock and will be shipped soon. They shipped TV on 28th shipped only TV and said I have to wait for Blueray player. I was fine with the wait as atleast TV was getting shipped.

Surprise and frustration – once the TV was delivered on 29th Oct. It was an old used TV most likely a dealer demo / display unit with old manufacturing date – all user manuals, cards, remote accessories were used and open from original covers and packed again with tape. Even TV cover and internal packing material, box shows that box was stored for many months and TV used. On screen one can see that some one has cleaned the screen and packed it again with a number of old used tapes inside the box. In service menu it shows TV used for around 600 hours.  This is totally different from Letsbuy.com's promise they have on website "Letsbuy only sells 100% genuine and brand new products". This delivery was definitely was not the case that supports this claim.

Panel Display Time (time for which TV has been used is ~600 hours). Considering July manufacturing and assuming usage started in August till 27th Oct, some one has used this set for an average of 7 hours every day. Most likely a dealer/distributor showroom display piece.

See images below which I have also shared with letsbuy - their customer service and their CEO Mr. Hitesh Dhingra. As per my call with him looks like Samsung dealer or distributor has cheated them and so caused this. They have promised a replacement in 1-2 days. I will update on final outcome.

I will write separately on their customer service aspects.

Intent of Mr. Hitesh Dhingra, co-founder and CEO and Amanpreet Bajaj, co-founder and COO of Letsbuy.com and others in Letsbuy Management may be good and I hope they are successful but they need to work on customer service, supply chain and their infrastructure if they really want letsbuy to be a relevant player in ecommerce in India.

- Neeraj

Following are snapshots of product delivered by Letsbuy.com

Update 1st Nov 2011 - New UA32D5900 TV Delivered 

Volkswagen India - No Delivery of Vehicle - Poor Responsiveness and Quality of Service - Worst Dealerships

We made a booking for VW Polo from Volkswagen Jalandhar - Lally Motors India (P) Ltd. In Punjab.

Booking was made with above dealer on 19th Dec 2010 and was informed 3-4 months wait time. Total booking amount given to Dealer in December 2010 was Rs49000. At time of booking dealer had promised that vehicle will be delivered in March 2011 but the vehicle has not yet been delivered as on 23rd May 2011. One day we were informed on phone that vehicle is available in April 15th, when we went to get delivery at dealership we were informed that same vehicle has been given to some other customer and we need to wait for couple of more days. After waiting for more, week after week there is no update on the vehicle. We also have given full remaining payment through Bank draft of Rs 503552 on 3rd May based on more promises made by dealer that vehicle will be there in couple of days.

Till date there is no vehicle and dealer has taken full payment. Now they are saying to wait till month end. The dealership has acted in highly unprofessional way and it is our worst experience in dealing with any of the car dealers. We have dealt with many other auto companies and dealers but Volkswagen experience has surely not started on a positive note. I personally wrote to Volkswagen through their website on 18th May and I got an automated reply that dealer will contact us. Dealer did not care to contact. When we visited the dealer he was again non-commited on any dates.

Dealer keeps blaiming the company that they do not make enough cars and take orders. At end of the day, they have taken full payment, we are loosing on interest that we are pying to the bank and there is no vehicle. What an attitude this company is having towards customers. They are a world wide brand and possibly also made a mistake in choosing a dealer.

When I called the toll free number they informed that they are just a call center and will forward complaint to the VW department. Please beware when you deal with Volkswagen India and specially their dealership in Punjab/Jalandhar (Volkswagen Jalandhar - Lally Motors India (P) Ltd). Also do not make any advance payments on their commitment that vehicle will be available very soon.

Following is text of email that came from VW support (actually from their call center people as they said same case number they have forwarded to VW department)


From: customer.care@volkswagen.co.in [mailto:customer.care@volkswagen.co.in]
Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2011 10:19 AM
To: Neeraj Sharma
Subject: System generated Acknowledgement email

Date: 05/19/2011

Concern No: VWGxxxx

Vehicle: Polo

Name of Customer: Mr. Vijay Kumar Sharma

Dealer Name: Lally Motors India Pvt. Ltd. Dealer Location: Jalandhar

Dear Mr. Vijay Kumar Sharma


Greetings from Volkswagen Passenger Cars India!


We acknowledge the receipt of your concern to us and have noted the contents of the same.


We wish to inform you that we have forwarded your concerns to our dealer M/s Lally Motors India Pvt. Ltd. at Jalandhar. We assure you that your concerns will be attended on a priority basis and as per Volkswagen standards.



If you need any further assistance, kindly feel free to call Lally Motors India Pvt. Ltd. or Volkswagen India Assistance 24x7, Anytime. Anywhere. Call toll free 1800 102 0909 / 1800 209 0909. You can also write to us at customercaresales@volkswagen.co.in .

We thank you for choosing Volkswagen and assure you our best services always.

With best regards,



Customer Care

Sales

Volkswagen Passenger Cars India

--------

Eventually after followups and reminders vehicle was delivered later than promised. Dealers as usual don't like being complained about them to parent companies. Companies and dealerships have to be sensitive about overall customer experience and up their service levels. typically every one is sweet and nice till a sale order is closed. After that many companies, dealers and customer service cells of these entities have a don't care attitude.

- Neeraj

Nokia X2 - 5MP phone at ~ Rs5000 in India

Good spec and aggressive pricing for Nokia's upcoming model X2. Looks like Nokia is getting aggressive in competing with many local phone brands.

Here are the detailed specs.

Nokia X2

Key Features

Music:

Stereo output speakers

FM RDS stereo radio with built-in antenna

Dedicated music keys

Music Player with extended playlist supports MP3, MP4, AAC, eAAC+, WMA formats

Nokia 3.5 mm AV connector (audio only)

Manage music with Ovi Player PC client & Windows Media Player 11

Nokia Music Store (select markets)

Comes with Music (select markets)

Bluetooth v2.1 with stereo audio profiles (A2DP and AVRCP)

Imaging

5 megapixel Full Focus camera with flash,background processing, 4x smooth zoom

Camera flash can be used as a torch flashlight

View photos thumbnails in grid, albums or timeline view

Image Upload via Bluetooth and sharing services: Flickr, Ovi Share

Additional Features

Aluminium battery cover

Access to Facebook via Home screen

Download latest games and apps from Ovi Store

Nokia Messaging 2.0 Email & IM

Opera Mini browser

Conversational viewfor SMS & MMS

Preloaded Java games: Bounce Tales, City Bloxx, Snake III, Block'd, Diamond Rush, Rally 3D, Brain Champion, Sudoku

Technical Profile:

System:Quad-band GSM850/900/1800/1900

User interface:Series 40

Dimensions:111mm x 47mm x 13.3 mm(L x W x T)

Volume:61 cc

Weight:81 g with battery

Standby time:Up to 25.8 days

Talk time:Up to 13.5 hours

Music play time:Up to 26.8 hours (GSM idle/mid vol)

Display color:2.2” QVGA (240x320 pixel)262K colors Active TFT

Memory:User memory up to 48MBμSD card (support up to 16GB)

Connectivity:Micro-USB interface with USB 2.0 High Speed; Complimentary USB charging, USB OTG (audio, storage)Bluetooth v2.1 with EDR

Data Services:

GPRS rel-4, class B, with GPRS multislot class32 (and EGPRS MSC32)

Inbox Colors Available:

Black/Red, Silver/Blue

Standard Sales Package Includes

Nokia X2-00 handset

Nokia Battery BL-4C

Nokia Compact Charger AC-3 (AC-8C + CA-101D for PRC)

Nokia stereo Headset WH-205

Planned Market Introduction

•Q2 2010 (June 2010 in India)

Tata Nano owner seeks compensation

Tata Nano owner is seeking Rs 15lacs (1.5million) from Tata Motors as compensation for his new Tata Nano that caught fire on the day of purchase.
Details at DNA link
http://www.dnaindia.com/mobile/report.php?n=1370119
Response from Tata has not been very supportive or encouraging to their customers. We do not have a strong regulator like transport safety administrators in USA or Europe and Auto companies take quality and safety very lightly. Instead of just focusing on emission norms of vehicles it is high time that an empowered regulatory agency is formed which provides guidance on and monitors road and vehicle safety issues.

- Neeraj

Europa Locks Bangalore Bad After Sale/Installation Quality of Service

In my apartment after using cupboard locks from Europa Locks ( I decided to also go for a second main door lock from the same company. So around 10 daya back I got Europa main door lock from a Timber Store on Sarjapur Road Bangalore ( 3 dead bolt dimple keys model MRP Rs. 1135) and I was informed that company person will come and install the same which is a free service for main door locks. The shop keeper booked an installation request with company representative and (some request number was also assigned) I was updated that someone will come in 2 days. After more than a week of follow up almost every day and hearing that someone will come today/tomorrow afternoon/evening finally today I went to the shop where I got the lock and gave them the box telling that I will rather go for Godrej lock who were more responsive in terms of service in past. Finally shop keeper sent his own carpenter to get the lock installed instead of waiting for the company person any more. The same is now installed but quality/installation is not to my satisfaction as the keys feel too hard to turn both open and lock. I was told that they will get this fixed now from the company person again and I should wait.

Overall a very bad experience. Overall products quality feels good (atleast in packaging) and all the good things the company writes about the company and products on Europa Locks website and product packaging but in field and operations, quality of service this company has a long way to go to meet customer satisfaction. I would suggest stay with better known companies like Godrej or even Link Locks.

- Neeraj 25 March 2010

Update - After communicating with the company - the problem is now resolved and lock is now functioning to my satisfaction as updated in the comment.

- Neeraj 29 March 2010

Bangalore Europa Locks Service Numbers as provided by one of the blog viewers - 9448385429, 9342574721. These numbers are specifically for Bangalore.