AHMEDABAD: Kinnar Vasa, a young man from the city, got enticed by a latest smartphone offered by a web portal at a lucrative price. He ordered the phone in July 2012 and also made the online payment. As he waited for the phone to arrive, the promised date of delivery was soon past and after that started the two-month ordeal for him. After a bitter fight with representatives of timtara.com, he managed to get the promised phone after city-based Consumer Education & Research Centre (CERC) intervened.
You get bombarded by offers from online shopping websites which promise you everything, from free trial to unbelievable discounts. Just one tip - read the fine print. Consumer rights activists say that, more often than not, even when a dissatisfied customer tries to resolve the issue amicably, he find himself facing lawyers who are in no mood to settle the matter.
According to Google report for 2011-12, more than 80 lakh Indians shopped online, primarily for apparels and accessories, electronic items and books. Online booking of tickets is another category which is booming. Train and airline bookings have shifted to websites. With 6 per cent of the total online shopping in the country, Ahmedabad is emerging as a major center of internet trade. The overall experience of customers and lucrative offers drive traffic to various websites but the resolution of disputes has remained a problem area in some cases.
Ahmedabad-based CERC has been working as an agency fighting for justice for consumers. It says that, of late, an increasing number of complaints landing at its door are about online fraud. Pritee Shah, chief general manager, CERC, told TOI that most cases about online cheating are about promised goods not delivered, goods not delivered in working condition or breach of promise.
"We try to resolve the issue first by talking to the management of the company. When that does not work out, we drag the company to the consumer court. The companies take advantage of the ignorance of consumers. We have success stories where we managed to get justice for consumers," she said. She added that currently more than 20 cases involving shopping are pending in courts.
Narrating an incident, Shah stated that a woman from Ahmedabad had gone to the US and was coming back by a British Airways flight. Due to the rush, the airline asked her if it would be fine if they transferred her to an Air India flight coming to Ahmedabad. She agreed and changed the airplane at London. The ordeal started when the airline staff refused to let her take her handbag saying it exceeded their permissible limit for luggage. She tried to explain that she had come from British Airways which has a higher limit and that she had observed it. When nothing worked out, she had to pay a fine to get her bag on board. She had to go through a long ordeal of writing letters to the London office of the airlines to get a refund.
Added On: 2013-01-16 02:01:55
