After my writing Flipkart Has Flipped I started dealing exclusively with Amazon India except for anything I wanted to be bought and delivered in the USA in which case I used Amazon.com.
Among the many transactions with Amazon India, only one has caused some problem for me and this post is all about that. I ordered for a DVD of a Hindi film and it was promptly delivered. On playing it the disc would not move after about half way through and after verifying that the player is not responsible by playing another disc, I complained to Amazon who promptly asked me to use a label that they emailed me to affix to a parcel to be mailed to a supplier in Calcutta. I did as instructed and wrote to Amazon that I have done as instructed by them but in the meanwhile had been advised by the supplier that he will arrange for it to be collected. Amazon promptly wrote back and offered to reimburse the cost of mailing the disc if I could send them a scanned copy of the receipt which I did.
The fun and games started.
They wrote that a cheque had been prepared and sent to me and asked me to acknowledge receipt. I waited till a few days ago and wrote to them that I have not received the cheque.
I got this reply:
Message From Customer Service
Hello,
Here is the tracking information of your refund cheque in amount of Rs.80.00:
Courier: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Waybill No:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Status: Delivered on 15 May 2014 to Alka
Please check with your family members/neighbors. If still you can’t locate you
cheque let us know.
You can contact us directly by clicking on reply button of this email.
We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Warmest regards,
Ajeet M.
I responded with this mail:
I regret to advise you that I have not received the cheque. There is no one in my household called Alka. I am house bound and I rarely let the help sign for anything couriered to me. You can check with all the other parcels that come to me from / via you to verify that.
I suspect that either the address has been given wrongly to the courier or that they have delivered it to someone else by mistake. I suggest that you check if the cheque has been encashed, if not, stop payment on it and issue a fresh cheque.
The amount is unimportant to me but I am keen that the system works so that this does not recur for some larger sum in the future.
RR
I got this reply yesterday.
Hello,
I’m so sorry to hear that you didn’t receive your refund cheque yet in amount of Rs.80.00.
I’d love to help you but before I reissue another cheque kindly confirm your below address and update if required:
Koushik Sekhar
#x, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PUNE, Maharashtra xxxxxx
India
You may contact us directly by clicking on reply button of this email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Warmest regards,
Ajeet M.
I responded:
Hello to you too, Mr. Ajeet M.
This is amazing!
Doesn’t anyone read mails properly in your organisation? Has anyone bothered to check who has been complaining? My name is Ramana Rajgopaul and I am your customer from the time you started business in India. I have been complaining to you and you send a cheque to a friend of mine to who I had gifted a book. You have simply taken the name from an order which has nothing to do with the DVD that was returned and arranged for a cheque to be issued in the name of a man who claims he has never done business with you, and who has been wondering why he has suddenly been gifted with Rs.80.00.
This is to confirm that the cheque in the name of my friend Koushik Sekhar has been received by him and you may stop payment on that cheque. I shall ask him to detroy the cheque on hearing from you to avoid returning the cheque to you incurring further costs on an already paltry sum.
I have been buying thousands of rupees worth of books, Kindle books and DVDs from you and from Amazon.com and now you want me to update my name and address with you.
I am simply stumped. I cannot imagine that Amazon does something as inane as this!
There is only one address on your record with my name on it. Since you insist I shall reproduce it here so that you can update your records.
My full address.
Thank you for your warmest regards, which I heartily reciprocate.
RAMANA RAJGOPAUL
I am still waiting for a response from Mr. Ajeet M.
In the meanwhile, Koushik is having the biggest laugh of his life time.