BlackBerry Playbook offer - Saholic.com not honoring their deal

[nishantgandhi]

I purchased a BlackBerry Playbook 32GB today morning from Mobile Phone Reviews and Best Deals in India | Saholic.com. They had an offer pack for the tablet which has a free BlackBerry Curve 8520 included. The price mentioned was Rs 15,500 (see the attached screenshot).

I jumped at the deal and bought it on my credit card. My payment went through sucessfully and the order was confirmed as displayed in the deal (see attached screenshot). It may be pertinent to mention here that Shop Online - Buy Mobile Phones, Laptops, Digital Cameras, MP3 Players, TVs and Hard Disks in India + Free Shipping! | BuyThePrice.com was offering the same tablet at Rs 15,500 albeit without the free Curve 8520. Also, I am getting the Playbook at offline stores for RS 15,000.

However, the order confirmation mail received from Saholic did not mention the free Curve 8520. I grew suspicious and immediately sent an email to Saholic customer care (help@saholic.com) along with the screenshots.

Within an hour I got a call from Saholic customer care from a guy called Suraj. He said there was a technical error in their website today and the above mentioned offer did not exist anymore. Apparently, this offer was running a few days back but at a price of Rs 31,990. At the same time BlackBerry recently slashed prices of the Playbook but Saholic did not update their deal accordingly. So it was a serious error on Saholic's part. Suraj apologized and wanted to compensate me for their mistake. He said he will discuss with his seniors and get back.

At around 3 pm, I got a call from someone called Chaitanya from Saholic. He too admitted to the technical error and said they wont be able to ship the Curve 8520. So they will just be sending the Playbook. He wanted to compensate for this mistake by offering me a *measly* Rs 500 coupon on a future purchase.

Of course I refused this bait. The only reason I purchased the Playbook from Saholic was because of the above offer! Moreover, Chaitanya had the audacity to tell me that if I do not accept his deal, they will simply cancel my order.

Of course I got furious because this tablet was bought as a gift for someone and now this has put me in an embarassing situation. Still, I told him that I'm ready to accept the cancellation IF AND ONLY IF the amount is credited back to my card within today. In this case, atleast I can buy from some other website or a physical store at 15-15.5k (The Playbook offer is valid only till Dec 31st).

Also, as an alternative, I told him to give me a cashback for Rs 500 instead of store-credit-on-future-purchase. He told me that will not be possible. Chaitanya promised to call me back by evening with a firm resolution to the problem, but that still has not happened.

Can someone help me out here? I really want the Playbook at that price as it is a gift. Is there any senior official of Saholic to whom I can talk/write to? What is my respite here?

 

[frankmehta]

Come on man give the guys a break. They are not going to ship a Blackberry Curve AND a Tablet for Rs. 15500.

Stop whining and just take your voucher and the tablet

 

[nishantgandhi]

Come on man give the guys a break. They are not going to ship a Blackberry Curve AND a Tablet for Rs. 15500.

Stop whining and just take your voucher and the tablet

To be frank, for a second, I thought these guys have left over stocks from the old deal and got to get rid of the same (they cannot sell the 8520 individually).

Yes, I also did suspect this was a glitch but still went ahead with the purchase simply because that was the best possible price. More than an issue to be worked up about, I want it to be resolved peacefully.

The way CC Manager spoke was not correct. BTW Im still waiting for him to revert on the cashback / status update on my order. There has been a glitch and the manager could atleast admit to resolving it amicably rather than (literally) warning me that he will cancel the order and I'll be left with no choice whatsoever.

Moreover, discount coupons/store credit are a thing of the past now. These days, there are sites and forums by the dozen and no one really waits to receive coupons by email. I was trying to explain this point to the Manager.

I want the Playbook at that price (more so since it is a gift) and I'm not looking to make any noise/profit out of it. But such mistakes by reputed portal should be avoided, and that's the point I was trying to drive home.

 

[akhurana]

agree with frankmehta .... not sure what else they can do .....every retailer will give u store credit/voucher in such a case so accept it and be happy

 

[ashvarybabul]

moral of the story - there are no free lunches..

Take the 500 gift coupon.. U can sell it for some reduced price later..

 

[amathur2k]

Hi Nishant,

I work at Saholic and would like to apologize in case you felt offended by our Manager's tone. His intent was simply to inform you that you can cancel your order at any time and we will issue a full refund without any questions. However, the refund can not happen immediately since banks take time to process cancellations and refunds.

Under such circumstances we felt offering you a coupon so that you can purchase the 8520 separately is the best option.

Regards,

Abhishek Mathur

(Abhishek.mathur@shop2020.in)

 

[agantuk]

Just cancel the transaction, and make the purchase offline. The 500 back postdated rebate isn't worth it.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Hi Nishant,
I work at Saholic and would like to apologize in case you felt offended by our Manager's tone. His intent was simply to inform you that you can cancel your order at any time and we will issue a full refund without any questions. However, the refund can not happen immediately since banks take time to process cancellations and refunds.

Under such circumstances we felt offering you a coupon so that you can purchase the 8520 separately is the best option.

Regards,
Abhishek Mathur
(Abhishek.mathur@shop2020.in)

While the intent might be good, you are playing a practical joke on the customer if you expect him to buy a 8520 with a 500 off coupon

 

[ayanavish]

Agree with frankmehta, a better approach would have been to call the CC before placing the order. The offer was too good to be true. Now it's wiser to take the Rs. 500 coupon and either wait for them to ship the PB or initiate a cancellation and refund. As bank is involved hence, the refund would take some time. Even with Flipkart, which is one of the best in customer responsiveness, has taken 3-4 days to initiate refunds for couple of my orders (took 3-4 more days by the bank to show the amount in my account).

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Have seen the same happening with FK, so such orders were COD, never on CC.

BTW, the price of the PB32GB seems fair enough. Take it.

 

[nishantgandhi]

Take the 500 gift coupon.. U can sell it for some reduced price later..

Not interested in such unethical business. If it came free to me, why should I make money by selling it at any price?

Agree with frankmehta, a better approach would have been to call the CC before placing the order. The offer was too good to be true. Now it's wiser to take the Rs. 500 coupon and either wait for them to ship the PB or initiate a cancellation and refund. As bank is involved hence, the refund would take some time. Even with Flipkart, which is one of the best in customer responsiveness, has taken 3-4 days to initiate refunds for couple of my orders (took 3-4 more days by the bank to show the amount in my account).

Like I said in my OP, I DID call the CC before placing the order. He confirmed the deal and only then I went ahead and placed the order. Why else do you think I was pissed? I thought maybe Saholic has stocks left over from the previous deal and they are disposing it off attractive prices.

And the reason for asking the refund in a day was so that I can buy the tablet elsewhere. I do not have 15k lying idle that I could buy another tablet instantly. Also, the offer is expiring on Dec 31st, hence the hurry.

Hi Nishant,
I work at Saholic and would like to apologize in case you felt offended by our Manager's tone. His intent was simply to inform you that you can cancel your order at any time and we will issue a full refund without any questions. However, the refund can not happen immediately since banks take time to process cancellations and refunds.

Under such circumstances we felt offering you a coupon so that you can purchase the 8520 separately is the best option.

Regards,
Abhishek Mathur
(Abhishek.mathur@shop2020.in)

Thanks for your reply Abhishek. Maybe I mis-interpreted the tone/intent. At my end, I was just trying to highlight to you guys that it was your CC rep. who confirmed the deal and only then did I go ahead.

I already have a BlackBerry phone and do not intend to purchase 8520. As I mentioned in my opening post, the intent was gift the offer pack to someone who does not have either.

Anyway, things have taken a turn for good here. I just got a call from Saholic (Chaitanya) and he offered me a Panasonic headset as a freebie. So all's well that ends well! I'm now looking forward to receiving the Playbook


MODS - Please close the thread as the issue is resolved.

 

[ayanavish]

^^ Good to know that the issue has been resolved. This would help others too in their transactions. Unfortunate but true, most of the time, the CCs of these Indian online retailers are clueless about the product they are selling. I called Flipkart to know the class of a 8GB microSD card, and they got back to me after one day! (meanwhile, I purchased from Ebay.in). Letsbuy CCs do not have ideas on the dispatch, even though the shipment is already been received. :no: Dealt with Amazon a couple of times, and their CC resolved problems in straight 10 minutes.

 

[nishantgandhi]

^^ Good to know that the issue has been resolved. This would help others too in their transactions. Unfortunate but true, most of the time, the CCs of these Indian online retailers are clueless about the product they are selling. I called Flipkart to know the class of a 8GB microSD card, and they got back to me after one day! (meanwhile, I purchased from Ebay.in). Letsbuy CCs do not have ideas on the dispatch, even though the shipment is already been received. :no: Dealt with Amazon a couple of times, and their CC resolved problems in straight 10 minutes.

Yes Letsbuy CC is the worst. Thrice, I have received the shipment and the CC/Order page does not have a clue about it!

 

[ivhere]

I think they have listed this type of deal only for getting attention.

 

[dhruvrock2000]

I think they have listed this type of deal only for getting attention.

It was an error , had been corrected. Don't spread FUD.