Review Croma Retail

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sharktale1212

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I just had a brush with the absolute worse in internet buying. It is called Croma retail. Here's what happened:
I bought an induction from them. Their website promises "Easy returns". Being spoiled by Flipkart (had 2 items DoA replaced with ease) I assumed it will work the same.
Now after trying everything I could think of checking the cooker, I gave them a call. Now imagine my surprise when they read me out the terms of "Easy Returns":
  1. All Product purchased from the Website enjoy fifteen (15) days' 'Return Policy'.
  2. Any Product, purchased from the Website, can be returned to the Company within fifteen (15) days of delivery of the same to User by placing a "Cancel Order" request, on the Website or by using relevant options available in the User’s account created on the Website or by logging a call with Company’s Customer Care Centre by phone on specified contact numbers.
  3. In the event if User, on removing the packaging of the Product, finds the Product is damaged and/or defective, User shall immediately intimate the Company’s Customer Care Centre about such damage and/or defect and the Company shall arrange for the replacement of the Product or refund of price of the Product along with shipping charges, if any, collected by the Company in the unlikely event of the Company being unable to replace the damaged and/or defective Product. For any Refund or Exchange / Replacement of Product the relevant provisions of ‘Refund’ and ‘Exchange’ shall apply as given herein.
And more : http://www.cromaretail.com/refunds-returns.aspx
but then we have a hidden gem within this sugar syrup:

In case of any defect arising after delivery of the product or after demo/installation of the product as the case may be, such defects will be serviced by the respective manufacturer/brand in accordance with respective manufacturer's warranty terms.

which they read out to me.

Now imagine my confusion when it was read out to me. Felt duped. While completely understand the manufacturer servicing the product --its not Croma's obligation. But I cant understand why the hell Croma is not even responsible for their own delivered product? I have seen ebay sellers ready to return their product if I report the issue within a day --- this is just pathetic.
 
Could you explain what the issue is with the cooker? or is it just not working?

If its not working, what is the difference between 3 and their last statement?
 
I am a bit confused - what is the difference between issue with the cooker and "just not working". IMO, if there is a issue with the cooker then only it "just wont work". :)
It switches off the heating mid operation. It never completely cooks -- not really a cooker. So there is an issue and it is "not working".

The difference as per them is --- they are not liable for the product once it is delivered (to hell with the 15day clause in 1 or even 3, they wont even replace). They will simply direct you to the nearest company service center -- cause you know the last statement. So basically you could get a new product, it might turn out defective but Croma has zero liability in that case.
 
Here's an update. FB was a bust. Then I checked twitter handle of the CEO. I got his email id from the feed. Emailed him my problem. Got a call from the Croma manager. Though he agreed to replace the product, he was not ready to agree the goof up on the policies front. I even quoted him FK's policy which is simply and plain, states:
"If you have received a damaged or defective product, you can return it to get a replacement within 30 days of delivery at no extra cost. This policy is applicable to seller WS Retail only."
So after a long argument a replacement order was made.
The replacement was delivered after 3days which turned out to be broken. Again the CC was of no help. They wanted proof and pics of the broken product - these things just pissed me off more. I again sent mail to the CEO. Then again the same manager called and arranged for a Croma self delivery.
This time, the product worked fine. Though the employee did drop a valuable hint -- "Don't worry saar, it will work. First product was Bajaj duplicate. Oops, I mean it was Bajaj only, not sure what was the problem."
 
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I am recently having a very bad experience with Croma. I ordered a product on the 3rd of October from their website & got a delivery date of 5th October. On the 5th I realized that the order status still showed up as "in processing" state so I called up their customer care number. I was told that they will look into it & will update me with a resolution within 1 day. Later that day, I got a call confirming that my order is delayed & that I'll receive it the next day i.e. 6th October & the same was updated in the order status page.

6th October came by but the status still showed up as "in processing". Anyway, I waited till the afternoon/evening & later decided to email their cc team explaining the issue in detail. Again, I received an email with the standard template response, with the complaint number of last time & the promise of raising this with the concerned team & TAT of 4 hours. Later that day on enquiring further, they promised an update in 24 hours. It's 8th today & despite me sending them multiple emails, they always reply with "We have escalated your issue, please wait" kind of response.

I also decided to reach out to them on twitter in this ordeal & after a standard reply & link to private PMs, they have stopped bothering providing any sort of updates.

I am totally fed up with this & have lost all of my patience. Today, I have sent them a mail along the lines of "provide the product today or I'll raise complaint in consumer forum". Has anyone had any such experience? Anyone knows, the email ids of anyone of the higher ups so that this can be escalated any further? Also, avoid buying from these guys online, its been a nightmare to deal with them.
 
I purchased a washing machine from Croma a while back, and it came from another city's stock and when I received it, found it was extremely dented so we complained and they sent some guy to pick it up. When delivered it took 2 guys to move it but they sent only 1 guy for pickup and he did not look like a company employee, came wearing Kurta Pajama so I was a little suspicious but that went fine. He somehow managed to drag it to the elevator.

It took a lot of phone calls to the Store Manager and emails back and forth but they finally gave us a new piece in pristine condition after 15 or so days.
 
I personally had bad experience with croma. I booked a TV but they delivered me a demo product.
so i did my usual way. sent out a mail to ceo and top management and it worked . They came took the TV and even refunded my money as well.
 
eraviii said:
I personally had bad experience with croma. I booked a TV but they delivered me a demo product.
so i did my usual way. sent out a mail to ceo and top management and it worked . They came took the TV and even refunded my money as well.
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It has been a mixed bag, I can't write them off but I can't say it's been hassle free either. I still use them and at times it's been a great experience. If you insist, they can often give you very good exchange rates on old phones when you buy something new.
 
I've had reasonably good experiences with them, FWIW. I recently bought a microwave from them. Even though it was to be delivered, I opted for local pick-up as I needed it ASAP. Took it home, opened the box, found a big dent on the top. Immediately called the showroom where it was picked up from, sent images. Day 2, I took it back to the same showroom, opened the box and showed them the dent. Had a replacement pick-up available that I took back with me after checking everything.

I'm not sure about the online store experience (I'm using a big convection that I bought online and it works fine), but the offline store experience most probably depends on the local store staff/manager, etc. Same with car dealerships or clothing outlets.
 
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