Need help getting a product return - techbooze.in

kvn95ss

Adept
This is gonna be a continuing story, so please bear with me. If there's a more appropriate thread to post this, let me know.

I wanted to build a mini-itx/micro-atx gaming system (cuz I would like to have something small and portable yet powerful). I bought Ryzen 7 2700 and decided to buy MSI B450i Gaming Plus AC. I shopped around a bit (Amazon, Flipkart, PrimeABGB and others) but almost no one had the motherboard in stock, save for 2 websites - PCstudio.in and techbooze.in

The price on PCstudio.in was 13k + 500 shipping, while the price on techbooze.in was 11k including shipping. I checked the listing and sure enough, it was showing "Available". I contacted PCstudio and they said the product might be delivered with bit of delay but was in stock. However, the price on Techbooze.in was cheaper, so ordered that.

I add the product to the cart and call up the shop if they have it in stock, how soon they can ship, etc. They didn't respond. But since their price was good I decided to buy from there (Mistake 1).

When checking out, I verified the product, and sure enough, MSI B450i Gaming Plus AC was in stock. I order it, pay via RazorPay option. I get email confirmation about the order and at a glance it looked like MSI B450i Gaming Plus AC. I however didn't open the mail and verified all details (Mistake 2).

The product gets delivered after 8 days, and as soon as I received it I knew something was off. The box was bigger than I expected. I opened the packaging and the product was MSI B450 Gaming Plus Max. That's when I saw the confirmation email and there, it was listed as MSI B450 Gaming Plus Max.

I call them up and explain my situation and I would like to either get a refund, or buy the motherboard from them even if there were some delays (I knew it wasn't in stock else where, PCstudio had sold out their stocks by then). The comapny said they'll try to source the motherboard for me. After 5 days, they said that MSi B450i is not in their stock/inventory and they weren't sure when it will be back in stock. They issued a return.

Now, I asked if they could schedule the pickup, but they said there might be some issues with pickup and they wanted to avoid that. They told me to return it via DTDC. Fine, I do that.

The DTDC people "try" to deliver, didn't contact me or the consignee, and just return the package after 2 days. I ask for a rebook which my local DTDC center does. The second time, it gets delivered but the outer box is bit beaten up and crushed. Nothing ripped, but sure looks beaten up. Now the company says they can't issue a refund because it is not in "Sellable" condition and I just say that I sent the product back via their requested courier. I remember declaring my item when I was shipping and asked for insurance. Turns out they "forgot" to bill for that. The local center asked me to raise a complain which I did. I don't think DTDC will do anything at all, and will take a lot of time.

I know I screwed up a bit, trying to save 2k and I've already lost ~800 in shipping. I can live with that, but what I didn't like was the attitude of the company. They were confident on their online system but I can bet my left nut I ordered MSI B450i. I was entirely blindsided when I saw the confirmation email, I felt cheated in the truest sense. They are still very adamant that they did nothing wrong. Since they couldn't provide me with MSI B450i I straight up told them I can buy it from another store, just let me do that, only after that did they agree. If they had raised a pickup from their end, I think it would've made things smoother, but I guess I was a pushover. Now I'm just furious.

If I take the motherboard back, I'd have to sell it at a loss, maybe at 9k or so since it's already retailing for 10.7k in amazon.

I just want my dang money back.

I've already got a few takeaways which I learnt from this experience -

1. ALWAYS check the confirmation receipts
2. DON'T be a pushover. Sometimes being a Karen is just they way to not get screwed over / ruining your mental peace
3. Verify insurance, and don't always assume the other person is doing their job perfectly (DTDC billing/ delivery)
 
UPDATE -

I tried to get a response from DTDC but I could speak with the customer care only once. I called multiple times, waited 20 minutes but the call gets disconnected, since I guess there is no one to "take my call".

The seller told me to sort out the issue with DTDC. Out of frustration I went a bit Karen on them, that they don't value their customer since they already have the cash + product in their hand and yada yada. Long story short they refunded my money in full.

ALWAYS check the confirmation message when buying stuff.
 
You should file a complaint in consumer court. You would be compensated far more than what you paid for. Takes few months to declare the verdict, but you get compensated.
 
I know I screwed up a bit
Nope, not just a bit. The entire thing is on your side. The customer is "not" always right.

Regarding shipping, although that I agree, that the seller should arrange for pick up, but don't except it from small retailers. They're not amazon. In addition to that they're offering the same product for the cheapest price, so their job is to just look at the invoice & ship the product.

But IMNSHO, you should've packaged the motherboard in a cardboard box and shipped it via atleast DTDC Plus. They delivered you the product [even if it was a wrong product] in proper condition. So they also expect the same on return.

On a final note, if you're shipping anything valuable over ₹5000, don't be cheap and use bluedart.


PS: I've had wrong spec RAM shipped to me twice by snapdeal and another time they sent me a refurbished phone [It was out of stock everywhere else, including local stores because it was an old model phone] when I ordered an open box phone. And that was the last time, I've ever ordered anything from online retailers except amazon & flipkart.

Peace of mind > money.

Yeah, you may say that I'm rich but I'm not rich either. I'm still with AMD FX8320 [bought 2nd hand from this forum] and waiting to upgrade to ryzen forever.

Edit:

Just now checked techbooze and they're using wordpress with woocommerce plugin. So there is no way for mix up on orders. But even if it then the issue could be with the woocommerce plugin. So request them to double check it.

Also, they've clearly mentioned return policy in their "refund policy" page.


Shipping

You will be responsible for paying for your own shipping costs for returning your item. Shipping costs are non-refundable. If you receive a refund, the cost of return shipping will be deducted from your refund.

Depending on where you live, the time it may take for your exchanged product to reach you may vary.

If you are shipping an item over ₹15,000, you should consider using a trackable shipping service or purchasing shipping insurance. We don’t guarantee that we will receive your returned item
 
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> But IMNSHO, you should've packaged the motherboard in a cardboard box and shipped it via atleast DTDC Plus

Hindsight is 20/20. It did teach me a lesson but sad that it also involved inconvenience to the other party.

> On a final note, if you're shipping anything valuable over ₹5000, don't be cheap and use bluedart.

I've never had a good experience with my bluedart in my region. Their delivery was crap and extremely rude staff regardless of how polite you are. And until this incident DTDC worked well for me too (Speedy pickups, fast delivery, package in good condition). Save for 1 item I bought here (which was shipped from Indian Post), rest were shipped with DTDC and had 0 problems in terms of delivery or state of packages.

> Peace of mind > money

Legit. I agree.

If I got the product I had wanted, I probably would've had a great experience, but I know what I ordered and what got delivered. They might have delivered it at competitive price but that's not what I wanted, so I think at the time I was dissatisfied. I think I might resort to amazon or flipkart.

On a tangent, a friend of mine bought Philips trimmer from Flipkart and got beard oil instead.
 
I have been insisting on my hdd buyers not to skimp on shipping or insurance. To save 200 400 bucks, some people.risk 10k 20k
 
I was dealing with an olx seller (but deal didn't go through). He was selling Vega 56 and he straight up told unless it was insured he wasn't sending it.

Told me his horror stories but that was after this incident happened.
 
Damn bro. So sorry for you. I would never deal with a site named tech booze!
Post your story on twitter facebook everywhere they have any online presence.
 
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I'm the owner of techbooze.in & here's the overall story or at least the final result.
When you're ordering something you should always check before you order - firstly we never had stocks of the itx version so there's no way it would have been in stock.
2nd - you get sms notification along with an email confirming the same.

even though we were kind enough to accept the return after that long we at least expect to get the product in the same condition as we sent it out. - the box was literally crushed and we had to throw out the mobo as it was damaged and was received in non-working condition as we checked(pic attached) . DTDC has insurance so I asked to ask em for a refund - no update regarding that.

Even though after all this we refunded him the full amount and closed the issue.

In the end - "The customer is always NOT right"

Thank you,
Ritwick Jana, Owner,
Techbooze.in
 

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Tomato Tomato - you get the point
That reference only works when communicated verbally.
Also, you haven't provided any proofs from your side that it was the customer who had ordered the wrong board and neither have you provided proof that the board was damaged and not working.
 
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