Weird Experience with Letsbuy.com

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Neo-N

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I dunno if this thread is in the right section. If not, I request Mods to please move it to relevant section.

My experience cannot be termed as Bad... But it sure is weird. :S

So, I have been a regular Customer (19 orders till date) with Letsbuy for quiet some time thanx to their awesome discount coupons. :P

All my orders have been satisfactory till date.

My last order was placed 10th April, 2011 for a Nokia 1280 Mobile Phone.

I specifically asked them to send me a Black coloured phone via phone and email.



Accordingly, I received a Black Coloured Nokia 1280 on 15th April, 2011.


I opened the package and found that the Display of the phone was not fixed properly and it kept moving. It had play. :no:

I sent a polite email to Letsbuy Customer Care and explained the details of the issue to them. As it was already 6.30pm , I couldn't call them.

I got a call from Letsbuy on the next day (Saturday) and they asked me about the issue. I explained it to them. They were very patient and said that they were sorry for the issue and that they will replace the phone with a new one for me.

They also told me that they would arrange for a pickup of the defective phone.
:)

Accordingly, they sent me a replacement Nokia 1280 Mobile phone today. I opened the external package and took out the phone box.

I have a habit of cross checking the box details with the Bill before opening the box. So, I decided to check the IMEI number before opening the seal. Unfortunately, I noticed that they had sent me a Grey coloured Nokia 1280 Phone. :(

I didn't open the seal and called up Customer Care. They heard the issue and then told me that the Grey one was sent as the Black one was not available in stock. :@

I asked them if they would allow me to send back the phone (still sealed) along with the defective phone so that the colour issue could be rectified. They said it was not possible as the pickup was only for the defective phone.

I asked them if they could just take back both the phones and provide me a Credit Note for the amount so that I could purchase another phone. They said that too was not possible but they could arrange to issue me Discount Coupons for the inconvenience caused.

I had no other option. I agreed to getting the discount coupons. After I hung up, I got an email that included a Flat Rs. 200/- Off (No Minimum Purchase Limit) Discount Coupon from Letsbuy.



In the end, the phone was for a friend who is really picky; so it obviously won't be used by her!!
I plan to sell it off locally or on the TE Market as it is still sealed.

I will not say that this was a bad experience. In fact, they sent me a replacement without collecting the defective phone which is in itself a great deal. :clap:

But what I do not understand is the reason why Letsbuy is so keen in making losses! I didn't ask for any discount coupon. Had they politely told me that the phone could not be exchanged again, I would have not minded considering that I had already gotten the phone at a heavy discount.

In the evening, I got a call from Blue Dart and they asked me for a time when they could visit me for the pickup of the defective phone. I have asked them to visit me tomorrow afternoon.

I just thought I would narrate this incident for the information of people here on TE. I know a lot of us are Letsbuy fans. And as I see it, there is no harm in being Letsbuy Fans. :lol:
 
A few losses in the initial start-up period would be worth it if they are able to retain their customers for years to come :). If I am not wrong ,Ebay did the same thing sometime back.Provide amazing 15-20% off discount coupons .Now you will hardly see any 10% off coupons as well , yet lot of people keep Ebay as one of the source for most of their purchases or atleast hit a search on ebay before planning a purchase.

All business and marketing strategies ;).
 
Ohh another incident with letsbuy . I had got some 500off coupon for min purchase of Rs.1000 .Dont remember exact details. I purchased a 8GB microSDHC card and branded card reader for total 650+ 450 = 1100 - 500 (discount ) = 600 bucks . When I got both the products the card reader turned out to be DOA . I contacted customer care and asked for a replacement . They said they didnt have stock so will refund the amount . Arrange for pick up of defective product via Blue dart next day and the same day refunded me complete amount of card reader ie- 400 Rs.

Finally got the 8gb micro SD card for 150 bucks :D :D .
 
It's not relly a loss. These are simple stratergies employed for basic customer retention and for brand recall value. All these things are orginally factored into their investment.
 
Its a startup with some heavy VC funding in the background. The idea is to get publicity, instead of giving big add they are offerring vouchers which will give the customer first hand tste of their service.

One thing I do not understand/like is they list some products higher than MRP.(Which is wrong)
 
If you ordered black shouldn't you get black or your money back? By not getting what you ordered, I think this is a black mark on letsbuy.com.
 
bottle said:
If you ordered black shouldn't you get black or your money back? By not getting what you ordered, I think this is a black mark on letsbuy.com.
Actually, I got a Black one the first time. But it was defective. The replacement sent was a Grey one as Black one was not in stock.

They acknowledged the fact that they should have informed me the colour issue before shipping and to make up, they gave me coupon of Rs. 200/- plus they had sent me a replacement even before collecting the defective phone and that is the reason why I didn't mind.

And you are correct in your views. That is precisely the reason for posting this. People can have different views and all can be correct. That helps to decide on whether they like the manner of dealing at Letsbuy.
 
IF ANYONE HAS LETSBUY.COM COUPON OF FLAT xxx off with no minimum purchase limit than I can buy it from at the maximum possible price so just hit me with a P.M. to sell it.
 
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