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Warning About Rediff
22nd Dec 1998 gauravrishi @hotmail.com
I heard about www.rediff.com from a friend which lets you order books, music etc. online. I ordered two books from their site, Order Number : 49078 on the 29th of October using my international credit card. The money was withdrawn from my account from my account within a week, but the books never came. After several e-mails to their e-commerce manager Mr. Bala Unni ([email protected]) , i got a message from him saying that the books are not in stock but will be sent after a week. A month went by and after five more reminders I got a response saying that I would get my money back immediately. To this date that has not happened, and now i don't even get a response from them. Has anyone else had such experiences with them and does anyone know if there is anything i can do to get them to give my books or my money? Please let me know via e-mail at : [email protected] -Regards Gaurav.
23rd Dec 1998
Sharath Jeppu @hotmail.com
Hi Gaurav I have had a similar experence with Rediff. I think their back end systems are not at all in place to handle this. The sale is a second sale for Rediff while the responsibility of delivery lies with the parties that they have tied up with. (Eg:Rhythm House for music products). I suggest you instruct your card issuing bank to reverse the charges on your card owing to the fact that you had never made the transaction in the first place. The issuing bank should reverse the charges immediately and and debit the merchant bank's books which will then immediately pass on the liability to Rediff by performing a charge reversal. As per the laws in India( which incidentally passes all the risk on to the merchant in these transactions), "Rediff will be charged guilty unless they prove themselves innocent. Now the onus of proving that they had actually delivered the goods will lie with Rediff which they typically have to do within a month. Unless they do that, they will not be reimbursed. This will reflect badly on the Merchant bank of Rediff too as VISA penalizes any bank that has more than 1% of charge backs.That should apply the pressure on then from their merchant bank too. Let me know on how things proceed. Sharath Jeppu.
23rd Dec 1998
Tushar J. Mehta @ieee.org
Call AND write to the customer service desk, of the bank that issued your credit card. All credit cards issued in the U.S. (and most non-U.S. cards too) have precise instructions, for disputing credit-card charges. In the U.S., issuing banks are REQUIRED by law to investigate your complaint and refund your money, for non-receipt of goods. (I suspect most non-U.S. issued cards too, have similar remedies). Usually, you have 60 or 90 days, from the (statement) date this charge first appeared, to dispute the amount. Good luck ! Tushar.
23rd Dec 1998
Harsh Javeri @iname.com
Yes, I had ordered a cassette and experienced a similar fate. My credit card statement showed that they the amount was debited but no sign of the cassette. I wrote without getting a reply. So I called them and talk to Mr Bala. He said that Rhythm House had promised the supply but had not delivered. I asked him why was the amount debited if they did not have the goods ready? I also asked for a refund. My last credit card statement shows that the amount was credited the day after my call! Harsh
25th Dec 1998
hemant adarkar @hotmail.com
Dear friends,
I am sending this e-mail to Mr Ajit Balkrishnan, Director of Rediff
on your behalf.
Regards,
Hemant Adarkar
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr Ajit Balkrishnan,
There have been several e-mails on the delivery problems that still
haunt the online shopping service of Rediff.
I am forwarding them to you.
Let me know your side of the story.
Regards,
Hemant Adarkar
26th Dec 98
-----------------------------------------------------------
1.I heard about www.rediff.com from a friend which lets you order
books, music etc. online.I ordered two books from their site, Order Number : 49078 on
the 29th of October using my international credit card. The money was withdrawn
from my account from my account within a week, but the books never came.
After several e-mails to their e-commerce manager Mr. Bala Unni
([email protected]) , i got a message from him saying that the
books are not in stock but will be sent after a week. A month went by and after five
more reminders I got a response saying that I would get my money back
immediately.
To this date that has not happened, and now i don't even get a
response from them. Has anyone else had such experiences with them and does
anyone know if there is anything i can do to get them to give my books or my
money? Please let me know via e-mail at :[email protected]
-Regards
Gaurav.
2.Yes, I had ordered a cassette and experienced a similar fate. My
credit card statement showed that they the amount was debited but no sign of
the cassette. I wrote without getting a reply. So I called them and talk
to Mr Bala. He said that Rhythm House had promised the supply but had not
delivered. I asked him why was the amount debited if they did not
have the goods ready? I also asked for a refund.
My last credit card statement shows that the amount was credited the
day after my call!
Harsh Harsh Javeri
3.Hi Gaurav
I have had a similar experence with Rediff. I think their back end
systems are not at all in place to handle this. The sale is a second sale for
Rediff while the responsibility of delivery lies with the parties that
they have tied up with. (Eg:Rhythm House for music products).
I suggest you instruct your card issuing bank to reverse the charges
on your card owing to the fact that you had never made the transaction in
the first place. The issuing bank should reverse the charges immediately
and and debit the merchant bank's books which will then immediately pass
on the liability to Rediff by performing a charge reversal. As per the laws
in India( which incidentally passes all the risk on to the merchant in
these transactions), "Rediff will be charged guilty unless they prove
themselves innocent. Now the onus of proving that they had actually delivered the
goods will lie with Rediff which they typically have to do within a
month. Unless they do that, they will not be reimbursed.
This will reflect badly on the Merchant bank of Rediff too as VISA
penalizes any bank that has more than 1% of charge backs.That should
apply the pressure on then from their merchant bank too.
Let me know on how things proceed.
Sharath Jeppu.
4.I had a similar experience . I have ordered some books on 29 th
November and my credit card has been debited on 30 November and even after one
month and several reminders I have neither got the books or reply from the
rediff.
Avinash Joshi
[email protected]
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dr Hemant Adarkar
Contributing Editor, Webvision
Contributing Writer, Hindustan Times, Intelligent Investor & MIS Asia
202 Ramnimi,
8 Mandlik Road, Colaba,
Mumbai 400 001
India
Tel: 91 22 2042655/2882178
Fax: 91 22 2820594
-----------------------------------------------------------
e-mail : [email protected]/[email protected]
26th Dec 1998
avinash @giaspn01.vsnl.net.in
I had a similar experience . I have ordered some books on 29 th November and my credit card has been debited on 30 November and even after one month and several reminders I have neither got the books or reply from the rediff. Avinash Joshi
28th Dec 1998
Aditya, the Hindu Skepti� @bc.seflin.org
On 28 Aug 98, Deepak Exports wrote: > card or not. Can some one help me to find, if there is any service from > Citi Bank on the net where I can check up online and find whether my > credit card has been credited or not. Yes, citibank does have online page but I suppose you have to have citicard to access it but you may check out at the www.citibank,com/da
30th Dec 1998
avinash @giaspn01.vsnl.net.in
I sincerely thank Dr Hemant Adarkar for his action however there seems to be 2 faces to rediff. What it announces in public and does in private email are 2 different things. Bala from rediff wrote yesterday, >-Avinash Joshi ordered a book for Rs 177/- on 28th Nov,credited back on 12th >Dec he also wrote further > We have today mailed a box of chocolates to each as well as invited >them to choose any one book/music title of their choice absolutely free as a against this I reproduce below the answer to my fourth reminder from same person. From his letter it is very clear that, 1. He is not answering my letter but has been answering what he came across in iinl (bravo to Vani) 2. As he publicly declares it is not credited but he has instructions to credit. 3. Yes chocolates are there (I think they may be bitter one or may be out of stock) but there is no mention about any free titles of books or cd in his letter send to me 4. He also mentions that he has sent me an answer which I must have missed (smile smile and no comment) Here is the letter I received Hello Avinash! The order booked by you was not dispatched because the same was out of stock with our enabling partner. In fact we tried procuring the same from other sources but to no avail. Thus we decided to credit back your order amount back to your account on the 10th of Dec. We had instructed our affiliate bank (Hongkong bank) on Dec 10th, to arrange to credit back your account. We have currently checked up and they say it is an interbank issue and sometimes it takes a little time A routine email was also sent to you informing you of the same. Seems like you have not received the same ever. In fact yesterday, we came to know of your case from a public email group. We put up the status to them and also arranged to send you a box of chocolates as a token of our apology for the inconvenience caused to you. We have been taking lot of measures to ensure that shopping at http://www.rediff.com is more secure, comfortable and convenient. One of the significant one is, we have worked out a system with the credit card banks wherein your account will be debited ONLY after the despatch of your ordered items is confirmed. In fact this system is ON from today itself. Please be assured, we do not want to serve our customers lesser in anyway. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you. We Wish You A Happy New Year! Balachandran K. Unni (Bala) Programme Manager : E-Commerce Rediff On The Net avinash wrote: > 4th Reminder > > Dear Sir > > Please refer my order of 29th November and your mail to me on 30 Nov > accepting the order. My credit card has been charged but I have no delivery > of the books which I have ordered. > > Avinash Joshi
29th Dec 1998
Neville Anand Naik @md2.vsnl.net.in
Hi, I'm quite satisfied with the rediff manager Mr.Ajit Balakrishnan's reply and gesture and hope that things get better at rediff. personallly I have had a good experience with rediff. I had ordered a CD of Divas live. It was my first order at rediff. I did get the CD by courier within 48 hours and not 24 hours as expected and promised, by them for people livindg in the metros. I live in Chennai. Overall I hope that Rediff's service continues and improves further. Warm Regards and best wishes to all iinn-mates for a happy and prosperous new year 1999. Neville Anand Naik.
1st Jan 1999
harsh javeri @vsnl.com
This refers to the troubles a few of us have had in orders placed with Rediff. Some time back, Hemant Adarkar had put up Mr Balakrishnan's (from Rediff) mail that they were having some problems with the orders and some things were beyond their control. Today, when I returned from the office, there was a big box from DHL couriers. Inside was a lovely packet of delicious Fantasie chocolates - let me quote Mr Balakrishnan from his mail: "We have today mailed a box of chocolates to each as well as invited them to choose any one book/music title of their choice absolutely free as a small token of our remorse." I must say that I am impressed with this gesture. They may have bungled in executing the orders but it is this very concept of keeping the customer satisfied that has been the basis of solid marketing in the western countries. It is a welcome sign to see Indian marketing companies following this route. The box of chocolates and the free cassette/book may cost Rediff at the moment but I can state that they have found a person who will NOT hesitate in placing an order with them again. Good show Rediff! Harsh Javeri
