I have been buying stuff on Flipkart for long. The app is very user friendly and you do get stuff a little cheaper than in shops and many small items that you don't get in shops are available. I usually read all reviews, overlook too negative and too positive reviews.
My dislike for Flipkart is due to its return policy. I have had 2 instances of return. The first time it was a ear phone which came in fine but broke after one day of very normal use. Flipkart took it back and replaced with a new piece.
The second was when I saw the bully side if Flipkart. I bought a acer one 10 for 13999/-. Right out if the box, the display was not working fine. Text was not visible and colours were spreading. It looked like image from reverse camera of cars at night.
Within 6 hours of delivery I raised a request for return. I followed up at least 10 times over the next 5 days. On the 6 the day someone called from Flipkart laptop team to help me trouble shoot. Considering that it's a complex equipment, this is a good thing. Once trouble shooting started, I was not able to login to the machine. Further I was not able to get the forget password option. The Flipkart guy feels that I have forgotten the password even though I tell him that I am very sure that I know I am entering the correct password. He asks me to call Acer service desk to reset my OS. I am sure that if it was a simple case of wrong password there are options to reset it using hint question rather than a reimaging of laptop.
Acer wanted me to take laptop to their service center. Service center wanted me to leave it with them for couple of days.
Considering that it's a new laptop and this had happened while trouble shooting under guidance of Flipkart technical team, at this point Flipkart should have agreed that basic troubleshooting had failed and should have taken back the laptop. Instead it insists that I get the OS replaced at acer service center and then call them, then they complete the trouble shooting and then if they believe that there is a real issue they may take the laptop back.
I believe that they don't want to accept that there is issue with the laptop and want to push a bad piece on to me. As a customer all you can do is call Flipkart customer care were people do not have any ability to take decision. You cannot get to talk to those who matter. Your e mails will not be answered. If you write a negative review on their site the moderate will remove the negative portion saying its non actionable.
Long story short: Flipkart is good if you are buying small inexpensive stuff. In such cases returns are much easier. Buying more expensive items is a gamble. If you are lucky, all goes well. When your luck runs out and you have bought something expensive and you want to return it, you will know what it feels like when all you have is a voice at other end of a line to deal with. A voice which says "I understand" but repeats the same sentence for the hundreth time that he has already decided not to take the product back. And if you try to escalate the supervisor the phone rings forever and no one picks it.
I suggest keep your risk minimal. Dont expect easy returns if your product is costly. It's your call.
