FLIPKART.COM - Good experience for a first buy . Review on Flipkart

I had recently purchased a mobile (about  a month ago- end-May 2011)– Motorola DEFY through FLIPKART.COM Details of the experience is as under:-

I booked the DEFY model, essentially because of its rugged construction and I wanted a tough smartphone, which was expected to be put through some rough use.

Flipkart was offering the best possible price of the model in Bangalore – so I decided to take the plunge. I had read some positive and a few not-so-good reviews of Flipkart, but from the reviews, it appeared that these chaps had improved their service of late. And I was largely proved right.

I opted for the cash-on- delivery option, since I was hesitant to put the money up-front on an e-purchase.

The web-site clearly states the purchase conditions for a mobile, especially  the all important warranty conditions – they also caution against accepting parcels with tampered packaging. They have a fairly reasonable Dead-on-Arrival(‘DOA’) clause for a faulty phone and even specific actions if the phone is found malfunctioning within the first seven days of receipt. Thereafter, the standard manufacturer warranty takes over.

I did contemplate for a while whether to get the phone from another e-shop ‘Letsbuy.com’ – also offers cash payment on delivery and the phone was being offered at the same price. However, their website did not offer explicit  instructions for faulty mobiles, tampered packages, etc – and not too many reviews of their service. So that option was dropped.

So I took the plunge and ordered the phone and since Flipkart is also based in Bangalore, I expected delivery the next day. Bit of a surprise though, I was informed on querying on phone, that the mobile was to be sent from Delhi and would take 4-5 days(well within the website projected timeline though).

The phone arrived on the 3rd calendar day(2nd working day). The chap who delivered the package patiently waited while we opened the package and verified the contents in his presence. The money(cash) was then handed over.

Packaging was good – sealed cardboard outer pack, bubble paper wrapping inside with the mobile in the manufacturer’s sealed package, within all those outer layers.

No complaints with the mobile – it fired up with the battery inserted and it has worked as advertised. The only con is its still running Android 2.1 and Motorola have not, as on date, released the 2.2 version update for the phone in India.

So then, it was an excellent first experience at Flipkart for me.

Keep up the good work chaps, and wish you all the successes!