Those were the days when I was gradually recovering from a self-induced grieving process - an aftermath of her gentle refusal to my offer of love.

For a while I even stopped talking to Radha

(name changed) because now I sensed an ice of deep uncomfort and awkwardness between us. Will we ever be the good pals we were before? How do I break the ice? Too shy to seek anyone’s counsel, I finally decided to buy her a simple gift after much hesitation.

That day, I made a tentative vist online to the shopping mall at Rediff.com. While I gazed at the goodies on display, a lone question continued to incessantly pester my troubled mind - can my gift make any difference at all?


REDIFF SHOPPING

Products -
Let’s see, what do we have here? This supermarket has books, videos, home equipments, automobiles to mobiles & accessories, watches & clocks, stationeries, beauty products, sweets and the list goes on...

Their presence is not as varied as those you find in Baazee.com or Walmart.com. Nevertheless, you stand a good chance of liking something here and wanting to buy it.

And as in Baazee, there is a feedback column on the seller alongside the mentioned product. It reveals the percentage of voters who recommend the product and the seller. And we can also read the comments left by the customers on the quality of the product, service of the seller and so on.

Express Gifts -
The goodies available under this category reach me or my special someone in 24 hours flat. That’s nice. And they have a special section on Diwali products that come under Express delivery. The service is available in 60 select cities.

Price -
The prices look quite reasonable to me and Rediff claims to offer discount of as much as 50% on their Diwali special items.

Payment options -
Ok, there is credit card, COD (cash on delivery), cheque (select cities only), fax credit, ICICI Bank.com, Federal Bank-Fednet, Centurion Bank-ePay, HDFC Bank Direct Pay, IDBI Bank i netbanking, UTI Bank, ITZ cash (whatever that means) and Bill Junction (a junction where I can pay the bill? lol kidding)

I prefer COD but that does not apply to my hometown of Guruvayur, so I opt for credit-card payment.

Net Security -
I have faced no inconveniences or worries so far exposing my credit-card details on this site. The account number and other confidential data do not reach the seller. They are handled only by Rediff. The transactions are secure enough and I have not heard of any complaints on this aspect. Every purchase of mine here has been on credit-card. Therefore, based on my smooth & safe experiences, I can state that the net security is good.

Handling and Delivery -
This impresses me the most about them. Speed is their middle name. Every product that I have ordered (3 to be exact) has reached me within 4 days from Mumbai.
They deliver all over India and abroad too. Shipping charges apply accordingly.

The items are well-packaged and wrapped in reyclable materials with the address neatly labeled.
And by the way, we have the free option of including a personalized message with the item or gift we buy.

Customer care -
Luckily I did not get an opportunity to SOS their customer-care desk.
But if you do seek answers for any questions/problems you have, you can click on the Help link. There are questions arranged by service and category within each service. Select the service and the category within that service that you have a question on and pick the question that’s closest to the one that you have. The answer should provide you with the necessary info that you need.
But if that doesn’t help, you can always email them or fill and submit the help forms provided. Depending on the complexity of your case, a Rediff representative will contact you within 24 or 48 hours.

Conclusion -
I came, I saw and I am satisfied.
I recommend them fully. The only reason why I stopped short of giving a 5-star rating is their range of products - good but can be better. Keep adding, my Rediff pal.

The products I bought so far:
* 3 Deewarein VCD - Delivery 10/10 and Product quality 10/10

* The Seige VCD - Delivery 10/10 and Product quality 10/10

* Chicken Soup for the Mother and Daughter Soul book - Delivery ?/? and Product quality ?/?

Why the question mark?
You see, this book was the gift I bought for her.

Five days after Rediff received my order, she received my gift. And I can never forget her reply - Fantastic.
So, the Delivery is 10/10 and the Product quality, well she loves it, so 10/10.

I am glad I bought her a gift and I am glad I found Rediff.com.


Today, Radha and I occasionally contact and pray for each other’s well-being.

The scar of that failed love story may remain on the skin of my heart for the rest of my life but I am smiling anyways, because you see, Life is beautiful.