National Consumer Helpline

When I lost my 5 year old 256MB sony memory card, I wanted to buy a 4GB for my Sony Cybershot P10. I thought that will be useful for next camera or a handycam that I was planning to buy soon. I had a very good with experience with online shops like Amazon in the US and wanted to give a try in India (and I am a bit lazy too).

I use Rediff quite regular as a news portal. Being a NASDAQ listed company, I was not too worried about its service and security. So I went ahead and placed an order for a 4GB Sony Memory Card Duo Pro. I thought I am getting it very reasonable at Rs 995 + Rs 35 shipping. The product is sold by INDMART, Delhi and it got shipped in 6-7 days. This was a bit late, but I was OK with that.

When I got the shipment, I got the first shock. The seller sent me a 1GB card instead of the 4GB one. I immediately wrote a mail to Rediff customer support. Somebody from Rediff called me up to get the details. He advised me send the product back to the seller and promised a replacement as soon as its received. I was a bit reluctant because I was not sure if I would get back the replacement and the additional cost of the return shipment. But Rediff agreed to pay for it (as a gift voucher). So I sent the product back.

After that there is a complete silence. I don't hear anything from Rediff. They don't reply to my emails and I soon figured out they don't have any telephone number listed on their site for customer support. Wow! So I call up their headoffice and FYI that's how you can speak to the customer support. The person again promises to look into the matter. I meanwhile talked to the seller and he confirmed that the replacement has been dispatched, but fails to give me the AWB of the shipment. In couple of days time, Rediff also confirms that the product has been dispatched, but again no details about the courier. My next few attempts to contact Rediff/seller are wasted. Soon I stop getting any updates from Rediff. In the process, I had lost more than a month.

That's when I found National Consumer Helpline. I decided to give it a shot. I called them up and explained by case. They asked me what all I tried so far and advised me to write a letter to Rediff.com, seeking a replacement product within 7 days, or else I will go the consumer court. They also gave me a complaint number to follow up.

I wrote a letter to Rediff asking for immediate delivery of the product and also Rs 1000 as compensation for the time, money and energy wasted by me. Behind the scene they probably started communucating with Rediff as well. Because I started getting responses from Rediff and even the National Consumer Helpline called me up one day and asking for the status. Apparently, Rediff had communicated to them that they have sent the replacement.

I got replacement product within 3-4 days. Unfortunately, it was not with the original packing and I once again refused to accept. Finally, Rediff refunded me my order amount. In addition they compensated me by paying another Rs 1000 and also arranged to pick up the product from my home.

NCH seems like a very good initiative and I would encourage everyone to give it a shot if your consumer rights are under threat. They have a toll free number 1800-11-4000 for BSNL/MTNL or 011-27662955-58 for other users. I am now taking up another case of my Kenstar water cooler with them where the company has failed to replace the faulty water pump which is under warranty for last 2 months.