Man orders laptop on Flipkart; receives Ghadi detergent bars

Imagine you order a laptop and receive a pack of detergent bars!

Well, this is not a fairytale but a reality. A Delhi man ordered a laptop on Flipkart but received packets of Ghadi detergent bars.

In a LinkedIn post that has gone viral online, Yashaswi Sharma said he purchased a laptop for his father from Flipkart’s Big Billion Days Sale but received detergent bars instead. Flipkart acknowledged the lapse and issued a refund for the order, while also initiating “action against the errant party.”

Sharma said his father was not aware of the open-box delivery system, nor was he informed of it by the delivery partner. “He assumed OTP was to be given upon receiving the package – as is usual for prepaid deliveries – so he gave it when the box was delivered,” the IIM graduate wrote in his LinkedIn post.

When the elder Sharma opened the Flipkart package, he was shocked to see it full of Ghadi detergent bars. “I have CCTV proof of delivery boy coming and going without the box being inspected. And subsequently, the unboxing revealed no laptop inside,” wrote Sharma. He also shared a photograph of the box with detergent bars inside.

Sharma’s relative later filed a police complaint even as he himself vowed to approach the consumer forum if Flipkart did not resolve the issue. The Delhi man said he had been in touch with the delivery agent, who claimed that he did not know of the open-box delivery system.

“Flipkart as a customer-focused organization observes a zero-tolerance policy on all incidents that impact customer trust. It is of utmost importance to us to ensure the best possible online shopping experience for our customers,” the e-commerce platform said in a statement.

“In this specific case that offered an Open Box Delivery option, the customer shared the OTP with the delivery executive without opening the package. Once the details of the incident were verified, our customer service team initiated a refund that will be credited within 3-4working days. We have identified the issue and have also initiated action against the errant party,” the company added.

In an update, Sharma said that Flipkart had contacted him and issued a refund for the laptop. “The Flipkart team contacted me to inform that a refund has been processed, although I haven’t received it yet,” he wrote.