SHOP CLUES - Delivered a product that doesnt work is refusing to return

Hello,

I ordered a Symphony Ninja XL Air Cooler (order# *********) on **/**/****. Since they do not have a cash on delivery option I prepaid Rs. ****. After many delays, the product was finally delivered on **/**/****. I opened the box immediately upon delivery, filled it with water and plugged it in. Absolutely nothing!! Nothing turned on, just a lot of humming noise & a slow drip of water in the bottom. So I immediately placed a Support request through Shopclues for product return & picked the option "Defective" (the only other option that they give you is "Damaged"). And since I did not see any physical damage at first sight, I picked the Defective option. After filing the return request (Ticket #*******) on April *st, I would check a few times everyday to see when they could be coming to pickup the product. On April *th and without any notification to me, they changed the status to "Return Rejected"! So I call their non tollfree Customer Support line and after close to ** mins of waiting, I got a live person (Mr. Lalith Kumar) online. Even though my complaint and problem information was right in front of him, he asked me explain again in detail as to what the problem was. So after spending another ** minutes explaining the problem to him, he very rudely asked me to contact the product Service center and get the product fixed!! When I completely lost my calm after this he finally said that he would "escalate the problem" and I would hear back with (new problem ticket# #*******) a resolution with ** to ** hours (this is their standard response to anything). As I had expected I did not hear back from them, so I called back on *th April. I was again put on hold for about ** mins and when I finally get a live person he tells me that all their systems are down and he wont be able to do anything. He again was very rude and just disconnected the call. I called back again on the *th and once again after the long wait the person that I talked to said that the Return cannot be processed as I had to file my Return request within * days after receiving the product. With a lot of effort I controlled my anger and told him that I had filed my Return request on the very same day the product was delivered. I once again get the standard reply "the problem has been escalated to the Team" and I will hear back with a resolution within ** to ** hours. He creates a new complaint (ticket #*******). I get a call a few hours later saying that my Return will not be processed because while filing for the return I had picked the option of "Defective" instead of "Damaged"!!!! I once again explained to her that the product is completely dead and the water is leaking from the bottom. And since I could not see any visible damage to the product, I had to pick the option "Defective". She was adamant that any "Defective" product cannot be returned and the only option I have is to get it fixed through the Manufacturer! This is when I completely lost it. I told them that I would be contacting Consumer Protection services and would also go on every blog and forums online if this problem was not handled. So this got her attention and she said (for the *rd time) that the "problem will be escalated to the team" and I would receive a resolution within ** to ** hours. She gave me a new problem ticket# #*******.....This was on the *th April. When I did not get any resolution or a call back, I called them again on April **th!! After a long wait, the person from Customer Service told me that the Server is down and that my information cannot be accessed and I have to call back later! So after waiting for days and spending hours on the phone (cost me another rs.*** for these calls), I still am stuck with a dummy/broken/damaged product and I don't think that they have any intention of resolving this problem. So I have currently lost Rs.****+....

I have bought a lot of big ticket items online, but mainly from Amazon and I have never had any problems either with the purchase or with the returns. I wish I had researched more about Shopclues and checked their online feedback from other Clients. It's only when I wanted to file this complaint did I see the huge number of Consumers that have had horrible experiences transacting with this company!!! What is sad and even more baffling is that even all these complaints from Consumers, no action by the concerned authorities has been taking against Shopclues! But I will not give up. I will make time and make sure to go to every Consumer protection services, forums, blogs to share my horrible experience! Even if I can stop ** people from getting scammed by Shopclues, I will consider my time well spent. Once again, beware of Shopclues!! This company legally runs a scam and cheating trusting Customers of their hard earned money. Do not by anything from Shopclues!!