Well i never thought i would be needing to write this post. Flipkart with it's awesome service and amazing delivery had won my heart a long time ago. But unfortunately "change is inevitable" as my t-shirt said so here it is.
It all started with a purchase of shitty product which i bought from Flipkart. After receiving it i realized how useless it was. Requested Flipkart to exchange it with some other product which was denied (so satisfaction guaranteed). All this time i was being addressed by ill-mannered and ill-informed customer care executive(s).
Living in India, i have known that companies treat "customer as king" till you pay and then they believe in the ideology that "customer is shit". I have experienced such behaviour from multiple multi-national companies. So no big deal.
But as a buyer i have the responsibility to inform fellow buyers about the product and my experience overall. So i went ahead posted my review. Since remember that. Buying online has it's own perils. You can't test the product before hand and after you have bought nobody is going to replace it (if its not upto mark). Review and product feedback is the only way to determine if it's worth buying.
It turns out Flipkart denied to post the review on their website since it didn't follow their guidelines. I am expected to post strictly about "the product" not about Flipkart. Fair enough.
Oh! wait i realized there are many online review which praise flipkart service. How were they approved by flipkart? So does this mean you can talk good about their service but can't criticise their service? So i replied back. Lets see what happens
Flipkarts mail. expressing that they can't make my review live
Dear Soumen, Thank you for your review at Flipkart for Eureka Forbes Trendy Nano Vacuum Cleaner, on Fri Oct 18 2013. We appreciate the effort you put into it. We understand that you have received a faulty product from Flipkart. We have forwarded the concern to our customer care. They will get in touch with you. However, the Product Reviews section is for customers to share their experience with the product, helping other customers make informed purchase decisions. We hope you understand that your comments cannot be displayed in this section. We would love it if you can edit your review to bring it in line with our review guidelines. You can find our review guidelines at http://www.flipkart.com/s/help/product-review-creation-guidelines You can edit your review by visiting this link http://www.flipkart.com/eureka-forbes-trendy-nano-vacuum-cleaner/edit-review/ITMD4NTNXGBZTTEH?pid=VCLD4NTMTSHPWZSS&reviewId=RV2A5VS7AY5VGVNE5 Thanks for understanding, and please give us feedback on our review moderation process at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Gu7vaQxhhtVWXh5aOmEacti2VeMjLFK08nYSeeSkKws/viewform Please feel free to send any of your queries to cs@flipkart.com Thank you for using Flipkart. Sincerely, Pankaj Customer Review Team
My Reply
Hi Pankaj, Well i read your comment guide lines and apparently i don't understand why it can't be posted. But let me guess, you can't post it since i have made a bad remarks on flipkart (which is true). So essentially you want to say that my review should only be about the product (ok agreed). So kindly explain me how i was able to see many other feedback with buyers appreciating flipkart service? Are you de-posting their review also? Are all those buyers also notified that their review will also be removed? As soon as you explain me this (don't just mail me your guideline docs. Neither i have time or mood to read it. You are not stackoverflow.com) i would definitely update the comments. Thanks
Flipkart Phone Update: 11th November, 2013 (might be they realized that its better not put an email update)
Customer care executive called me up (at-least she knew how to speak decently) and informed that from my review the section containing the review about the product will be kept but section that pertains to flipkart service will be removed.
Upon asking why Flipkart has this dual behaviour for reviews that are for and against Flipkart, i was served with a static answer "Sir its against Flipkart policy".
What shall i say WOW. You have amused me.
Lets see what happens next..
