Congrats!!! You succeed in fooling me. Review on Reliance Digital, Kolkata

I normally write reviews of services and products mentioning the positives and negatives but this time I am going to share a horrible experience I recently had with Reliance Digital store. So don’t expect any positive point this time and I also don’t find any, worth mentioning.

I was planning to purchase a netbook long time back and finally I thought of purchasing it. I was not sure about the model to be purchased so I decided to purchase by on the spot decision. Since I wanted to go to a place where I am able to see maximum number of products so I decided to go to Reliance Digital, Satyam Tower (Opposite Haldirams), VIP Road, Kolkata.

Before discussing further I would like to tell you the story in gist. I purchased Sony VAIO- Model VPCYB15AG/S for Rs.23384. The MRP of this model on Sony website is Rs.22990 (inclusive of all the taxes) and the market price is in the range of Rs.22000.

My only fault was that I didn’t do market research before going there and trusted them for everything they said.

So now let me share the ways they tried to make fool of me.

Trick #1: Selling of defective pieces by luring customers

I decided to purchase Sony VAIO among the many brands displayed there and the model was VPCYB25AG/S. The price mentioned was Rs.22990. There was only piece of this netbook available with them so they told that they don’t have any sealed pack available with them and would give the same piece as on display. But the piece on display was having scratch marks so I refused to purchase. The salesman consulted his manager and came with a deal that he will give me a carry bag (non-branded, price may be in the range of Rs.200-300) if I would purchase the defective item (with scratches). I again refused the offer.

Trick #2: Selling items chosen by customers at higher prices by deceiving them

Salesman again went to his manager and told me on return that there is one more model available with them- VPCYB15AG/S but it will cost me more, i.e., Rs.23384. He also told me that this is newer version and he received it on the same day and also having similar specifications like the one on display. I believed his words and decided to purchase this newer model.

Trick #3: Festive offers for the namesake only

There was many festive offers going on in the store but I wasn’t given any. The reason they told that no offer is applicable for Sony products, as Sony doesn’t allow so. Whereas I have seen many offers on Sony products in the market and there is no such condition by the company. It is just a way to fool the customer.

Trick #4: Fooling the customer by adding any random item in the bill

They have billed me for netbook and a VAIO-Targus Carrycase costing Rs.1190. No such bag was given to me except a Targus netbook sleeve case (costing Rs.350) and a non-branded bag hardly costing Rs.300 maximum. It is mentioned in the bill that the bag is given as a free offer to me. But the question arises when no such bag was given to me then why it was mentioned in my bill. May be these cases are usual to them. So please check the bills properly.

Trick #5: Selling at much higher prices than the MRP

I checked it out later in the same evening that both the models (the displayed one & the purchased one) are almost similar having same MRP of Rs.22990. This particular model is available on other shops in the range of Rs.22000. You can even check the price on online stores like Flipkart where it is available for Rs.22147 (including all the taxes & charges).

Every product in their store is priced higher than the market price. I have noticed that they are selling Western Digital 1TB hard disk for Rs.5250. The same product is available for Rs.4500 in the market. Almost all the products are priced higher in the range of 5-15%.

Trick #6: Just don’t listen to customer

I am staying 150kms away from Kolkata so I returned back to my residence in the evening. When I got to know the facts when back, I phoned the store manager and he was not ready to listen anything. He was having his own-framed logics regarding everything. I told him the MRP mentioned on Sony website and he responded that those prices MAY not include taxes where as that is not the case. The prices mentioned on the website are inclusive of all the taxes.

I didn’t have any face-to-face communication with store manager while I was at store but he started claiming many things that he said to me that was totally baseless and false. These things are never expected from an employee of reputed professional house.

Trick #7: 15-days lowest price challenge farce

When I reminded them of their 15-days lowest price challenge and told them the price on Flipkart, they said that the price would almost be the same when you add other charges like delivery etc. Further I informed them that the given prices are inclusive of all the taxes and charges, he went on other track and told that the price challenge is applicable for only authorized stores. And they don’t consider online stores as authorized retailer.

When I started giving logics to the manager he abruptly ended the call after challenging me that do whatever you wish or can.

Trick #8: Don’t let the customers complain

I tried to make complaint on their website but it is like their stores only. I was unable to register my complaint after several tries. Interestingly the complaint description section on their website does not accept symbols. Also, there is no customer care number mentioned on their website.

A humble advice

I just want to say that never ever purchase anything from Reliance Digital and never be fooled by their lowest price challenge. You are lucky if you find any offer worth trying but please confirm their prices with the market prices. If you are equipped with a multimedia mobile phone just check the online prices and confirm before payment.

I would like to mention few other points. The salesmen are not properly trained, as they are unable to tell me the basic difference between the two models. I checked it on the Sony website and find out that there is a difference in cache. One is having L2 cache where as other is having L3 cache.

They behave like goons once you through with your purchase so it is better to avoid them. I was fooled for around Rs.1200 because I let them do so. I can check the online prices there on my mobile but I over trusted them. So don’t let them fool you. Purchase from there if you are hundred percent sure about the market prices.

This review is valid for all the stores of Reliance Digital in India as the pricing is done centrally.

My ratings: -5/5 (It is not 5/5, it is MINUS 5/5)