Most annoying shopping experience. Review on Vijay Sales, Mumbai

I just got a call from a friend of mine who bought a laptop from this retail chain and faced a problem within 2 weeks. And the store gave him a tough time while claiming replacement. I am yet to find anyone who is statisfied with this company.

This review is based on 3 visits (by the writer) to 3 different Vijay Sales outlets. The most pathetic store of them was the one in Infinity Mall, Andheri (W), Mumbai.

In all my visits, what I found most annoying was the shocking lack of knowledge of the sales staff about the products they were selling. They are probably overstaffed: I have never found such hard-selling at any other retail chain; once I had to actually ask the sales guy to shut up and let me sample products at peace. One could still tolerate this if the salesmen had at least basic idea about electronics. Sample this:

On my last visit, I was looking at iPhone and Samsung Galaxy series and was trying to figure out which one is better. I asked the salesman (who was diligently following me everywhere I roamed in the store) - "What's the major functionality difference between these two?" He said: "Sir, one is Apple and the other is Google." I did not try further to seek knowledge from this gadget guru.

The prices are competitive. But these days, the MRP has become a joke in practically all product categories. All brands will put a sticker of Rs. 150/- on a Rs. 100/- worth product and offer a 20% discount. And fools will buy it thinking it as a great bargain.

I have never brought a product from Vijay Sales. And I am not a shopping freak - I want to get it done with as soon as I can. I don't have the time and patience to hop from one store to another. And that explains how bad this store is. The reason people want to visit a physical store is because they expect some insights from the actual handling of the product as well as from the knowledge of the sales staff. Otherwise everyone will buy from online stores from the comfort of their homes.

Summary (Rating: 1 to 10; 10 being best)

Number of brands/categories: 7/10

Range of products within a category: 6/10

Store ambience: 6/10

Pricing: 6/10

Sales staff knowledge: 4/10

Overall rating: 3/10

And yes, by the way, if you are buying merchandise worth more than Rs. 5000/- using credit/debit card, you need to produce an attested copy of your identity proof. Yes, you read that right - ATTESTED! Pretty much sums up this ridiculous retail chain.