8th October 2014
The Big Billion Day has drawn unprecedented hits to my Blog which was made couple of years back. I had then refered Flipkart to Flopkart due to the shoddy customer service they had. However, there was a change observed which was again updated by me. Later as the year passed by, the customer service, was back to what it was when I complained and Flipkart, piggy backing a sick economy, grew bigger.
Grew Bigger, yes it did. In a very large way that they finally decided to make the big kill.
Which was the Big Billion Sale on 6th October'14.
Advertising on papers, hoarding and social media, the expectation was raised to very high extent.
But with "Out of Stock" and "Server down", a gullible customer was taken for a ride. The "Crazy Deal" or also called "Steal Deal" was denied to most of the people leading to assumption that it was only a marketing gimmick.
Social media was crying for the Flipkart blood and the Flopkart tag was back into business.
And what happened?
The first press release from Flipkart was, "Yes Guys we got what we got. It was a grand success"
Business Standard- "We got a billion hits on our site today (Monday) and achieved our 24-hour sales target of $100 million (Rs.615 crore) in gross merchandise volume (GMV) in just 10 hours," the city-based e-commerce player claimed in a statement here."
Damn the success- When people were ranting about Flipkart, they had the guts to call it a big success. Wonder if the Bansals ever used Facebook and Twitter. Any one with a common sense would have first sent a regret and then make a subtle mention of the grand success. Anyway after much time an apology was made to every one in the mailing list from the Bansals. Big deal!
Sequence of events:
6th October- The Big Billion Day hurts the sentiments of the customer.
6th October- Bansals declare the sale to be grand success
7th October- Bansals apologizes.
What did Flipkart gain? -From this it is evident. Flipkart is just a mere roadside shop with a model to win the trust of private equity at the cost of consumers. Visitors coming to a site is the benchmark and they on the paper got a billion. A billion fooled. The next drama expected would be an IPO, which, even if I have balls of titanium, I shall stay away. Never invest in a company which has got the ire of customers.
Indians want everything big and Flipkart promised that. But failed miserably. A marketing stunt gone awry. A Billion cheated. The day was an opportunity for Flipkart to run ahead of competition.
Current scenario:
- Hate for Flipkart is at all time high
- The Big Billion Sale has widened the e-commerce market. Now e-commerce is a business to reckon with
- Amazon and Snapdeal are the 2 other players left but people are yet to find that comfortable. Marketplace model is tough to digest especially on trust
- So, a market which was clearly in favor of Flipkart till 6th of October is not routed and bits and pieces of customers are aimlessly hunting for "Where next to buy from"
Flipkart has lived upto my name of Flopkart once again...Amen!
Pic: An apologetic Bansals. Part of the business plan. This is sick to play with emotions and then a roadside show to apologize. Grow up guys!
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24th Feb 2013
Update: Flipkart Listens!! Great job by every one at Flipkart. My concern was reviewed and the last I know is that new process' implemented. Thanks Team. Changes will be always good for you as well as for your customers. RIP my constructive criticism :)
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| Impression flopped! |
Flipkart is an e-commerce site that in this business for over 6 years. During the last few months, I have been enjoying the services through couple of purchases and did not bother much with delivery time or for that matter even call up the customer care for any support.
The site was always in the top of mind recall and just for the experience of buying, have made some impulsive purchases which are still lying unpacked at home. In short I was happy to be associated with Flipkart.
But all that changed on 23rd Feb 2013. It started off with the purchase of a Pointing device which I desperately needed and the flaws in the Customer support of Flipkart was cracked open in front of me.
What went wrong and where?
The order was delayed and upon tracking I found it far away from my home town. Like any normal customer, upon emotions I called up the customer care to cancel the order. What I expected was a shoulder to cry on and share my grievances. But DANG! The customer service executive cancelled the order at the blink of an eye! And that too without even trying to convince me to retain the order. Now is this something that we have heard of anywhere? The local store in my street talks me into confidence for any cancellations I seek and here we have am e-comm giant readily cancelling orders. I wrote a complaint through the online Comments channel and what ensued was nothing short of mistakes made from the Customer care team which irritated me beyond imagination:.
Mails from Customer Service:
Mail1: Apologies and the usual Blah blah regarding how important I was :
Mail2: I wrote back my query was not addressed yet to which I received another mail:
Dull reply with the same apologies macro running. I wrote back again:
Mail 3: In mail 3 I got Mail 1 and Mail 2 apologies combined in one paragraph with some direction given regarding my complaint. By now I was seriously out of mind.
Last nail in the coffin was the Mail 4 which was repeat of Mail 3.
What irritated me as a Customer?
- Cancelling an order without understanding as to WHY I was cancelling. I got this feeling that I was taken for granted. And then to understand if it was a customer executive issue, I cancelled another open order I had in my account and lo! blink of an eye, the order was cancelled. It seems like Flipkart enjoyed cancelling orders and assumed that Customers considered Flipkart as a bank to stock money and release the same through cancellations
- Around 5-6 customer executives responded to my mail and none of them had any clue on the back ground of my mails and kept using the common template of apologies and mistakes and corrections and what not. Neah! this is not on. There is should be uniform communication and with a reassuring tone and not apologetic in nature.
- Ok I made enough noise and shared my concern....so what? Flipkart had to be convinced to give me a Gift voucher. A Gift voucher (be it of any value) is the only tangible expression of apology /understanding from a service provider. And needless to say these small acts would win a customer back. Why didn't the customer care department take this step much earlier and take control of the situation
- Its being more than 24 hrs and not a single responsible person has called me to understand my concern yet except for many calls from the Call center. What the ..? Where is the escalation process?
Summary:
What I have concluded is that however mighty Flipkart would have grown they have a very weak customer care. Its flimsy and would break down at slightest pressure. Beyond the mails shared in this blog, the customer care has given wrong information too and I have decided not to post it in public. They were digging their own grave with every passing mails.
All I have to tell Flipkart is ..
- Customers are important.
- Second point, when you willfully cancel orders or mishandle customers' sentiments, will you be able to amortize the cost of acquiring each new customer over his or her lifetime?
- You cannot keep 100% customers satisfied but however dissatisfied they are, they cannot ignore a particular online store.
- Hence the least you can have is Customer Care system which would make a customer feel special.
- All the above stated actions will not cost you a dime even!
Last but not the least, the way you are going, in testing times, I doubt if you will ever have a loyal customer base to bank on.
Amen! Flipkart to Flopkart..Clock is ticking!
