Flipkart.com service review

I recently reviewed Letsbuy.com, and recently did some shopping on Flipkart.com. Having heard many good, rave reviews, I thought it is time that I experience their service.

I must say I am delighted so far with their service. I ordered two books, and 4 packs of Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 (3 PC 1 Year) from them.

One of the books I ordered was readily available so I placed an order immediately. I paid by credit card (although a cash on delivery facility is also available, and many of my friends have used that option). Delivery was made in exactly 3 business days, which made me happy.

As soon as I placed any order, I received a confirmation SMS (text message) on my mobile phone and also an email. In most cases, I received my credit card company's purchase confirmation SMS after Flipkart's SMS.

Nice.

The email confirmation sent acknowledges placement of order with quantity and price, order number, expected delivery date, and shipping address to which the consignment will be sent. The mail is plain text.

What could be added to this mail is the call center contact numbers. Flipkart.com has a 24 hours customer service helpline, which I think no other online shopping provider has, and I know Letsbuy.com does not have.(Letsbuy.com now have a 24 hour helpline).

The email could be enhanced with a few images and fancy work but I guess they want to make it as light weight as possible for fast download and delivery.

The second book I ordered was an international edition book (which I have been searching for years, by the way) which was not readily available. They imported the book and then shipped it to me. The order for it was placed on 12th of August.

They had estimated it to reach by around 25th of August. It reached on 22nd. In fact, on 19th August I placed another order, which was for the Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 and both of these items reached on the the 22nd together. So, the main point is that they smartly detected and sent me the items together.

The FAQs on their site is also comprehensive and very useful. The most important thing for me, which  they mentioned on their site, was that all items are inclusive of octroi and that I do not have to pay any octroi extra (On Letsbuy.com I am having trouble even finding the FAQ. The FAQs page of Letsbuy.com is very difficult to find and not possible from the main page. I logged in, saw a scrolling faq widget and then from there found the FAQs).

Once your item is shipped, an email is sent to you with a tracking URL and you can track your package. This is all shown on the Flipkart's site and not the logistics company's site, which is really impressive. Also, this seems to imply that the logistics company is their own and not a third party, if this is so, that is really very impressive.

I have also noticed that many items are cheaper on Flipkart.com as compared to any other online stores, and even some local shops that I have checked in Pune. Case in point, the Kaspersky Internet Security 2012 which was cheaper on Flipkart.com than Kaspersky's own website, Letsbuy.com and even compared to Data Care Corporation which is a local computer products chain and has a store in my office building.

Now for a couple of downers...

1)  The site has a 'notify me' option which I had subscribed to for my international edition book. I never got any updates about my book, and it's availability, but I just went ahead and ordered it anyway.

2) My friends in office usually order items to the office address and it seems that the guy who delivers the books to our office, is a very rude guy and has been rude on more than occasion.

I never needed to, or got the chance to call their call center, so I do not know how good they are over the phone.

Overall, very good service, definitely impressive. A point to note is that Flipkart.com does have head start because the founders are ex-Amazon.com employees, so other sites, watch out, beware, your work is cut out for you!

Here is a convenient bar below for you to experience the online shopping awesomeness.

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Basic Life survival skills with EyeHandy.com

It is very important that one learns to do things by oneself. Be it driving, changing your car tire, how to iron clothes etc. These basic life skills may be missing in some people, at very important stages of life.
It may sound absurd but I never knew how to iron a formal shirt at age 25!

I once found myself living alone in a foreign country, and was forced to learn to iron formal shirts, and even how to cook (cooking I was fortunate enough to learn from a friend, she taught me well).
Thanks to amazing technology and You Tube, I was able to learn how to do things myself by finding and watching, easy to follow instruction videos. There are some drawbacks, for e.g. I can't iron shirts without using an ironing board, because I did not  find the "How to iron your shirt on the floor" video, a skill which my wife is an expert at.

I came across an amazing new site for only DIY videos. There is SO MUCH to LEARN there.
I think I will pick up one new skill a day. You should visit.

Anyway, off to the site to learn how to re-string my acoustic guitar.

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Shocking true life marriage fraud

A shocking true life marriage fraud case.
A must read for all women who think that they will never be a victim. Parents also please take heed and be very careful about background checks for people from Shaadi.com and the like.

One more point against arranged marriages.

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Letsbuy.com - Shopping site service review.

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone from Letsbuy.com. This is my review of their service. (Samsung Galaxy S II is an amazing phone. Absolutely awesome. I love it. It is the best Android phone in the market at the moment with no competition. After seeing my phone, 3 others in my office, bought this phone!  A well known reviewer's review here, Part 1 and Part 2.)

A couple of things about online shopping in India.
Online shopping in India is still coming of age and has considerably improved in the last 5 years. Fears of astronomical delays or products not reaching are much reduced now days, however, not completely eliminated. Unlike in the west though, in India, online shopping still is slightly more expensive than going over to a shop. Sounds backwards right? That too is changing nowadays and Flipkart.com is an established website, changing the game.

1. One thing to remember  whenever purchasing anything online, that when the item is finally delivered to you, depending on the item and it's price, you may have to pay octroi over and above what you have already paid the dealer website.
In the case of mySamsung Galaxy S II, I had to pay Rs. 1407 as octroi.

2.  I have still not experienced 1-3 day deliveries, as I have in UK. In the UK, whenever I placed an order before 14:00 on BT Shop or Dabs.com, it was almost certain to reach the next day, or one day after that.


Right so onto my order. The offer that Letsbuy.com had was as follows:-
Samsung Galaxy S II + Samsung HM1000 bluetooth headset + Molife Fit to use hard case with screen guard + Samsung HDTV adapter, all for R. 32,830 (+ the octroi mentioned above). It sounded like a steal.

I initially called Letsbuy.com to confirm the offer, with it's freebies and that the price included taxes. I waited around 3 minutes on hold this first time that I called them. The sales person who answered the call was not exceptional and was not bad either. It at least seemed that the training was there, but could improve a bit.
He confirmed the details of the offer and answered all my doubts without ambiguity and also explained the process I had to follow (since it was a pre-booking offer with a slightly different process).

I placed a pre-launch booking order for the phone on the website by paying Rs. 1000.
I immediately got an mail confirmation for my order.

The company's work timings mentioned in the order confirmation email were wrong. I mentioned it to them in one of my later calls to them, and have yet to verify if that has been corrected (something you can look out for).

The next email I got from them was a little startling. It said that a shipment was dispatched to my address. I thought maybe they sent the phone directly and were expecting cash on delivery, which I was totally unprepared for.

I received one more mail from them to say that  I could now place my final order, and use the voucher which I would receive shortly. The email also detailed a delay in the HDTV adapter for the phone, and mentioned that it would reach by mid June.

I then called them up to ask them about the delivery and also that I had not received the voucher in a follow up email. He gave me the voucher number over the phone.

The shipment delivery later turned out to be the voucher I was supposed to use to book and place my final order. Not sure why they couldn't just email it and physically posted a printout.

Anyway, to cut the story short, I placed my final order and received my Samsung a week later. I think there is room for improvement here to make deliveries in 3 working days. I have seen Flipkart.com deliver books in 3 days, not sure about electronics. The delivery carrier was Aramex. Maybe Bluedart would have been faster!?!

My last call was for the delayed HDTV adapter on the 20th of June. The customer service executive informed me that I need not worry about it, it was not forgotten and would definitely be delivered, and the delay was from the manufacturer. He also let me know I would not require to follow up.

A week later I received the HDTV adapter.

Over all the service at Letsbuy.com was good. They could give some serious competition to Flipkart.

But for now, Flipkart is still ahead in the game.

A few annoyances about Letsbuy.com
1. The Letsbuy.com website does seem to be randomly inaccessible. No reason or understanding as to why.

2. The working hours mentioned in the order confirmation email does not match with the website timings and I ended up calling them before 10 a.m.  (They now have a 24 hour helpline).

3. It happened on two occasions that I called Letsbuy.com helpline, and I was on hold for a full 5 minutes and then was automatically disconnected. It was exactly 5:12 on the phone time, both times.

[Update]

4. They never bothered to ask/inform me about the octroi over and above the payment that I was going to make. Someone recently told me that Letsbuy.com has mentioned in their FAQ that the Octroi would not be paid or is refunded. I contacted Letsbuy.com recently about the Octroi on my order. They asked me to mail them a scanned copy of my octroi bill and they phoned me to verify and they sent me a cheque for the amount as refund. It would have been better to know this in the first place instead of waiting 5 months to find out.

5. The FAQs page of Letsbuy.com is very difficult to find and not possible from the main page. I logged in, saw a scrolling faq widget and then from there found the FAQs.

My Flipkart.com review here

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Reebok V/S Nike

Are you into branded shoes and can't decide whether you should keep your loyalty with Reebok or Nike? Let me help you a bit with that and share my experience.

I have been using Reebok's for about 15 years now and I am a total fan. I have also owned 5 pairs of Nike's in between and have the following points for why you should choose Reebok over Nike.

1. Price.
Nike and Reebok are not very far off from each other in price, and are in fact very comparable now days, but I still do find Nike to be a tad more expensive than Reebok. The difference is about Rs.500 - Rs. 1000, so no biggie.
Earlier, Nike used to be much more expensive by about Rs. 500 -Rs.2500.
I remember when I used to find a decent pair of Reeboks for Rs. 2690 while the Nikes would start at Rs. 3100.

(On a side note, Nike and Reebok are still quite expensive brands in themselves, but that is for another discussion).

2. Longevity
I have found that over a long period of time (say about 2-3 years), the Reeboks outlast the Nikes. Initially I thought maybe this had to do with a one off issue with my shoes, but later learned that it was a general issue. A friend of mine even corroborated this when I spoke to him and he too agreed that Reeboks last longer than Nike.
This not only applies to the shoes I bought in India but also to two pairs that I from the U.K.

3. Size
This one is the biggest clincher for me. My feet are US size 11.5. The only reason it is 11.5 and not 11, is because my big toe gets crushed against the top of the shoe, while the rest of the shoe fits my foot quite nicely and comfortably. If the toe is not crushed, I can pass of with a size 11 too!
I have found that within the range of shoes on display in an outlet, there generally are more number of shoes available in a size 11/11.5 in a Reebok store than at the Nike store.

4. Styling
I find the styling  of Reebok shoes to be better, more attractive to look at than Nike.

5. Variety
When it comes to variety of shoes, Reebok beats Nike hands down.


Other brands which I have checked out are PUMA and Adidas. I do like the Adidas pair of shoes but they are quite on the expensive side, however, they NEVER have my size. NEVER!

PUMA also NEVER has my size. Puma is also the most expensive of the lot.

Well, Reebok has a 40% off sale running at the moment so run on over to your nearest store.
Almost everything is 40% off!!
[Update : Sale is over now, but you can still go to the link and check out their online offers].

I got a pair of Rs. 10,000 shoes for Rs. 6,000 (spending more than Rs. 3000 on a pair of shoes is madness in itself, but some things can be easily ignored/forgotten/overlooked).
The shoe's inner sole cushioning is what bowled me over and I had to have this pair...and they had a size 12 which fit me perfectly!


Happy running!!

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It's All just CRAP By The Way.

This one is another one of my corporate Rants.
I hate it when people or companies take loads of money for something and give you substandard Products or service. It boils my blood and you should feel the same too.....


This is my review of Not just jazz by the bay.

Restaurant: Not Just Jazz By the Bay.
Location: E-Square.

I wanted to go to this restaurant for a while since a few of my friends recommended it.
The did however tell to try the Buffet.

I went there once with my sister and friend.
We ordered a-la-carte. And here is my review.

DRINKS:
My sis had something called Peach Fizz. I had a Tropical Bloom and my friend have a sweet and salty fresh lime soda. The tropical Bloom tasted like my Medicine that goes by the name of 'Ventolin'. The peach fizz was too fizzy and distasteful. And the fresh lime soda was...tolerable. The mocktails cost around Rs.120 and the fresh lime Rs. 50. So bad and sooooo not worth it.


STARTERS:
We ordered stuffed mushrooms, Potato Roesti and one more thing which escapes me now.
They were all ....okay. Not great. Not something i would recommend.
The quantity was atrocious. My 7 month old niece craps more than the amount they give you in each plate.
Each starter was in the Rs. 95 to Rs. 105 range.
YUCK!!!!

MAIN COURSE:
Now if you are a non-vegetarian then you have quite a bit of choice, but if not..then you have 5 pastas to choose from, one Ravioli, a Veg Wrap, and 2 more veg dishes which I cant remember.
I wanted the ravioli but it was not there. So I had the Crap Wrap. Now I really hate wasting food or water...but this was sooo bad that i left half of it. The Pasta Arabiata was okay.
Again the portions were so less that even a starving Somalian would turn it away. (I really pray to god for people who get no food daily. And people Please don't waste GOOD food. )

AMBIENCE:
The whole place has black everywhere. Black tables, black chairs, black rexine sofas giving it a very S&M feel. The floor tiling is nice though. A nice Drum kit sitd on the stage.

THE WAITERS:
I could sense a slight bit of arrogance... and I really hate arrogance.

All in all this place is a COMPLETE RIP OFF. I am so disgusted with the place that i will never ever go back to even try the buffet. Please Do not go there.
Not a satisfying lunch and paid an arm and a leg.
YOU have been warned.

Mars restaurants... STOP LOOTING the general public.

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Quota Qualms- My ideas.

Huge protest and disgust are making me make this post. The reservation quota for sc/st/bc/obc etc. stir is causing quite a commotion in the country. I had put a small piece on it over here.
Now I shall propose what I think should be the way to handle it.

Firstly, I would like to declare that I am anti-discrimination, anti-quota, and completely believe in equality.

1. The the quota system should be abolished. This will give equal footing to everyone and then the competition will be based on proper merit. The way it is meant to be. Even the ladies quota should be completely removed. Equality should be there among castes and even sexes. I can't believe a country which gained independence due to the hard work by Mahatma Gandhi, has people who want reservations based on caste, which is one way of promoting discrimination, making the "un-opressed" "the oppressed" (I am referring to the people in the open category. You are pretty much doomed if you are boy in the open category and have only 85% marks. You still lose out to a person using caste reservation person with 50% marks!!!!!!).

The caste system, and the different treatment of people based on their castes existed a 100 years ago. Let by-gones be by-gones. Such rubbish should not exist today in the 21st century. Coming back to my proposal.

2. The number of seats totally for every course, in every school, college, University should be increased to accommodate a larger number of students. This will solve the problem minutely... but every little helps.

3. I do propose there be a 10%-15% reservation for the management quota.
(Management quota is usually for the rich people who may or may not come from foreign countries (NRI's or foreigners) who can afford to pay the fees which is usually between 10x to 20x the regular fees.)

You say: "Huh? Why are YOU saying there should be a management quota when YOU believe in no reservations, explicitly saying EQUALITY should prevail?"

Let me explain.

As far as I am concerned, money makes the world go round. You can't provide anyone with anything unless there is backing of financial power. The government should provide FREE education, as it is done in foreign countries, to all children from the lowest level up to 12th standard compulsorily.

Our government lacks the money(since most of it ends up in pockets at different levels of the hierarchy due to corruption) and the will to improve the situation (since all politicians are more interested in power play, and money making rather than improving the situation and fulfilling their pre-vote promises.)

With the increase in the number of seats and the management quota, a large amount of funds will come in from those sources. Those funds can be used to provide education for the people who are deserving, meritorious and can't afford the fees and books, IRRESPECTIVE of their caste.
The most common argument for reservation is that the people from backward castes can't afford the education. That is where the management quota comes in.
This should be implemented for all levels after 12th standard. If the government provides free education (by some new policy and radical, revolutionary idea) then the question of reservation up to 12th standard does not rise, and the admission at graduate level on merit basis is totally possible.
Of course the government will have to monitor the in-take of the funds so that swindling does not occur (something people always tend to do...nobody wants to earn things anymore.)
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A few Side notes
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1. The management quota will allow for students from the non-Indian system of education students to get admission and also the RICH DUMB KIDS.
The people who come from other systems (me included), know how tough it is to get into the system due to bureaucracy and inflexibility of the system; and the Indian education system is harder to study (I can say that based on personal experience).
2. I appreciate what the Doctors in New Delhi are trying to do by going on strike, but I don't believe it is the right way. I believe it is slightly negligent and am pretty sure it is against some kind of Doctor's code/oath.
Any ideas from YOU?

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Two pieces of NEWS

I was watching the news and two stories caught my eye.

1. It has been proposed that reservation(for SC's, BC's, OBC's, LT's, dimwits, morons) be increased in higher education institution and even IIT's and IIM's, by 27% to a total of 50%.

2. Harayana is attracting alot of companies, foreign and domestic, to setup shop there.

Here is why.

1. The news of the reservation quota being increased should not have come out before the UP elections. But for obvious reasons (so that those people I mentioned above (dimwits and all) will vote for the proponents of the law and be in power. Of course the BJP has said this is against election conduct rules).

What this means statistically is the joke that goes "out of every 100 people in your class 10 will be idiots" will now become "out of every 100 people in your class 50 will be idiots".

The reason I call them idiots is because quite frankly ...all people under reservations are.

The reason the reservation system was introduced is because apparently, they were "the oppressed castes" about 100-150 years ago.
And it stays now because they are economically backward. Well of course they are economically backward. They want to ride through life on their caste certificates and don't want to work hard.
If they had the brains maybe they would realise that and make themselves "economically forward"(can you say that?)
The only reservations I will ever agree to is to student's who have excellent grades and can't afford to go to great schools and colleges, irrespective of caste. I don't even mind paying 1.5 times the fees if it helps them out, from the extra that I pay. But just plain old caste reservation sucks.

No wonder we don't progress very much. Of course, I am in the open category and so feel strongly about the whole situation.

In this day and age, am I not "the oppressed" one now. Hows that for irony "the oppressed" oppressed me, "the unopressed"!?!?!?!
Catch more over here.

2. Haryana is attracting a lot of foreign and domestic companies. This is because they are giving them SEZs (special economic zones). Don't know the exact details... may be the companies get a tax break or something. Reliance petrochemicals is planning to open their biggest refinery in Haryana soon. Even bigger than the one in Jamnagar.
Even DLF is moving to Haryana (and one more company whose name escapes me).

And why not move to Haryana?. If your company's labourers go on strike..just call the Harayana Police and they will beat the workers like dogs and get them back to work.(Read this to get that last one)

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