Student gets ₹34K compensation for faulty ₹8k mobile
Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com
Chennai: 07.05.2018
A tardy response to acustomer’s complaint about a faulty cellphone and his refund request has cost e-commerce website Amazon nearly four times the initial expense. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (Chennai north) has directed Amazon and Delhi-based Cloudtail India to pay ₹34,000 to a chartered accountancy student for delivering a faulty mobile phone.
In 2015, V Mohit of Korattur had ordered a cellphone costing ₹8,999 through the website in 2015. But the handset delivered on June 7, 2015, was a defective one. When Mohit sought a refund, though the phone was collected a week later, the company failed to refund the money. Following this, he approached the consumer forum. While an Amazon customer executive informed Mohit that the cost of the mobile would be credited to his account, no money was credited until the end of July.
The complainant contended that the acts of the website and the seller were tantamount to unfair trade practice and deficiency in service. Further, he had purchased the cellphone for day to day activities and could not use it till after two months, when he purchased another handset at a cost of ₹14,999. The complainant stated that he was put through mental agony.
Both the opposite parties had contended that the customer could seek refund of money only through a civil court and that the forum had no jurisdiction to entertain the complaint.
However,the consumer forum bench comprising president K Jayabalan and member M Uyiroli Kannan ruled in favour of the Mohit recently and asked the website and seller to refund the cost of the phone and pay extra as compensation. The companies were directed to refund the cost of the mobile phone and an additional sum of ₹20,000 for mental agony and ₹5,000 for litigation expenses.
Srikkanth.D@timesgroup.com
Chennai: 07.05.2018
A tardy response to acustomer’s complaint about a faulty cellphone and his refund request has cost e-commerce website Amazon nearly four times the initial expense. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (Chennai north) has directed Amazon and Delhi-based Cloudtail India to pay ₹34,000 to a chartered accountancy student for delivering a faulty mobile phone.
In 2015, V Mohit of Korattur had ordered a cellphone costing ₹8,999 through the website in 2015. But the handset delivered on June 7, 2015, was a defective one. When Mohit sought a refund, though the phone was collected a week later, the company failed to refund the money. Following this, he approached the consumer forum. While an Amazon customer executive informed Mohit that the cost of the mobile would be credited to his account, no money was credited until the end of July.
The complainant contended that the acts of the website and the seller were tantamount to unfair trade practice and deficiency in service. Further, he had purchased the cellphone for day to day activities and could not use it till after two months, when he purchased another handset at a cost of ₹14,999. The complainant stated that he was put through mental agony.
Both the opposite parties had contended that the customer could seek refund of money only through a civil court and that the forum had no jurisdiction to entertain the complaint.
However,the consumer forum bench comprising president K Jayabalan and member M Uyiroli Kannan ruled in favour of the Mohit recently and asked the website and seller to refund the cost of the phone and pay extra as compensation. The companies were directed to refund the cost of the mobile phone and an additional sum of ₹20,000 for mental agony and ₹5,000 for litigation expenses.