Snapdeal scores a Hat Trick in Consistently Horrible Service

This is a review of my horrible shopping experiences with Snapdeal.com since 2010. Snapdeal started as a deals website in 2010, when the concept was fairly new in India. Mydala.com had been there in 2009 but I got to know about these deals websites in 2010 when I wanted to get inked (tattooed). Currently Snapdeal has evolved into an online shopping mall and the deals are there as well. Anyways, this is the history of my shopping with Snapdeal.com.

SNAPDEAL.COM SHOPPING EXPERIENCE 1: MOHIT TATTOOS

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A tattoo deal came by in Sept 2010 for some Mohit Tattoos based in Gautam Nagar, South Delhi. I was to pay Rs 99 to Snapdeal and Rs 300 to Mohit Tattoos for a 3 Square inch Tattoo, which came to a tiny winy 1.5x2" tattoo. Since I wanted something bigger, Mohit Tattoos told me they charge Rs 750/sq inch for tattoo coverage area beyond the 3 Square Inch deal.

I had a proper discussion with Mohit over phone and emailed him the design. He gave me an appointment and said everything will be ready. It was raining that day and the place was located in a shady market in the interiors. The tattoo parlor was closed. I was made to wait half an hour in the rain before the sevant came and unlocked the door and then another 2 hours before Mohit reached, had his rounds and rounds of cigarettes and finally made his mind to attend to his client/ me.

Then this guy, stinking of cigarettes, opened his comp and started going through designs with a vague mind. When I asked about my tattoo stencil, he casually informed me that the design I had emailed won't be possible on my small wrists, something he could have told me earlier.

To cut the story short, I had a bunch of butterflies tattooed on my left wrist. The guy was intricate with the design and did the first few tattooes well. But after a little while his hands went shaky (chain smoker) and during coloring, he was a complete fail. At payment time, instead of the tattooed skin, he measured the entire skin area where the butterflies were spread and I was made to pay 9000 bucks outside the Rs 3000 (down to Rs 300) discounted price. Then he sold me TatWax for Rs 800, that costed US$1-2 at that time.

I had to get the colors fixed a month later after the tattoo had healed, and because I confronted him for the pricey TatWax, he gave me Tattoo Goo this time, without asking for more money.

The colors mixed up under the skin for most of the tattoos because he picked up too much of black ink on the needle and some of the lines are not straight. Thankfully, I love my tattoos after the touch up because they signify my metamorphosis, but I can't forget the treatment I got at Mohit Tattoos.

At that time, Snapdeal's founder Kunal Bahl used to write a personal email to each customer regarding their experience and I too received it. I informed him of my poor experience and he said customer care will contact me. They later said they have refunded my money. As you can see in the 1st pic, it says 'Cancelled' next to that order. Refunded? What, Rs 99? For something that was to stay with me forever and had to be fixed??? I didn't get even that Rs 99 and they kept giving deal after deal for that Mohit Tattoos. As you can see in the picture above, Mohit Tattoos is still in business with Snapdeal.com.

5 Months later I got a 12 square inch Tattoo done through a deal on mydala.com which was amazingly done by this other artist in West Delhi.

SNAPDEAL.COM SHOPPING EXPERIENCE 2: THE DENTAL WORLD

I had to get my regular scaling done and there was a new deal for Rs 399 (Rs 99 to snapdeal and Rs 300 to The Dental World). The deal included teeth scaling and tooth jewelry installation on one tooth. The original price of the deal was probably quoted as Rs 2500, where as scaling costed only Rs 500-600 at that time.

As I was wary from my first experience, I didn't buy that deal. One of my friends went for it at their Punjabi Bagh branch and was very happy with it. He is very scared of dentists and the fact he even got a crystal (tooth jewel) fitted in his tooth, made me take the deal, thinking the dentist must be good.

I went to their Rajouri Branch where a male dentist Deepak Nakra sits. Ridiculously he scaled only one side of my teeth and said the deal included only one side scaling!!! Can you believe such hidden terms? Argghhhh, I ended up paying for the full scaling and for the tooth jewelry, he said "It's just for fashion and to lure customers into the deal. You look sensible, don't go for it". And that was the end of it!

You can see Dental World's details here, though it's a different deal showing here:

Click on the Image to see Enlarged View

Meet the special dentist Mr Deepak Nakra in his 2001 picture

SNAPDEAL.COM SHOPPING EXPERIENCE 3: ONLINE SHOPPING

3 years later I discovered recently that snapdeal now sells stuff at their own site. I was looking for non-toxic colored chalks and a towel for my son. I googled and snapdeal popped up. I thought it may have improved over these 3 years.

First, the order was shipped more than 48 hours later. Then even for 2 items, they split the order. The towel came first, but a different design from what I had ordered, which my Son is still unhappy about. They arranged for a reverse pickup but that meant another 15 days or so and I needed the towel, so I kept it.

A couple days later the Chalks arrived. I was down with viral so couldn't get to it. I opened the packet the day before and saw 3 packs of colored chalks Rs 29 each, meaning total price Rs 29 X 3 = Rs 87 and Snapdeal.com charged me Rs 120 for it!!! Moreover, the chalks are all broken into 2 despite proper bubble wrap, which means they were like that at the warehouse itself.

Even after 48 hours of complaining and sending pictures, Snapdeal has not responded and for some ridiculous reason, they are still following up on the towel which I told them I have used and won't return. I just received another call for the towel :)

UPDATE: Jul 30, 2013. Snapdeal has initiated a refund of Rs 120 for the colored chalks though I had asked them to return only the additional amount.

If you value your time, money and peace of mind, don't be lured by such third class deals. I have heard from so many friends in Delhi that people who go to businesses with such deals are treated very mean as if they did something wrong by buying a discounted deal. Businesses don't need deals to lure customers, they need to learn customer service. Once the customer is respected and pampered, they will willfully spend more with you, even if you are not renowned.