India Today Book Club
ITBC cheated me

I am surprised at the way a reputed publication house like the India Today group has resorted to cheating people in the name of "fabulous offers" and "free gifts".

I fell into this trap myself on April 29, when I ordered two Benetton watches for Rs 998. I paid through credit card (Order number - 0GA090039281) and received a parcel 3 weeks later. To my shock and utter disbelief, the perfectly wrapped package had just one watch instead of two. I repeat, the package had not been tampered with, so the postal department can't be blamed. I immediately called up the customer helpline number and my call was answered by a Mr Lalit who assured me that there was an error on the part of the packaging and handling department and that the issue will be resolved right away and the parcel will arrive within the next 10 to 15 days. He sounded like it was a common phenomenon and there was nothing abnormal about it. He gave me a reference number - 109115 (he called it the request number to despatch order). Since then I have written to the feedback@indiatodaybookclub.com address several times and my emails were answered by Mr Kuldeep Singh who repeated the exact same words in all the mails: "... we have forwarded your complain[t] to our concern[ed] department, they will do [the] needful (sic) for you as soon as possible." It has been a month and a half since I placed my order and almost a month since I received the incomplete parcel, I wonder how soon is "as soon as possible" for them. After reading the others complaints listed on this site, I don't think I should expect it to ever arrive.

I know that duping people through the Internet is not a new phenomenon, but usually they come as obvious spam mails from unknown people. One certainly can't associate the India Today group with this kind of fraudulent activities. I noticed that there are 235 pages on this site alone that are full of similar complaints. The list of people duped by the ITBC seems endless. It's about time that they are stopped.

Company: India Today Book Club
Country: India

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