Shoppers Stop ordered to refund for delivering empty box instead of gold coin

Hyderabad: The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ordered Shoppers Stop Limited to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to a complainant who ordered a gold coin, weighing 50 grams, but received an empty pack. The commission also directed Shoppers Stop to refund the complainant Rs 1.53 lakh and pay Rs 10,000 in litigation costs.

Ravi Chandra, 24, a private company employee from Parkal, had filed a complaint with the commission alleging that an online order had been placed on December 17, 2016, for a 50-gram Malabar gold and diamonds coin (999 purity), and that the order was confirmed via email the following day.

The item was dispatched on December 22, 2016, via Aramex Courier with the tracking number Ecom-157215108. On December 26, 2016, a representative of the Ecom Express courier delivered the parcel. The packet had a printed letter "M" with an unspecified address on one side and a piece of paper with an address and a courier's contact information taped to the other.

When he opened the packet, he saw a little box labeled ‘M’, which was empty save for the order's invoice papers. Chandra called the customer service department and reported the incident, which was recorded. He was asked to share pictures of the package, and he sent a video.

The Shoppers Stop management arguing that the complaint was flawed for failing to include all relevant parties because the item was delivered via Ecom Express courier. The retailer argued that the gold was purchased and packaged at the Malabar Gold office and it had no involvement.