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LHello everyone,
I’m seeking legal guidance for a recent experience I had with Flipkart, which feels like a borderline scam.
On 31st March, I ordered a dress for my wife using Flipkart Minutes – their new “within-minutes” delivery service. It was supposed to be delivered in 14 minutes, it came in about 25. That wasn’t a big issue, but what happened after was extremely frustrating.
The delivery person handed me the dress, asked for the OTP, and left. He didn’t ask me to inspect the product or inform me that it was an “open box delivery” (which apparently has different return policies).
I opened the package right after receiving it, and saw that the dress was torn from the back. I was disappointed but felt confident it would be resolved – Flipkart has always been reliable in the past. I initiated a return, selected “Damaged Product” as the reason, and shared pictures with customer support through chat. They approved the return.
Then the pickup person came. After inspecting the product, he said he couldn’t take it back because the design was slightly different from the listing image (it was – but only very subtly visible in side-by-side comparison). He left without collecting the item.
Now, Flipkart’s return form doesn’t allow selecting multiple reasons. So I was forced to select “Damaged” while initiating the return, but the pickup was refused due to “Design Mismatch.”
When I tried to start another return, I wasn’t allowed to. I contacted support again, shared pictures again, and they abruptly cancelled the return saying “Try again after 24 hours.” Then they closed the chat.
The next day, I got a call from Flipkart support who said open box deliveries are not eligible for return, which was never communicated during delivery or in the app. I explained everything, including the fact that the return was approved and a pickup was attempted. They kept blaming me for not inspecting at delivery and refused to help.
Now I am stuck with a torn and wrong item, no refund, and no recourse.
My questions:
1. Can Flipkart legally deny returns on damaged products citing “open box delivery” if that condition wasn’t made clear upfront or during delivery?
2. Is there any protection under consumer law for cases where a return is refused despite visible product damage?
3. Can I raise this to the consumer court, and what would be the process?
4. Are there any quick escalation steps within Flipkart or with consumer bodies that can help resolve this?Any help or advice would be appreciated. I have all chats, photos, and timestamps saved.
Thank you.
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DPlease check if the ‘No return’ condition was mentioned online, for your product. Contemplate steps accordingly. But either way, no consumer court will support Flipkart for selling torn items and not accepting it back due to their silly condition. Unfair trade practice is not entertained in any court of law. The process is to file a consumer complaint for deficiency in service and unfair trade practice before the District forum within your jurisdiction, either yourself or through a lawyer. It takes about two years for the complaint to be adjudicated upon. You can also send Flipkart a legal notice before that, and see if that helps your cause.
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