In a bid to reduce its operational cost, Flipkart has tightened its return and exchange policy for major items on its porta. The homegrown ecommerce company will not offer refunds on an array of products like mobile accessories, personal care appliances, computer and camera accessories, office equipment, apart from high-cost items such as mobile phones, large appliances and furniture.
The return policy now says,
Refunds are not offered. All sales are final. If a defect is determined within the 10-day period following delivery, a replacement of the same model will be provided at no additional cost. Only in cases where the replacement product is not in stock or has been permanently discontinued, a refund for the entire product or part(s) of the product will be provided by the seller.
In case of electronic items, Flipkart said it will troubleshoot any issue either through online tools, over the phone, and/or through an in-person technical visit. In the case of tablets, you may also be required to install an application to aid with troubleshooting.
Flipkart spokesperson told ET,
Our customers can request for refunds through the self-service option on over 1,150 product categories of the 1,800 available, which constitutes about two-thirds of all the categories on Flipkart. In fact, Flipkart processes about 25,000 refunds on a daily basis, 60% of which are instant, where customers don’t have to wait to get their money back.
However, the new move has garnered criticism from industry experts who feel that Flipkart may lose their customer base due to the new policy. In February last year, Amazon India axed return policy for mobile phones.