Sanjay, I totally agree with you. These guys are borderline crooked. Had this deal not been so attractive or had this been a corner store in Sector 18, I would have walked away. I have half a mind to call and complain to the Croma MD.
At the most the staff at Croma EOK can be accused of being a confused lot with serious issues of miscommunication amongst themselves as also towards their customers. Calling them crooked borderline or otherwise is harsh and unfair.
This is the only Croma store out of the several that I personally visited including almost all of the brand shops that confirmed the availability of the 50VT20D panel.
If you had had the opportunity of dealing with the other Croma guys including the Store Manager from Croma Gurgaon who committed to a deal with Autopsycho and myself and then disappeared when rsidhu approached the store for billing and several other jokers you would have a very different view of these guys.
I was the first one to buy the TV on Thu. At that time, the second 3D glass was not part of the deal, but it was an open item. On Fri the TV was delivered without the Tata Sky PVR voucher (which they say they forgot).
The deal was being negotiated when you decided to have your set billed. The thing was that the store manager had an off and the assistant had to call up his upline for every little thing and was unable to get approvals instantly. It was just taking that extra bit of time. However the only point of contention left was the 2nd pair of the 3D glass which was an ongoing negotiation when you arrived and we were finally advised that the same had been approved in principle and would be confirmed once the store had an email to the effect in the course of the next business day .
In fact even when you decided to get the panel billed without that confirmation, I categorically told 'AMAN' the Asstt. manager who was dealing with us that even though your bill was being generated the benefit of the 2nd 3D glass would be extended to you as you ere a part of the group of 4 for whom the deal was being negotiated. He agreed to the same and all this time you were right there with me so how the deal was struck 'unknown' to you is a mystery for me.
For a moment even if it were unknown to you, I think one should appreciate the fact that they were not left wanting of the additional benefit that was accrued to them along with the rest of the group who still had their monies in their pockets and this when no one was under any obligation or a contract that forced one to do so. The only binding factor here was common courtesy that was extended to a stranger albeit a fellow forum member. I believe courtesy begets courtesy and not posts on matters 'unknown'.
Unknown to me, on Fri afternoon itself, Khoj and the rest negotiated another 3D Glass (for me as well). On Fri evening I got a mail from Croma central IT, that a second glass has been billed to me (This is because I gave them my email address).
I am repeating myself but I take very strong objection to the "unknown to me' bit above. I don't know whether you were distracted wile we were at the store or are posting selectively.
On Saturday, I turned up to collect the Tata Sky PVR voucher and asked them about the bill. They said no no. This is a secondary procedure to bill the glass in the box (As if I was born yesterday). Since when do companies bill in-box items, especially when they claimed that it was NOT in inventory. So after speaking to several people and making it very clear that I don't accept their explanation and I need a bill that says I will receive the 3D glass later. They said we will give you an additional bill for the 3D glass. They just reprinted the bill, that I had got in the email. I asked them "How are you giving me the same bill for something that you have already delivered as per your own statement?"
Regarding the matter the above, when you called me and informed regarding the mail, my first comment was that this must be for the additional pair that was approved and since your bill was already generated this would be an addendum for the freebie. However you had your own views on the subject and after all of the confused discussions with various Croma staff it ultimately tunes out that my understanding was indeed correct.
All, this was happening while simultaneously Khoj and company were billing 3 additional TV's, where this strange behaviour was not taking place and AutoPsycho actually was billed a free 3D glass (stocks magically reappeared?).
There was no question of the "strange behavior' for the 3 additional tvs and others billed later as there was nothing strange to begin with. The situation was
1. Your PDP was already billed prior to approval of the second 3D glass, so to give you the freebie they generated an addendum.
2. For the rest, the bills were generated with the freebie preapproved so the 3D glasses appeared in a single bill along with the rest of the items.
On Sunday afternoon, I turned up there again to pick up some HDMI cables (Croma has these flat HDMI cables that fit well into wire casings) and Khoj was there again to help his cousin buy 2 more TV's. As I billed the cable, I inquired about the 3D glass again. They said it was not in stock and will arrive soon in a few days.
20 minutes after I left, I got a call to pick up the glasses (really really strange). So yesterday, finally I picked up the glass. The glass was stored in some cupboard where this sales guy kept his paperwork and other non-stock items. The rest of Croma kept on saying the glasses have not arrived yet.
Once again goes on to show that the Croma guys are a confused lot with a sever internal miscommunication issue.
I think they figured that because I as in Noida, I will not chase them too much about the glass or the fact that because I had billed the TV earlier, the offer did not extend to me (But for the fact, the bill reached my mailbox, I probably would have never known).
The scratch card is still left and I fully plan to take it along with some sort of clarification on the 3 year warranty (I think that will be from Panasonic).
Well, to me it appears to be the other way round. The fact that you are in Noida was not lost on them and that is why they risked making the delivery to you in a private vehicle as crossing the Delhi UP border requires the "UP state road permit' and the onus for obtaining the permit lies on the buyer. The way I see it they have gone out of their way to do this as probably any other shop would have done too. However there is a lot of difference between actually doing something and the probability of it being done.
You know since there is so much of an issue about things being done unknown to you and since you know how to deal with these 'borderline crooked' guys, why don't you take charge of getting the scratch cards for all of us. I am giving up on the same as even if they do give us the cards in 10 days time as they have been saying and which I am sure they will. The cards at that time however will be of zero value as the scheme is valid only up to the 26th of this month. Maybe you could deal with them more effectively and get them to deliver the cards much prior to the last date.
Oh and BTW do pass on their MD's contact details to me as I have not even been given the tata sky+ vouchers and have been advised that both the wi fi keyboard and the wall mount stand are also out of stock and will be delivered at a later unknown date as is the case with the 3D glasses. I believe therefore that if any one should be complaining it should be me.
complete with one of the store's manager in GGN doing a disappearing act.
