Warranty Risk in Buying Online ?

Buying Online and Warranty Risk

Warning customers not to buy electronic products online is becoming common by the manufacturers. Time to time manufacturers are issuing advisories informing about the issues that may arise with online purchases. Such advisories create negative impact on the online market and prompt many to stay offline for their purchases.Such advises are very harmful for the growing online market.

Are these advisories of any worth ?  

"NO" is the answer if purchases are made from the sites that sell original and new products.However, if purchases are made from the sites that do not keep any check on the genuineness and not follow strict practices for quality control, than the customer may lend in serious trouble. In such cases customer may end up having counterfeit products or non-warranty products.  

Most of the well known e-commerce websites do not directly sell any products, instead they only provide a platform for both selling and buying .In this case it depends on the seller, if seller is authorized offline seller and warranty is applied to him then the warranty automatically applies to any product sold by him online too.In such cases there is no fear of loosing the warranty and customer can enjoy full protection.

However, in the case the seller is not authorized to sell offline and he is selling anything online, warranty may not apply. Such cases are the ones where the product is imported and is not covered under the warranty from the manufacturer. Some sellers are also engaged in selling counterfeit products online and they are the real threat to the customers.

Conclusion

So if customer wants to be safe he should buy only from genuine sellers and go for manufacturer warranty only. Seller warranty should be avoided. 

Xiaomi Mi3 - 20000 units for sale on 12 August

Overwhelmed  by the response it got from India, Xiaomi is now gradually increasing the stock of Mi3 for Indian Customers.

This time on the 12^th August, Xiaomi is going to offer Twenty thousand Mi3 handsets for the 4^th round of Flash sale. This is about double of the quantity offered on 2^nd Flash sale when  Xiaomi sold 10400 units on 29^th July. On 5^th August it sold 15000 units of Mi3. No data is available about its first sale on 22^nd July. However, the units offered till now are very less against the demand. The registration data for buying Mi3 shows that more than 2.5 lakh customers are trying to get the smartphone and xiaomi has till date offered only about 25 thousand handsets. However, Xiaomi has promised to increase the number of units in the view of high demand.

Xiaomi is selling Mi3 in only single colour that is metallic gray. For the 4^th sale too, the same colour will be offered.  

Registrations for the 4^th Flash sale ends on 11^th August.

Click here for registering for Mi3

Want to buy Mi3 Successfully this time ? Here is Step by Step Guide to help you. Click here.

Also see

How to Buy Mi3 Successfully 

Best Ever User Review of Mi3
Is Xiaomi cheating customers ?
Xiaomi fined for misleading customers.

Xiaomi fined for Misleading

Xiaomi Misleading Customers

Third flash sale of Xiaomi Mi3 in India on 5th August also went off in flash, just in 2 seconds. So now it appears that only Mi3 is in demand in India with more than 2 lakh people wanting desperately to have Mi3.The strategy of creating hype and gaining attention seems to have paid well for Xiaomi and now Mi3 is the most talked about phone in India leaving behind all the Major players. However, many of the critics are saying that Xioami is not playing well with the customers and it is using them in wrong way to build its brand. Company is having history to play with the emotions of the customers.

Xioami fined for Misleading Customers

Here it is important to note that Xiaomi was fined by the Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission (FTC) for unfair marketing practice. It was found guilty for misleading the customers by false information and selling much lesser units of handsets then advertised. Xiaomi has claimed that its units put up for sale were sold in minutes and had also given the numbers of units that were for sale. However, the commission founded that the information given by Xiaomi to public was false and only few units were sold in the market.

Here in India too Xiaomi is following the same practice however, here it was cautious not to disclose the number of units put up for sale. It resorted to the same practice of putting very less units compared to the demand and then publicizing that its sale was instant hit. The phrases like gone in 2 seconds or 5 seconds created much hype and gave instant publicity to the company.

What is Flash Sale

The flash sale by Xiaomi is going very well with for it and because of this marketing strategy it has managed to make a strong presence in the smart phone market. Flash sale simply means high discount offer given by company for a limited time period.

Offers are sometimes very irresistible and since they last only for very limited period they attract much more buyer attention. Now the companies like Xiaomi are using it to build their brand and capture the much highly competitive market.

More Information   

Do not buy Redmi 1S

No sale was made on 22nd July ?  

Xioami fined for Misleading Customers

                                              

                                                

Xiaomi Cheating Customers

Xiaomi & Flipkart Cheating Customers

Xiaomi & Flipkart cheating  customers ?

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has taken the Indian smartphone market with a storm. Mi3 has become talk of the town and every phone lover is probably wishing to get one. According to Xiaomi, demand of Mi3 in India is so huge that its stock is finished as soon as it is put up for sale,in a fraction of time. Further,its exclusive sales partner Flipkart has informed that  1 lakh people registered on the website for its first sale, that was on 22^nd July,2014, more than 2.5 Lakh registered for its second sale on July 29 and 1.5 Lakh registered for the third round of sale on 5^th August.  

The company claims that  Mi3 went out of stock in 39 minutes on 22^nd July, in just  5 seconds on 29^th July and in just  2 seconds in the third round today.

Isn’t  this amazing ?

Yes surely it is amazing if the information provided by the Xiaomi and Flipkart is taken as correct. However, it appears that they are not honest in divulging the actual truth and attempting to deceive the customers. They may be playing with emotions of potential buyers to create hype about the product. It may be a very successful marketing strategy but is not justice with the customers and falls in the category of cheating.

Are they really cheating?

• No sale was made on 22^nd July

Xiaomi Mi3 went out of stock in 39 minutes on its first sale on 22^nd July,2014. However, no data was provided by Xiaomi  or Flipkart that how many units were put up for sale. This is surprising and creates suspicion.

This suspicion becomes more strong after studying the Import data of Mi3. Probability is that Not a single unit was sold on 22^nd July. According to the data from Zauba.com no unit of Mi3 was imported on or before 22^nd July. First lot of 10,400 units of Mi3 were imported only on 25^th July that may have went for sale on 29^th July. Second lot of 15000 units was imported on 1^st August,2014 which went on for sale today, 5^th August.

If this data is correct then it is clear that no single unit was sold on 22^nd July and company only gave false information.

•  Data confirms and matches the sale of units on 29^th July and 5^th august

 The import data provided by Zauba clearly confirms the claim of company to sell 15000 units on 5^th August. So this can be concluded that the data is correct and reflects the true picture.

• Flipkart is silent about the product

Every product sold on flipkart is displayed on its website all the time even if it is out of stock. User can check the details of the product and also the buyers can write their experience. It is shocking to see that no detail of Mi3 is available on the flipkart except on the  Mi3  advertisement page. No user reviews are available and no option to review the product or the service is available for Mi3. 

Does it not smells something fishy ? 

Does this not means that Flipkart is also cheating its customers by hiding the information and thus not allowing them to take informative decision.

Watch here how stock just finished in 2 seconds

 How Stock just finished in 2 seconds -5th August, 2014  

Conclusion

Xiaomi has resorted to unique market strategy to market its first smartphone Mi3 in India by creating hype and awareness about the product. Publicizing the number of people registering for the phone and the time in which the product is out of stock is very well serving the purpose of the company. Keeping total secrecy about the product sales and not allowing people to share their experiences on the website is making people more curious about it and creating more urge to have it.

How can it be called as fare by creating huge demand and enjoying the popularity without attempting to fulfill the demand. Xiaomi is exploiting the customers by putting very less units for sales as compared to the demand.

No doubt that the Mi3 is a great phone with great specifications and at very attractive price but the marketing strategy opted by Xiaomi cannot be called as a fair one. Xiaomi is not following ethical path and is exploiting the buyers and playing with their emotions.

See Also

Do not buy Redmi 1S
iPhone fans are dumb ?
How to Buy Mi3 Successfully -Step by Step Guide
20000 units of Mi3 to be sold on 12th August
Best Ever User Review of Mi3