Hi dearies….Yes, as you read from the title- Today’s post is going to be about my horrible online shopping experience from KamaAyurveda.com
A lot of you have been raving about Kama Ayurveda products and after the recommendations from few of my friends- I decided to place an online order with them…I placed an order on 7 Dec 2014 – Now here is hte whole story with pictures for reference…
1. Here is what when I type their address – I used Google Chrome browser- Service provider : Beam Tele ; My internet service provider have not blocked any sites. But, I see this warning every time I try to open their homepage. never mind… It could be a browser issue or any blockage from Service provider – Inspite of warning – I decided to create a new account with them and place an online order
2. After I click on Proceed to www.kamaayurveda.com(unsafe) link in the pic above – I am now seeing this pic below….Now, I clicked back and oh yes- I am on their home page….Maybe there is an error on their server is what I thought – I clicked back and was able to see their home page…
3. Now- Here I am on the home page- Created a new account – ordered some items and paid through net banking through PAYTM gateway & CC avenue
Here is a snap shot of the order invoice mail I got from them – Voila- My address was incorrect – I am 101 % sure that I entered shipping and billing address correctly – Also no auto fill option is activated on my browser. My State – City – etc is incorrect on the conformation mail I got and that’s when I realized- Their software might have a text area which trims after some character length which would have deleted the whole address- (Refer to pic below)
Now, As a buyer- What would be your next step – Login to their web page again – try to go to Accounts section and make sure the delivery address is listed correctly towards to your order. As far as I remember – All of the online sites from which I have shopped so far- HAS A USER ACCOUNT DASHBOARD WHERE THE USER CAN SEE HIS/HER ORDER DETAILS or OTHER INFORMATION SUCH AS SHIPPING ADDRESS etc.. I don’t know whether to call it a bad luck or a bad experience… But- I couldn’t find any such user account/ dashboard on their homepage- Refer to the pic below.
When I click towards my name on the top right corner – I see the below screen…Just a regular user name/password edits- No order information at all…
That’s when I decided- I have to shout out about this- As every other buyer- First point of contact – Obviously – the brand’s Facebook Page- I commented there mentioning my order number – told them to check the mail I just send them- In the mail I mentioned – My address have come incorrectly and would like to change it. I was waiting for the reply- After some time – I refreshed the page to see if someone has replied- My GOD- My post was mercilessly deleted from their wall…Which means- either a PR or a company representative must have deleted a customers post where she have raised a concern about the online order which she placed…Why on earth any customer centric company would delete a post like that??? I was so angry and decided to inbox them – I did so and waited for next morning to call them- Now- I have made up my mind that I don’t need this order anymore- Why to buy from someone who don’t even bother to check the customers grievances? I called up and cancelled my order. I was advised that I would have to write to them stating I need a refund- Now- its something new for me- For all the online shopping sites I have shopped from so far- If the order is cancelled- Amount would be automatically added back to your account as store credits or to your actual mode of payment (If its card- payback to a card- or a refund to the bank)
Still, I wrote to them asking for refund- I got a confirmation mail from them as below
I waited for long before I decided to act again – I didn’t receive any refund from them yet-
I wrote to CC Avenue & Paytm – they send me a reply like this one below
Today is 15 of December and till now – I haven’t got the refund – Today I called up my bank and they asked me to send and forward all these emails to customer.care@icicibank.com . The bank guy told m that they didn’t gt any initiation request like that and he wanted me to quote all reference numbers & transaction ID’s etc and email them- What the merchant should have done – is been done by me in this case- This shows the lack of interest- How customer oriented they are etc …I AM STILL WAITING FOR MY REFUND.
The reason why I posted this here is to make you aware of how bad the experience is. I love their products and would like to try them. But, I will wait for a physical store to open in Hyderabad. I am 101 % unhappy about my order and the way the whole things worked.
> I learned two lessons here- Never trust anyone when it comes to placing orders online- Always make sure – the site has a good customer support number that is active / at least a page that displays no error. WHERE ON THIS EARTH CAN SOMEONE FIND AN ONLINE SITE WITH NO ACCOUNT DASHBOARD THAT DISPLAYS RECENT ORDERS etc…..
In future – I would like to try their products- But I swear I will never ever order online from them again.…If any KAMA AYURVEDA person is reading this- Please forward this to your concerned department and please check on this- I still haven’t got my refund- Its the merchant who must follow up with bank and initiate the refund as and when an order status stands cancelled.
My Rating of this website – 2/5 ; 1 point for nice photographs – 1 point for the product details
Take Care Dearies….
Be careful if you are planning to place an order with them – atleast if your order is placed correctly and there is no hassle of refund – your experience would be different- In my case- my whole order got messed up because of this delayed refund- The refund policy is just HORRIBLE!!!!!!
Further Update: I got this mail from bank today….Now I have to wait till 23 Dec to get this refund…..
First PIC Credit **This review is based on my personal experience with the website. I always wanted to try their products- But no ordering of products online - I will rather wait for their store to open up here in Hyderabad or i will wait for some PR samples.
OMG! I wanted to try their kumkumadi tailum but now I am never ordering from their website! In today’s age and world its truly frustating to see such a bad customer experience especially when they pride themselves for selling products almost belonging to higher end range! I’d rather invest my money somewhere else!
yeah 🙂 I love their products like you and always dreamed about trying them. But- I will wait for a physical store to open in Hyd…No more shopping from them online…
After reading Shayoni’s posts about KA products, I have always wanted to try them. But their store is kind of far from my place and I was thinking of ordering products online. But this!! My God!! This is the worst that they could have done. I am definitely staying FAR AWAY from them now.
exactly dear….Trust me…I have not lost interest on their products…Would love to use them…but- I am not going to order online from their website again….
I will wait for someone to pick the stuffs from other cities or wait for a store to open in HYD
Awful experience.. Refunds cone back at the most in 7 days by all other websites.. So y r these guys delaying so much
no idea…..And abhi tak it has not come…. 🙁 i lost hope now
Very bad online experience. I think after reading this KA should do improvement in their system. This review is very genuine with full proof and a very good feedback about the online system. I hope KA should do necessary steps regarding this.
I never thought that they will do something like this. This may be due to their online presence, but they should have treated their customers well in order to deliver results. You can Try Forest Essentials or Omveda, they are also good.