Dear Sir/Madam,

My issue is with an E-commerce Site called LATESTOne.Com. They deal with mobile phone accessories like phone covers, etc. On 10th May 2016 I placed an ONLINE order with them (Order ID SO1906214) for some items. When no information on the order shipment was forthcoming, I created a support ticket and enquired on its status. Was told order had been approved, and would soon be shipped. Waited another few days still no shipment details, so I decided to call them. It took two days before I could finally speak to someone as their helpline (040 46659900) is programmed to keep you on hold for 2 minutes 30 seconds and then disconnect. But persistence paid, and when I did get through, they said the item is out of stock and I should not have placed the order for it. When I asked them how come their site did not indicate that, how come their site accepted the order, how come the order got approved, and how come nobody thought of telling me all this till I have called – they had no answer. Even today, kindly look at the screenshot of the order page, it is still showing Approved. Not shipped, refunded, cancelled or anything else. No change.

Anyway, what is the solution, I asked, will you supply later or what ? No sir, we are cancelling your order and giving you a refund. Fine, I said, do that so I can buy the stuff elsewhere. This was on 20th May 2016.

Today is 17th June and I’ve been struggling since then to get my refund. I’ve contacted them on Twitter, Facebook, Support Ticket and on phone. They are unyielding, unprofessional, and downright rude. Each time they send a different cut paste response which is totally different from the previous one and which has nothing to do with the issue at stake. Kindly take a look at the thread of mails relating to the issue. I could show you similar responses on my Twitter account as well. On 26th May they wrote that they had already processed the refund on 21st May. Now today they are talking about PAYUMONEY which I have never used and know nothing about and also asking for Return Tracking Number and courier details which are not possible as the refund is due because of GOODS NEVER SUPPLIED in the first place. Please look at the thread of the mails exchanged from 14/05/2016 to 16/06/2016 which is attached

Further, their Support FAQ clearly states as below:

In how many days shall I get the refund?

After you submit all the necessary details, the refund would reach to you within 5-7 working days in case of a Privatized Bank and 10-15 working days in case of a Nationalized bank.

Note: For refund, we don’t require your bank details if your mode of payment is Online. The mentioned steps are for customers ordering by COD.

While I would request your assistance in getting my refund, I am bringing this experience to your notice because it is fly by night companies like this Latestone.com who give a bad name to all the others. I want all prospective customers of Latestone.com to be very careful and protect themselves from getting into a situation like mine. Latestone.com is selling ordinary mobile accessories nothing particularly great, and if, like me, people place orders because the price seems too good, now you know why. If out of every 10 customers, if they chop the money of even 3 or 4 customers without supplying them, it’s a tidy sum. They need to be made to understand that in a law abiding society, consumers happily pay for good service but are not pleased when their good faith is abused.

Thank you and with best regards
Harinder Kandhari