Shoppers Stop has been directed to refund ₹1,53,091, the price of a gold coin, and pay ₹ 50,000 as compensation to a consumer who instead of the merchandise, received payment invoices.

The consumer forum was dealing with a complaint filed by D. Ravi Chandra, 24.

The complainant said on December 17, 2016, he ordered a Malabar Gold and Diamonds 999 purity 50 gram rose gold coin from Shoppers Stop website.

On December 22, 2016, he received a message informing him that it was shipped from Aramex courier. But on December 26, 2016, the complainant received the package from Ecom Express courier service with ‘M’ and an unknown address printed it.

When he opened the package, he did not find the gold coin, but invoices. He contacted the customer service that told him to share images of the package.

He shot a video of the same and sent it to them. A customer service executive contacted him with instructions to check whether the package was tampered with. Upon inspection, he found that it was, but without ‘visible signs’. The customer care, he said, informed him that the matter would be investigated at the shipping location hub, but very little came of it.

‘Hidden agenda’

For their part, the company denied all claims. It stated that by not including Malabar and the courier company in the complaint, Mr. Chandra harboured a ‘hidden agenda’.

It also stated that Malabar had video-recorded the packing. The company questioned why the complainant had accepted a package that was tampered with. It alleged that the complainant had ‘cleverly removed the gold coin’ from the package.

Further, the company stated that Ecom Express had filed a complaint with the police against Mr. Chandra, but he did not cooperate with the investigation.

Police investigation

Picking holes in the company’s version, the forum said while the company said it would furnish a copy of the video of the gold coin being packed, it had not done so. Further, it had not explained why the video-recording was not submitted. Also, the company neither furnished a copy of the complaint registered with the police, nor a copy of the FIR. The forum stated that the police investigation into the case would continue irrespective of Mr. Chandra’s cooperation.

Touching upon including the courier service and Malabar in the complaint, the forum stated that there was no contract between Mr. Chandra and them.

Apart from ordering a refund and compensation, the forum directed the company to pay ₹ 10,000 as cost.