The curious care of YU

This is a very interesting account of sadistic customer experience with YU Televentures Pvt Ltd.

This unfortunate story started when I placed an order on amazon.in for YUFit Band on Aug 05, 2015.

Device: YUFit Band

Amount (after discount): 999/-

Billing Name: Nimesh Desai

December 2015

The device worked fine for sometime, but then it developed bluetooth issue for some reason. The device won't connect to phone, thus making it practically not useful. Thus I raised a ticket on the support system via customer care, and device was ultimately picked up on December 03, 2015. They asked (through support@yuplaygod.com) bank details and related information for refund, and like in case of other online distributors, I was hopeful of receiving refund in 3-7 days.

Name of bank account: Nimeshkumar Desai

But I didn't receive the refund. Nor was any response from them about the whereabouts of device and refund. It was only the beginning of unprofessional behavior from YU televentures. I tracked the courier and found that it finally reached their Haryana facility on December 17, 2015. May be this was the reason for the delay, that's what I wondered. Another 10 days passed, but refund didn't arrive. Meanwhile I sent many emails, but didn't receive any response. Finally I called their customer care on Dec 31, 2016. The guys on the other end, told me that they are in process of initiating refund and it would take another 30 days to get it credited in my account. This was anyway far from what is the common business practice, where refund should not take this long. Nevertheless, I waited for the new year in hope.

March 2016

I waited till March, 2016 for the refund. Finally on March 4, 2016 I called customer care again. This time I was irritated for obvious reasons, and I reprimanded the customer care executive. The executive apologized for the delay, and informed me that I should be getting refund in 5 days.

As the refund didn't happen, I called customer service again on March 10, 2016. Note that till this moment, they haven't communicated any reason to not do the refund. I asked the customer care guy to give me reason for not refunding my amount till date. pet came the reply -

   

The name on invoice 'Nimesh Desai' does not match the name of given bank account 'Nimeshkumar Desai'. As per company policy refund can't be made.

I was furious. For one, they didn't communicate about this for more almost 3 months after giving my bank details. Secondly, this is one of the most outrageous reason to not provide refund. I listed out the details on their support forum about how this policy is ridiculous. Also sent messages to their COO, Amarinder Dhaliwal, through LinkedIn. For the record, both of these are valid names of the same person with documentary proof.

http://forums.yuplaygod.com/threads/no-refund-for-faulty-yufit-product-even-after-3-months.36390/#post-484157

After the post on their support forum, got a call from YU on March 16, 2016, again informing that the reason for non-refund is name mismatch. I told the guys to send the policy in writing over email. Below is their response (copied from the reply without change)

We wish to inform you that to we can only initiate refund against the Yu fit post fulfilling the below mentioned conditions as per company policy :

• Invoice of Yu fit should be compulsary. 
• The Name should be same in the invoice as well as the Back account holder name. 

The email seems to have been drafted in hurry. Though I didn't agree with their response, just to conclude the argument, I decided to send details of another bank account:

Name of bank account: Desai Nimesh D

As usual, refund didn't come for few more days. I reminded them through emails, and raised question on the support forum. I got a call on March 23, 2016 again while I was driving on the way back home. I stopped the car to receive the call. And guess what, they are again back with the same argument that the names do not match. Basically according to them 'Nimesh Desai' and 'Desai Nimesh' do not match. Now this was the same account from which the payment was done through amazon. It is only that this bank uses last name first as convention.

In short, receiving payment from any account is fine, but refunding is not. This is a harassment from YU for a simple refund, that should have happened long long ago.

I have done a lot of online transactions and received timely refunds from all the providers, except this unprofessional one. This needs to be shared and made aware of so that products of such companies are avoided. Meanwhile I am planning the next course of action. Any suggestions are welcomed.

Business

Nehru once told Tata that he hated the word profit. 

“Jawaharlal, I am talking about the need of the public sector making a profit,” Tata shot back. 

“Never talk to me about the word profit; it is a dirty word,” Nehru retorted. 

Tata, unsure of the prime minister’s socialist bent of mind, turned down his invitation to join a delegation to the United Nations on the ground that there was so much to do inside the country. Giving the same argument, he declined Nehru’s invitation to head Indian Rare Earths, one of the first public sector units floated after Independence. In turn, Tata’s Air India, Air India International and insurance outfit were nationalized by the government.

- http://www.business-standard.com/article/beyond-business/-profit-is-a-dirty-word-110081400017_1.html (Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's discussion with JRD Tata)

This was the seed of socialism that had crippled the country since Independence. It took almost 44 years for the country to come out of Nehru-growth model (famously called Hindu-growth rate), but still the roots of misguided socialism are very strong.

There is a need to accept business as a good karma. Doing a business takes a lot of guts, risk taking abilities and hard work. It is a completely different ballgame when you know that your decision can alter lives of not only yours, but of families and dependents of those who work for you. Intellectuals and politicians should stop selling idea of a welfare state. It is not going to lift the standards of people, and will eventually empty state reserves.

It is good to dream of becoming an Ambani or a Premji or a Tata or a Bansal. This creates a good competition in market and creates an ambitious society. Greater respect is needed for people who generate employment, be it a tea-stall owner, a wedding planner, a 20-year old startup enthusiast, or a CEO of MNC. 

For one Mallya or Jindal, there are thousands (if not lakhs) businessmen generating employment, revenues, foreign reserves and careers of millions of citizens. From manufacturing to aviation, from steel to clothes, from IT to healthcare, progress being made is largely because of the presence of small, medium or large industries in these sectors.

There are many mid-to-senior level people, with great experience and qualifications, stuck in their comfort-zones, hesitant to venture something new. This is where right kind of education and culture is needed. We generate employees, not employers through our system. The change is happening, and hopefully the next generation won't have such hesitations.

Meanwhile a salute to all the budding entrepreneurs. You are doing a great job.