Flipkart loses a customer.

So, this happened: I ordered the Motorola Mobility (a Lenovo Company) Moto G83 5G phone on Flipkart against the exchange of my old phone, a Moto G60 (for which I was offered Rs 2,670). No problem. Order placed 2 days ago.

Today, the delivery agent comes with the product. I had kept my old phone ready by formatting it, removing my SIM cards, and cleaning it.

Agent: This phone seems to have a scratch here <pointing to a shiny, smooth surface>.

Me: I cannot see it. I cannot feel it. There is literally no scratch since this was in a cover all along. Here is the cover. I cannot see the scratch. Let me get a magnifying glass. <I get the said magnifier>. Nopes. No scratch.

Agent: No, there is one. You have to pay Rs.670.

Me: Sigh. OK. Here is Rs.670. May I have the phone?

Agent: I need an OTP.

Me: How will I receive the OTP?

Agent: On your phone.

Me: <Looking at my factory-reset phone in my hand and my SIM cards on the table nearby> How will I receive it?

Agent: On your phone.

Me: As you can see, I can’t receive anything on my phone at this point.

Agent: But I need the OTP. That’s the company process.

Me:

Agent:

Me: Is there a solution?

Agent: I need the OTP.

Me: Is there any other way? I have no other phone. And I do not want to once again insert this SIM card, re-load the phone, take the OTP, and give it to you. I need to be elsewhere in a bit, and this is taking too long.

Agent: Sorry. I will have to take the consignment back.

Me: OK then. Please cancel the order.

Agent: You will have to cancel it from the app.

Me: But the app was on the phone.

Agent:

Me:

Agent: You can just refuse delivery.

Me: By not having the OTP to give you, I already have technically done that, right?

Agent: You could say that.

Me: Is the order cancelled now?

Agent: You could say that.

Me: I am saying that.

Agent:

Me:

Agent: Happy Diwali.

Me: Happy Diwali.

Anyway, I went to the nearest phone shop and bought the exact same model for the exact same price. My old phone (yes, the one with the invisible scratch) was exchanged for Rs.5,000 (2.5x the price offered by Flipkart). Time to drive to the shop: 30 minutes. Time to pay: 5 minutes. Time to drive back: 30 minutes. I got instant delivery. Then, I spent the last hour setting it up and tomorrow, shall enjoy a happy Diwali while Flipkart is one customer and one sale less, as well as out of pocket for their delivery.

I am left asking myself a single question: Do software engineers, designers, e-commerce experts, data gurus, business graduates, and all the smart people sitting at Flipkart not see how silly their process is when applied to this use case? Or do they not care? Because obviously, other people are being stymied similarly, and are finding ways to overcome it, not because Flipkart has designed a smooth, convenient, and efficient process for their customers, but because the customers are jugadu Indians who have found a way to beat the system.

Is this the digital revolution we were promised?