Sirs,
An order for a birthday cake was placed on the website www.thiruvanthapuramflorist.com on 21/09/2011 for delivery at Andoorkonam, Trivandrum. The cake was to be delivered on 29/09/2011. As per the terms and conditions on the website, they guaranteed the date of delivery. However, the cake was not delivered on the required date. The only telephone number available (+91 ********00) was contacted throughout the day till late in the night of 29/09/2011 but the messages received were either the “number was busy” or the “Customer service executives are busy on another line”. At around 8pm on the same day a query regarding the delivery was raised through the enquiry window on the website (Enquiry Ref. No. CSD-2********). At around 11pm a reply was received from the customer care cell of the website which stated that ‘the cake is believed to have been delivered’. However, the cake was not delivered on 29/09/2011.

Hence, in the morning of 30/09/2011 at 09.50am, I made a reference through the enquiry window of the website for a refund of the order amount since the Merchant Establishment did not honour the date of delivery and that there was no point in delivering a cake ordered for a special occasion on some other day (the occasion being the Birthday of a child). During the days from 28/09/2011 and 30/09/2011, I made several references through the website without any satisfactory reply (Enquiry Ref. Nos.: CSD-2******** and CSD-309201150 and CSD-110201120 and replied by Mr. Subhadip Mr.Avijit Mr. Arnab & Mr. Jeet).

I was informed by the recipient that the cake was delivered at 7.30pm on 30/09/2011 i.e. on the next day of the scheduled date of delivery. The agents who delivered the cake left immediately even before the recipient could verify the contents and without even trying to obtain an acknowledgement for the delivery which, would have been an open admission to the delayed delivery.

During the many follow-ups through the above references from 29/09/2011 to 01/10/2011, the replies given were very vague and unsatisfactory. As brought out above, on 29/09/2011 itself it was stated that “the cake is believed to have been delivered”. Subsequently, when on the next day it was informed that the delivery was not done as per the order and a refund was sought, they gave all sorts of excuses (including the distance of the place of delivery being a major constraint) and borrowed time till late in the evening when the actual delivery took place. Copies of the references made and replies given can be produced if required.

In support of time being the essence of the contract, I reproduce item 6 of the Terms given on the Merchant Site which is as under:

“We do guarantee the delivery on date BUT we don't guarantee the delivery on any particular time. We do try to deliver well within your mentioned time but we do not guarantee that. And normally we shall process the order for delivery as soon as possible ignoring your specific instruction to deliver at or before a particular time”

It is also pertinent to note the display window DELIVERY LOCATION on the website, the contents of which are reproduced as under:

“We delivery everywhere in Thiruvananthapuram free of cost.Flowers, Cakes, Sweets, Fresh Fruits and Dry Fruits can be delivered Same Day everwhere in Thiruvananthapuram.All other gifts can be delivered in 1-2 days in Thiruvananthapuram”

The replies given by the Customer Service cell including the distance being the constraint for the delay in delivery does not hold good and is not acceptable in view of the following:

1. Andoorkonam (which is the place of is approx. 20kms from the main city of Thiruvananthapuram. The terms and conditions on the Website (item 6) guarantees the date of delivery. Further, they have clearly stated that they deliver anywhere in Thiruvananthapuram and case of “Cakes” it will be a same day delivery. Is Andoorkonam so far from Thiruvananthapuram that it took more than 24 hours to effect a delivery?
2. The order was booked on 21/09/2011 and the date of delivery was 29/09/2011 which is more than a week in advance. The order was placed well in advance and the delivery could have been easily effected had there been an intention to do so. The intention was clearly lacking in this case.
3. If the place of delivery was at a distance beyond their delivery location they could have easily cancelled the order and refunded the amount to me. As per the terms and conditions in the Website, they could have exercised their Right of Refusal (Item No.15 states that “www.ThiruvananthapuramFlorist.com reserves the right to refuse delivery of any order without assigning any reason whatsoever to the customer. However, in all such cases www.ThiruvananthapuramFlorist.com will refund the amount paid by customer in full”).
4. The date of delivery was not followed and hence on the following day I asked for refund of the amount. But instead of arranging refund, the delivery was done late in the evening on 30/09/2011, stating that the consent of the recipient was obtained. The question of obtaining the consent of the recipient does not arise when the order was not as per schedule? And when somebody arranges to send a gift does the recipient really have a choice (of not accepting it even though it is delivered as per schedule)? Apparently, the Merchant Establishment did not have any intention of delivering the cake had I not followed it up continuously.
5. The cake was ordered for a specific occasion i.e. a Birthday and when the birthday happens to be a child it carries a lot of sentiments and emotions. What is the purpose for a Birthday Cake to be delivered on some other day as per convenience, whims and fancies of the Merchant Establishment?

It is also seen that even though the order was placed on the website of www.thiruvananthapuramflorist.com , the acceptance received on my email address indicates the Merchant site as www.agrafloristshop.com . It further states that the “the charge will appear in the credit card as 'Right Florist India Pvt Ltd”. It further states that “for any question about the order status, the seller can be directly directly contacted by e-mail at donot-reply@rightflorist.in”. The Merchant Establishment has opened several Websites which also appears to be a trap for unsuspecting customers to fall prey to online frauds. Except for the display of a single contact number on the site, no other telephone number, email addresses or postal address of the Merchant Establishment are available on the site.

It is also seen that none of the above websites provide for “Reviews” so that customer can assess the Performance / Ratings of the Website before placing an order.

My complaint is not for seeking a refund, but, to bring to light how certain Merchant Establishments try to attract customers through false promises which they do not intend to honour. This is also to record my strong protest against the above mentioned Merchant Sites for extremely bad service.

Thanking you,

(Sajeetha P Nair)