| Name of Complainant | |
| Date of Complaint | January 21, 2024 |
| Name(s) of companies complained against | startzjewels.com and Simpl: Shop Now. Pay Later |
| Category of complaint | E-Com & Retail |
| Permanent link of complaint | Right click to copy link |
| Share your complaint on social media for wider reach | |
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In Novmeber, 2023 an attractive online ad by starzjewels caught my attention and i placed a 3 pack ear rings in the basket. This ad said buy now and pay later. I misunderstood it as cash on delivery option. I clicked next to give my address for delivery. I was shocked to see my address appeared all by it self with a confirmation that my order is placed. I started getting SMSs with a link for payment. I responded saying I do not want to click on any links, instead I prefer to make CoD. The items were delivered when I was not available at home. My house helper took the delivery and kept it on a shelf and totally forgot about it. About a week later I found it accidentally and checked with my helper who confirmed no payment was asked for. When i opened the packet I found two of the pieces were were substandard and back screws were missing. I wanted to return for refund but their return policy said the return should happen in 5 days. Unfortunately I missed that 5 day-window period. yet, I complained about the poor quality and missing parts to strarzjewels consumer help. No response from them. Meanwhile simpl kept on sending threatening SMSs and calling everyday for payment (from different numbers). I tried to explain them about the poor quality and missing parts of the items but their response was that they are only concerned about the payment that they did on my behalf ( because ignorantly I clicked on buy now pay later option) I need to complain to starzjewels about the product related issues. I consulted a lawyer who advised me that as it is not a huge amount to pay it off otherwise it will become the violation of the return policy and I would be responsible to oblige if the demand notice is issued. This will be a bigger problem to deal with going around the court.
I never knew agencies like ‘simpl’ make payments on behalf of online customers. When I browsed through online about this company the following information appeared:
Is Simpl RBI approved or not?
Another BNPL company Simpl does the same and gives flexible credit limits to the users without KYC and they mind you, these loans are not even reported to credit bureaus, and this practice is a violation of RBIs guidelines.13 Dec 2022.
Posting this to discourage gullible online shoppers using this type of options. I went through a nightmare because of my ignorance.
My question to consumer protection cell is that why are such agencies allowed to operate? How are they able to procure customers addresses and act quickly to con them? Please, please take action against such practices.
