Nagpur: Big Bazaar’s Wednesday Bazaar in Nagpur is nothing but a tool to cheat gullible customers who drive towards their stores in the hope of getting some price benefits. These were the words of not one or two but many customers who on Wednesday hit Big Bazaar stores located in various areas of Nagpur, to seek benefit of Wednesday buying.
However for the last few weeks many customers are feeling cheated as the store drastically fails to fulfill its commitment of providing the item at the prices committed in their code-laden messages which they share with their customers.
“Either the stock gets over or the quantity gets limited. Last week they pulled the crowd by luring the customers that tomatoes will be provided at Rs 10 per kg, limited to 3 kg per bill only. Forget 3 kg, they could not even provide even single kilo of tomatoes at the committed rate. When we kept asking at customer desk, they just repeated the same answer again and again – “the stock is over sir and it is mentioned in T &C”, says Gurukant Sharma who visits Big Bazaar regularly but now seems to be done with the cheating ways of the so called mega retail store.
Echoing the similar sentiments, Rashmi Wankhede also narrated her dilemma. She visited Big Bazaar on Wednesday after she got the privileged member message on her cell phone that imported apples will be sold at Rs 99 per kg, limited to 2 kg per bill based on the code received on her mobile. But to her shock when she visited the store in mid of the day, she was told the stock was over and now she had to buy similar apples at Rs 199 kg. “What is their criteria of selling discounted items? The terms and condition mention that the offer will be valid till stock ends. But I can see there is huge stock of apples but not at the price shared with me.”
Another customer Madhav Jagtap said that when they are inviting member customers through encoded messages, they must know what quantity is required to suffice every customer as they can easily gauge it through the database of messages shared. Even if we reach here by noon, the stock is never appropriate or available. Either they limit the supply from 2 kg to 500 grams or they excuse themselves on the pretext of no stock, he added.
The sales strategy is fine and prompts the customers to make Big Bazaar the go-to shopping destination but when they commit, they should fulfill and never ever apply such tricks, else they will gradually lose out on all their customers, he said.
Says Deendayal Helwatkar, “Itihaas gawaah hai, bade bade store band ho gaye, ye Big Bazaar kya cheez hai. Subhiksha store ko hi len. Dus saal bhi nahi chala. (History is here. When all big stores had to shut down then what is Big Bazaar. Take example of Subhiksha retail store. It could not even run for 10 years).”
Rajshri Rai, who has come only for apples on Wednesday had to return empty handed as she was denied the fruits at the price mentioned in her mobile. “It was only the case of bar code they were using while weighing the apples, else the stock was same and very much available. When I got to bill the apples the rate they applied was Rs 199 per kg. So I had to leave the item behind and return back.”
