What happens when you spend thousands of Rupees on a premium Apple Watch but end up getting a counterfeit one? You get back to your e-commerce platform and ask for a replacement or a refund. For S. Sridevi, though, such a case took a different turn, with her e-commerce seller Amazon refusing to help her replace the counterfeit product. It eventually led Sridevi to file a case with the consumer disputes redressal commission, which eventually led to her getting a full refund and compensation for damages.
Sridevi, who is from Coimbatore, has been granted a victory in a consumer dispute case after a district commission ordered Amazon and its vendor, Apario Retail Pvt Ltd, to be jointly responsible for the fraud, leading them to refund her for a counterfeit Apple Watch.
Fake Apple Watch delivery case: What happened
The case began when Sridevi ordered an Apple Watch from Amazon. Upon receiving the product, she realised it was a cheap imitation rather than the real deal. The watch, branded as Ultra 8, was not a genuine Apple product. Sridevi found that it operated independently without needing to be paired with an iPhone, which isn’t an Apple Watch feature – you need an iPhone to get it started.
Dissatisfied with the delivery, Sridevi reached out to Amazon customer care for a solution. However, the e-commerce giant didn’t come up with a satisfactory response. Amazon refused to give her a refund for the counterfeit product.
Sridevi went to consumer court for help
Frustrated with the lackluster and unfair response from Amazon’s customer care, Sridevi files a complaint with the commission, seeking a full refund and compensation.
The commission’s ruling punishes both the platform and the seller. It directed Amazon and Apario Retail Pvt Ltd to jointly refund the full purchase amount of Rs 77,000 to Sridevi. In addition to the refund, the commission ordered them to pay an additional Rs 25,000 to the woman as compensation for the mental distress she endured in the process. A further Rs 5,000 was awarded to cover the costs of the legal proceedings.
