The Flipkart Big Billion Day 2025 sale introduced several hot deals on premium and high-end smartphones, primarily the Apple iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro. While these deals tempted many to keep the advertised money ready and hit the ‘Buy now’ button, Flipkart seemed to have planned something else. Within hours of the first bookings, several buyers took to social media to share their order cancellation notifications, despite the payment being made. Consumers, hence, were more than eager to call it Flipkart’s ‘Big Billion Scam’.
Here’s the context before we head into the controversy. The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro were advertised to be selling at drastically reduced prices during the Big Billion Day 2025 sale, all in a bid to encourage more sales and clearance of old stocks. The iPhone 16 128GB variant was advertised to be sold for as low as Rs 51,999, whereas the iPhone 16 Pro in its base 128GB trim was advertised to be sold at Rs 75,999.
For those who value a lower price over everything else, these sale prices encouraged many people to skip the new iPhone 17 and instead settle for the iPhone 16. The sale prices were valid since September 22 for Flipkart Black and Plus members, whereas regular members were able to access these prices from September 23.
Flipkart cancels iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro orders
Once the sale went live, many consumers were able to book the iPhone 16 at the advertised prices. While all seemed well at first glance, the joy of these consumers seemed to be short-lived as Flipkart started cancelling the orders within hours of the booking being made. Several users shared screenshots of cancellations being done due to ‘payment failure’, even though the transaction was processed successfully.
Here are a couple of posts made by users on X, showing the ‘alleged scam’, as many users voiced their disappointment.
Flipkart also cancelled bookings, increased prices on other models
It was not just the iPhone 16 customers who faced the issue. Several buyers of other smartphone models, like the Google Pixel 9, Nothing Phone 3, and iPhone 14 were also facing the same issues.
Flipkart is yet to issue any statement concerning the abrupt cancellation of a huge number of customer orders following successful payment.