A Sears customer expecting the delivery of an iPhone was in for a big surprise when the package arrived: the only item inside was a carton of Boing.
Salvador Gómez and his wife purchased an iPhone SE from the Sears online store but received a box of Boing guava-flavored juice instead. The mix-up went viral after he posted a photo of the carton inside the shipping box to his Twitter account.
“Friends, be very careful with online purchases. This just happened to us. We bought an iPhone SE from @searsmexico. Today the package arrived and this is what came inside (not a joke!),” he posted on September 7.
Gómez says the store requested that he send an email to start the investigative process, but he also asked the federal Consumer Protection Agency, Profeco, to step in.
Sears online does not offer Boing products like the one Gómez received, which sell for around 7 pesos (US $0.33) at supermarkets, but it does sell iPhone SEs for around 11,000 pesos (US $511).
This week, Gómez and his wife picked up their new phone at their local Sears store and received compensation for their trouble in the amount of 20% of the purchase price, as dictated by law.
Profeco urged the department store and the courier company to investigate the incident.
“The incident is being reviewed with the supplier, Sears, and the courier company, in this case DHL … to clarify and define responsibilities.”
With more online purchases being made due to the coronavirus pandemic, complaints against digital retailers are mounting.
Last month Tec-Check, an online platform where consumers can lodge collective complaints about online retailers, reported that complaints were lodged with Profeco against Claro Shop, iShop, Liverpool, El Palacio de Hierro and Sears in which 445 customers reported excessive delays, lack of refunds, cancellation of orders without notice and issues with customer service involving 3.9 million pesos worth of merchandise.
The number of cases reported to Tec-Check more than tripled between June and August, the site’s cofounder, Fiorentina García Miramón, reported. In August the highest number of complaints were lodged against Liverpool with 40%, Palacio de Hierro 37.6% and Claro Shop 10.5%.
In 2019, 18 million Mexicans bought products online, Profeco reports, and 9% said they had problems with their purchases.
Profeco recommended saving screenshots and other purchase records, with details such as a description of the item, price, proof of payment, order confirmations, as well as any messages from the supplier.
Consumers should also check the terms and conditions of the purchase, additional costs and charges, payment methods, warranties and exchange or return policies prior to completing the sale.
Source: El Universal (sp), Infobae (sp)
