Online book buy review

I have been purchasing a fair amount of books online. This is not a comprehensive review of online sellers in India. Till now, I have tried 4: flipkart, infibeam, bookadda and nbcindia. Of these, Flipkart is undoubtedly best; it beats others hands down on terms of service. If they show that a book is available, you can be pretty much sure that it indeed is. Their price is generally below the marked price or equal. They deliver for free anywhere in India for orders above Rs. 100/-. This last bit is true for all the others. Their customer support is very good and answer queries about pricing promptly. I have made purchases more than or close to Rs. 3000/- in the last few months. I have also bought some cheap VCDs. Full marks to the team.

Next, I would rate Infibeam. The price of books is generally lesser than that of Flipkart. Their service is also pretty good. I suspect that their inventory management can do with some improvement because it has happened that the book is shown as available but after the order has been placed, I get an email from the customer support saying that they could not complete the order. Refunding has been generally prompt. Customer service is not terrific but adequate. Sometimes, one has to act as the “annoyed customer” to get response. They sell both old as well as new books. I wish it were clearer if the book being purchased is old or new! This is well worth a wait if one is not in a terrible hurry to get books. They send books in inventory but take some time to acquire books and pass it on to you.

While looking for cheaper and cheaper deals online, i came across Bookadda. It has a user interface very similar to that of Flipkart. It looks so similar that I thought that Flipkart was operating a sister site. Also, the registered office is in Bangalore. The similarity with flipkart ends there. I put an order for a book which was not available with flipkart and infibeam. The book is “introduction to calculus and analysis: volume 1″ by Courant. Incidentally, flipkart showed the book as not available and infibeam does not show the indian edition to be available. However, bookadda shows this to be available. As nothing was moving after placing the order for a few days, I emailed customer support and got no response. I called up the local contact number and was told that I would be contacted in half an hour. My cell as well as landline numbers were taken. I often wonder what kind of miserable slugs become these call centre agents who promise all the time but deliver not a whit. Anyway, there was no call in half one or two hours. Generally, I do not like to pursue and pain people but this was annoying me. So I called up again and was told that the book was not available and I would get a refund. No refund status was forthcoming and I called up again to find out how long it would take. I have been promised a refund by today, I do not of course believe it. The amount is not high but nobody like the feeling of being hoodwinked. Personal opinion: GIVE ANOTHER CHANCE.

UPDATE (20/09/2010)

I got an email about 2 days from the customer care of bookadda expressing regret for being unable to complete their order and have also given a gift voucher worth 50/-. Not a tremendous amouunt but the gesture is appreciated. I could not update this earlier as I was travelling. Will give these guys another shot.

I placed an order with nbcindia last week. It is too early to say but I fear that it is headed the bookadda way. I hope not because there are some hindi books available there.

Update 25/09/2010

After calling nbcindia’s customer service, they informed me that of the two books I ordered, only one was available immediately. They were waiting for the other book. I do not know how long they would have waited if I had ot called them up. They gave their word to dispatch the available book and refund the amount for the other if the publisher did not get back to them that very day. Apparently, the publisher did not get back and they sent it by Aramex Courier that day. I got it in two days flat. The book which did not make it: “Manto ki Chuninda Kahaniyan”.

A tale of two murderers in contemporary india

Here is a short tale, real-life of two murderers in India. There are both recent and their crimes were not too far apart, considering the general scheme of things. Both the crimes were heinous as I will outline shortly.
Murderer D was a watchman who raped and murdered a girl. She resided in the apartments where he was employed. Hue and cry was raised and after a court trial and due procedure; he was hanged to death. Justice served? Perhaps, yes.
Murderer M was drunk and wanted more. The female serving drinks at the bar refused him and was shot dead for her impertinence etc. Hue and cry was raised; court case was long drawn. I am not even sue about the quantum of punishment, if at all, given to the bastard. Anyways, I was frustrated enough to write this entry because the above mentioned murderer was let out on parole and was having a nightout with company. As things happen in Delhi, people love power and using it just for the sake of it. This statement comes into play because Mr.M got into a tiff with some Mr.X who turned out to be the progeny of a police official. Enter policemen and so on. Result: parole cancelled or perhaps discretion was the better part of valour. After things have quietned down again, he will come out no doubt. So, the Chief Minister says that it was routine and she signed on the paper. Which makes me wonder if she is in the habit of signing papers put to her without reading or thinking over it?
Please find the stories here and here. I think that the death penalty should be abolished if it can only hang the poor people. For that matter, why have the law? Let us revert back to "each man for him, god for all" ASAP, remove the courts, reduce taxes and hire private muscle for settling disputes.