Hotspot allegedly duped two customers with the same mobile set; now they are both suing the chain
Hotspot allegedly duped two customers with the same mobile set; now they are both suing the chain
If you have recently bought a cell phone from a retail chain and sent it back for repair, be careful. Chances are you may get an altogether different phone back! A Gurgaon family went to spice retail Hotspot to buy a new phone for their son, which he later returned as it developed problems.
Myu00a0phoneu00a0or yours? Reza Lamba with Jyoti Vatsa's phone
In a bizarre turn of events, the phone was handed over to a Ghaziabad resident who had also returned his phone to Hotspot because of technical problems. The incident came to light asu00a0 mobile tracker had been activated by the original owner, the Gurgaon resident.
Storyu00a0of the firstu00a0owner
Jyoti Vatsa had bought an LG touch screen mobile for Rs 14,500 and also paid Rs 1,200 extra for care pack for extended warranty on May 30, 2009. After a year there were problems with the touch screen and the mobile phone would 'hang' often.
So Jyoti's son took the phone to the LG service centre where they were told to go to Hotspot as they had bought the care pack from the retail chain. "The service executives of Hotspot said the phone was in such bad condition that it could not be repaired and that they would refund 50 per cent of the present MRP as compensation to us under the terms and conditions of the mobicare pack. We were told to submit all original accessories to Hotspot. This was deposited by us to Hotspot on August 9, 2010 at their sector 14 outlet," said Jyoti.
"Hotspot was to get back to us within a week. We have not received any call from them till date. But we were taken aback when one night we got a mobile tracker alert on all three mobiles belonging to my son, my husband and myself informing us that our phone was active," said Jyoti.
Storyu00a0of theu00a0secondu00a0owner
The family immediately called the number that flashed on the mobile tracker. Their mobile was now with a new owner named Reza Lamba, a resident of Vaishali in Ghaziabad. Raza told them he had bought a new phone from Hotspot. They cross checked the IMEI and found it was the same.
After discussing the issue among themselves, this is what they discovered. Lamba had also bought the same model from Hotspot with IMEI No.353638022801195. Even he started facing problems with the touch screen and gave the phone for repair to Hotspot at Vaishali, Sector-4. "I gave my mobile for repair. My original phone had a different IMEI (IMEINo.353638021309703). Instead of giving my original phone back they had changed the exterior of an old phone and handed it to me," said Lamba. "Now, we have both sent them legal notices."
MiD DAY contacted Hotspot for an official comment on this but they declined.
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