Be warned when you buy from Pepperfry! A sad story!

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johnsonmathew

2012-12-06

Mod's Edit -[Kindly post your thoughts/reviews in proper section,as fellow dimers reads every section its not only hot deal section which is hot] Admins/mods, please don't move this to the dost and dimers section until this story is read by maximum fellow dimers. So, what exactly is the coupon that you have for the day from Pepperfry? 50%? 40%? 25%? Whatever it be, from now on, if you are buying from Pepperfry, be prepared to be in struggle with their Customer Service to your great disappointment and that too at your own expense. Yes, they have changed their customer friendly face now and turned out to be one among the most fraudulent sites... While it's true that their prices are the most competitive (for at least some of the items), these days they have the worst policy for shipping and refund. As everyone know, pepperfry has the worst policy regarding shipping - only after you place an order you come to know that your order will be shipped in 7-8 working days. Since they don't include Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays in the so-called working days, if you happen to place an order on a Friday (say for example Dec 7th), and if their magic order say that the items will be shipped in 8 days, you will have to wait until Dec 18th to know if your order gets through. And to add to this, when they just start to think about your order at this 11th hour, they will send you an update on 19th December saying that unfortunately your item is getting delayed and we will send you an update in next 3 days. Note that 22nd and 23rd are not working days. So on 24th you will get a message saying that your order is cancelled and you will get pepper points in Lieu of your cash in another 48 hours. So you will get a clear information about your order only 20 days after you have placed the order. And if you choose to get cash instead of pepper points, it will take another 7-10 days to get your cash refund. In a nut shell, if something goes wrong with one of your orders, your money will be in the air for more than a month and that too in the ideal case. You may have to call them so many times to initiate each and everything that is needed to resolve the issue and get your money back. There was a time when people used to pray that their order gets cancelled so that they get an extra 300 pepper points 'for the inconvenience caused'. Now things have changed. In such cases you will be lucky if you get 59 extra pepper points towards the shipping fee you paid. To add to all these they have started sending different items that the one you have ordered. You are in trouble in that case also. As many other good sites do, they do not replace the wrong item, they cancel the order and refund the money in pepper points. This process will also take some where around 10-15 calendar days if you are lucky enough. You need to ship the item back to them and only Rs. 150 of the shipping charge will be given back. Fortunately, the shipping charges will be directly deposited to your bank account. You will have to call the customer service to inform that your item has been successfully delivered back to their warehouse - they will never get to know about the fact that the item has reached their warehouse. They will never mail/call you to go forward with the refund - you will have to call them. I have so many experiences where the average turnaround time for a case would be around 10-15 mins - what if you need to make a STD call to Mumbai that lasts around 15 mins, you probably won't call, rather you will wait for a couple of days to see if they contact you. Recently they have changed their toll free customer care numbers just to keep us customers away from calling them for any issues like this. Now if you want to buy the same item again, you will have to spend another 15 Rs more than the pepper points. That is another trap. You will never be able to find any item that is worth Rs 15 in Pepperfry. The cheapest item costs around 45 Rs and most of the low cost items are useless or over priced. So with the pepper points they are forcing the customers to buy overpriced and useless items. Now beware when you ask for refund in terms of cash rather than pepper points - you will be shocked to know that they don't give you back what you expect. Say for example, you buy 3 items worth Rs 1000: Item 1 - Rs 500, Item 2 - Rs 300, Item 3 - Rs 200. You have a coupon for 500 and you pay only 500 and you are happy. Now pray hard that they deliver you the items. As stated before, it may take around 15-20 days for that. You might have bought the items 2 and 3 as fillers knowing that they are over priced and useless. But you get cheated with the 50% coupon most of the time. They will very quickly ship the items for which they get the maximum margin. Most of the time they will cancel the item for which they don't get much profit. In this case if they had to cancel the item 1 worth Rs 500, and you go for a cash refund, you will get to know about a very fresh and surprising story - you will not be getting back 50% of Rs 500, you may be getting only 175 for instance. Here's the magic behind this: While you think that the discount is applied evenly across all the items in an order this is not the case. What they say is that, they have a different (magic) pricing that is not being revealed to the customer (which they can change and redefine according to the situation so that the customers are at trouble all the time). So while you think that you actually paid Rs 250, Rs 150 and Rs 100 for item1, 2 and 3 respectively, they will have a totally different story for you. Their software will say that you paid Rs 175, Rs 200 and Rs 125 for items 1, 2 and 3 respectively. They will change this story if they are not able to deliver a different item say item 3. Now their prices will be Rs 250, Rs 175 and Rs 75 for items 1, 2 and 3 respectively which means you will get back only Rs 75. In a nut shell, for the past few weeks these are some of the things they have changed to make more profit and loot the customers: 1. They changed their toll free number to a normal one so that people will less likely call them and ask for instant solutions. 2. They increased the turnaround time for resolving an issue (over telephone) so that people will never call them again losing money from their pocket. Sometimes they keep the customer on hold for more than 5 minutes. 3. They stopped their chat application so that the only solution for a quick resolution is calling Cust Care which most of the time turns out to be too costly. 4. They introduced shipping charges of Rs. 59 per order that is below Rs 1500 5. They stopped giving bonus points in the event that they are not able to ship a product even after 12-20 calendar days. 6. They have started sending different items that the items ordered in the expectation that people will disregard returning back items thinking of the hurdles to be crossed for getting back the money. I was a regular customer of Pepperfry until early this month. Even though I had so many issues with many orders, the extra points kept me happy. I had a separate excel sheet to track all orders with Pepperfry because otherwise I will definitely lose track of them due to the unreasonable delay in shipping/refund/return procedures. I thought I should share my experience with my fellow dimers so that they also get benefited. Please share any similar experiences in this thread so that others can also learn from our mistakes. Happy shopping...

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https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820352

mohit249999

2012-12-06

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pepperfry sucks

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820354

donreturns

2012-12-07

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mohit249999 wrote:

pepperfry sucks

Share ur experience with others dude

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820355

Alpha.Barood

2012-12-07

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johnsonmathew wrote:

Admins/mods, please don’t move this to the dost and dimers section until this story is read by maximum fellow dimers.

My views

In a nut shell, for the past few weeks these are some of the things they have changed to make more profit and loot the customers:

*_1. They changed their toll free number to a normal one so that people will less likely call them and ask for instant solutions.

$$ cost saving, but it will not be appreciated, they should afford this, if they want to become leading portal..

2. They increased the turnaround time for resolving an issue (over telephone) so that people will never call them again losing money from their pocket. Sometimes they keep the customer on hold for more than 5 minutes.

$$ Issue resolving is far better than infibeam, tradus, futurebazaar etc., however chat is still working 21*7 and emails are replied in 2-3 days.
5-10 min. ok, but calling again and again is BAD, once the issue is flagged now it should be their responsibility to resolve it.

3. They stopped their chat application so that the only solution for a quick resolution is calling Cust Care which most of the time turns out to be too costly.

# chat is pretty working, but they have limitations. returns and critical issues are handled by respective dept. only as usual.

4. They introduced shipping charges of Rs. 59 per order that is below Rs 1500

!! THE BIGGEST MISTAKE BY THEM, TO REFRAIN FROM MY ORDERS, who will bear this ?
my most of the orders are in the range below 1000, now it will increase cost by 5-10 %, and already discounts are coming low. (Approx 30-45 % net)

5. They stopped giving bonus points in the event that they are not able to ship a product even after 12-20 calendar days.

? is it so ? i have recd. 300 bucks two days back, ya it was BONUS unlike other site, which will reduced by Rs 59/- now, if they dont return it.
still bearable if i order goods approx 1000/-, but what for other orders ? it will increase my landing cost and deprive of my friends/relative from usual surprises.

6. They have started sending different items that the items ordered in the expectation that people will disregard returning back items thinking of the hurdles to be crossed for getting back the money._*

^^ Bro, it could be hypothetical, their house is in the mess, they dont what the left hand is doing, and what the right hand is supposed to do !
They dont know the stock, they dont know the quality, they update the shipping status after so many days,
Sometimes the product is delivered to me, and the status is updated after 2 days.
sometimes shipping is updated and product is not delivered for 10 days,
SKU tags are wrong, product is damaged,
We have to bear all sorts of MAGIC in peppercry or PEOPLECRY !

(PS: I will give you 201 peppercry points if you can solve the puzzle of MAGIC un-PRORATE pricing structure, computer ji ?)

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820358

duke

2012-12-07

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Kudos to you
Make your post more presentable bro. Break it into smaller paras, it would be even more easier to read. May be p***tyfry could then link your post in their disclaimer.;-}
On a serious note,a very useful post.Karma for you. You surely have saved good number of dimers from suffering mental agony and pain in the hands of p***tyfry.

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820360

quickfire

2012-12-07

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donreturns wrote:

quickfire wrote:

Venkat wrote:

donreturns wrote:

You should read everything…… Are you so busy that u cannot even spare 10 minutes…..shame to u lol

Venkat wrote:

i didn’t read whole story but i agree with OP on these points …+6 for you and suggested tooooo

1. They changed their toll free number to a normal one so that people will less likely call them and ask for instant solutions.
2. They increased the turnaround time for resolving an issue (over telephone) so that people will never call them again losing money from their pocket. Sometimes they keep the customer on hold for more than 5 minutes.
3. They stopped their chat application so that the only solution for a quick resolution is calling Cust Care which most of the time turns out to be too costly.
4. They introduced shipping charges of Rs. 59 per order that is below Rs 1500
5. They stopped giving bonus points in the event that they are not able to ship a product even after 12-20 calendar days.
6. They have started sending different items that the items ordered in the expectation that people will disregard returning back items thinking of the hurdles to be crossed for getting back the money.

Who the hell are you to dictate which one should i read/ which one shouldn’t?

Are sambhal ke Don hai yaar kahi goli na maar de

Will not waste my gollee on cry baby… he needs dudu LOL

Aisa mat bolo yaar… deal subedar hai

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820363

Achilles

2012-12-07

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donreturns wrote:
and when you share Pottyfry coupon with others warn them dude

Ok bhai

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820365

bdyXsGhZ

2012-12-07

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donreturns wrote:

quickfire wrote:

Venkat wrote:

donreturns wrote:

You should read everything…… Are you so busy that u cannot even spare 10 minutes…..shame to u lol

Venkat wrote:

i didn’t read whole story but i agree with OP on these points …+6 for you and suggested tooooo

1. They changed their toll free number to a normal one so that people will less likely call them and ask for instant solutions.
2. They increased the turnaround time for resolving an issue (over telephone) so that people will never call them again losing money from their pocket. Sometimes they keep the customer on hold for more than 5 minutes.
3. They stopped their chat application so that the only solution for a quick resolution is calling Cust Care which most of the time turns out to be too costly.
4. They introduced shipping charges of Rs. 59 per order that is below Rs 1500
5. They stopped giving bonus points in the event that they are not able to ship a product even after 12-20 calendar days.
6. They have started sending different items that the items ordered in the expectation that people will disregard returning back items thinking of the hurdles to be crossed for getting back the money.

Who the hell are you to dictate which one should i read/ which one shouldn’t?

Are sambhal ke Don hai yaar kahi goli na maar de

Will not waste my gollee on cry baby… he needs dudu LOL

donreturns stop the nonsense, what’s wrong with you buddy ,are you mad or something , are you trying to fight with me then let me know . why the hell you quoted my word your neither OP nor admin to dictate to read whole story this is public forum so i have right to read what i like …

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820366

TanujBatra

2012-12-07

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Achilles wrote:

donreturns wrote:
and when you share Pottyfry coupon with others warn them dude

Ok bhai

donreturns bhai aaj form mein hain

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820380

Deadman4u

2012-12-07

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thanks for the info pal…

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820386

lijugregory2

2012-12-07

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i recently ordered hicks room thermometer(pack of 2) from pepperfry..i got it delievered after 10 days…now when i opened it, one of it is broken and the other one is not working. i contacted their customer care through phone( their chat option is not working nowadays), they told me to send the pictures of the product…i took the pictures and send them immedeiately…..its almost two weeks now….no reply from their side…not able to contact their customer service also……..pepper fry has become a fraudulent site…..my opinion is never shop from them ..even if they give huge discounts….once u get a defective item, its very hard to replace them

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820388

cherisam505

2012-12-07

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Thanks for this expose..unfortunately, it’s come too late in the week for me. I had checked out Pepperfry around the time it started given all the hype about its founders being ex-Ebayers who would set the Indian ecommerce scene on fire. I got put off by the website which was a tad too flashy for my liking. I went back to Pepperfry late last month after seeing the consistently good press it was getting here and ordered three items worth about 2k. Needless to say, the script has played out exactly as above..the shipping date was given as 3 weeks after purchase after adding up weekends and hols, and on the last day, only when I called up to enquire the whereabouts of my order, I was told that the order had been cancelled since the items were not in stock. I just hope I get my money back before these guys burn thru whateever is left of their $ 5 mil seed money. In hindsight, I should have stayed clear of a site whose motto is “Honest and Indian like Pepper”

P.S. Is Indiatimes CC going down the same road? Their customer care numbers are not reachable, same goes for their online chat

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820389

Alpha.Barood

2012-12-07

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@venkat : Sach bolna pap hai,

Read the story (its btr. then fighting with….)

This thread attracted 1 post per min. initially.

Now, guys add the link of any other PEOPLECRY story in the form of links
(may be already posted on dd)

We will send this thready to the CEO, peoplecry !

Hamari Mange puri Karo,
Dimers unity zindabad..
shipping charges murdabad !
better they should pay us MAN-HANDLING and torchure tolerating charges !

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820393

Achilles

2012-12-07

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@B@R_0_0_D wrote:@
Dimers unity zindabad..
shipping charges murdabad !

Please do that asap, I need to use my pepper points

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820401

bdyXsGhZ

2012-12-07

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@B@R_0_0_D wrote:@

@venkat : Sach bolna pap hai,

Read the story (its btr. then fighting with….)

This thread attracted 1 post per min. initially.

sach bolna pap nahi hai bai, i didn’t like the way he replied

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820403

Alpha.Barood

2012-12-07

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Achilles wrote:

@B@R_0_0_D wrote:@
Dimers unity zindabad..
shipping charges murdabad !

Please do that asap, I need to use my pepper points

Place some order and dont pay finally
order will go to pending/awaiting
and they will cancel in 7-10 days or upon reminder by you.
i hope the re-credit of points will be for 15 days more.

Try your luck many times.
how much points you have ?

======
I will send the thread to the them after 24 hours.

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820406

angel123

2012-12-07

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i totally agree with johnsonmathew , i am telling you my incidence what i am facing harrasment now a days more than 50000/- amt of product i had buy from pepperfry last 8 months.
But last month i had placed 3 orders on 3rd n 4 th of november out which i recd one order fully another one partly n another one fully not recd. after month n follow up last 15 days no positive result every time new cc person there n i have to repeat the all history n they will raise the issue for item not delivered n they are expecting reports from dispatched teams from last 15 days , gods know where the hell are there dispatch team in these world, in andaman or in antarctica.
As such already five time issue raised out of which two time issue raised as special case but no result there senior floor manager mr. vikram i spoken with him twice n also emailed all the datas n also chat online he told me he will help me into these matter on last friday but after this he also not replying my emails n while chating with if ask for mr vikram he is always busy in meetings i also reqested cc to make call vikram when he is free from meeting but never turned backto call back yesterday n today also very much thumb down to pepperfry

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820410

faherofdeals

2012-12-07

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true story,, same problem facing… cheater saale

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820413

mital.ashu

2012-12-07

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me too got a refund of 50 pepperpoints..now i can buy 65 rs product and i need to pay

50+15+59-50= 74 rs for a 65 rs product…and the loss of old damaged product also…

pottyfry..really it is

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820414

bdyXsGhZ

2012-12-07

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@Admin

[Removed]

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820421

Achilles

2012-12-07

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@B@R_0_0_D wrote:@

Try your luck many times.
how much points you have ?

200 pepper points

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820428

bdyXsGhZ

2012-12-07

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Achilles wrote:

@B@R_0_0_D wrote:@

Try your luck many times.
how much points you have ?

200 pepper points

is it possible to combine pepperfry points i have 150+ in my account

like combine points of two accounts to buy a product , this feature available for payback points

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820429

Alpha.Barood

2012-12-07

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Just had an chat on the rumour of closing such faciity
=============

Welcome to Pepperfry ! P
You are now chatting with ‘Jacob’
Jacob: Hello:)Welcome to pepperfry.How may i help you?

Jacob: Please may i have your order number?

Jacob: Thank you for your patience

ME: There was the rumour that chat facility is being closed ?
ME: hi jacob,
ME: i hope pfry dont have any plan to discontinue chat facility ?
Jacob: no sir
Jacob: No sir our jobs are at stake
ME: fine,
ME: it will be good news for us ,if co. keeps chat continue and not think about cost cutting in this way.
ME: just wanna share.. the story
ME: http://www.desidime.com/forums/dost-and-dimes/t...
ME: could you forward this link on your co. to the office of CEO, Mr. Prateek or Mr. mehul ?
Jacob: Sir please believe me we are not going to shut the chat services
ME: THANKS

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820434

Alpha.Barood

2012-12-07

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mital.ashu wrote:

me too got a refund of 50 pepperpoints..now i can buy 65 rs product and i need to pay

50+15+59-50= 74 rs for a 65 rs product…and the loss of old damaged product also…

pottyfry..really it is

WTF,,

peoplecry !

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820435

chauhanparth577

Moderator

2012-12-07

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ashik94 wrote:

@op

good post…not against you

Now a Days i am Confused whether DesiDime has changed it rules or what

A post which does not belonging correct section remains there for a long

there might be two reasons
1. DD changed its rules
2. else no need to write what i meant to say

Bro you are right & we have moved the topic where it belongs….

nothing against you..but at times it happens that someone from admin/mod team is not online/active so meantime you can use alert Administrator function & have a little patience.

& if any rule is changed we will update everyone.

Thanks.

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820436

quickfire

2012-12-07

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So sad to hear all this.

My personal experience with them has been quite good as i have ordered 1 years stock of diapers at 50% from them other them a few kitchen items and bed sheets. The only issue i faced till date was late delivery but i never followed up and the orders finally got delivered. They cancelled the orders a few times but gave 300 bonus pepper points each time.

But then i have not ordered anything for more than a month now.

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820438

Alpha.Barood

2012-12-07

Link Copied

@B@R_0_0_D wrote:@

Achilles wrote:

@B@R_0_0_D wrote:@
Dimers unity zindabad..
shipping charges murdabad !

Please do that asap, I need to use my pepper points

Place some order and dont pay finally
order will go to pending/awaiting
and they will cancel in 7-10 days or upon reminder by you.
i hope the re-credit of points will be for 15 days more.

Try your luck many times.
how much points you have ?

======
I will send the thread to the them after 24 hours.

see the demo, for giving a life for further 15 days

Points Summary
You have 1382 Points in your account.
Your points balance will expire in 12 days.

EARNINGS
POINTS EARNED DATE COMMENT STATUS
184 04/12/12 Points adjustment made during the process of cancelling an order no 10039**** Approved VIEW ORDER

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820447

Alpha.Barood

2012-12-07

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chauhanparth577 wrote:

& if any rule is changed we will update everyone.

Thanks.

well said,

na tum jano na hum.

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820455

DealGurus

2012-12-07

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Achilles wrote:

@B@R_0_0_D wrote:@
Dimers unity zindabad..
shipping charges murdabad !

Please do that asap, I need to use my pepper points

Same case here

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820458

aVeNiR

2012-12-07

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Lag rha hai is samay DD me pfry ke against jabardast hawa chali hui hai ..especially in Dost and Dimes. Ab Sonia Ji hi unhe bacha sakti hain..

https://www.desidime.com/discussions/be-warned-when-you-buy-from-pepperfry-a-sad-story?page=2#post_820467

Achilles

2012-12-07

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Venkat wrote:
is it possible to combine pepperfry points i have 150+ in my account
like combine points of two accounts to buy a product , this feature available for payback points

Yes, we can transfer pepper points (Read before, but never tried)
& if you don’t mind can you please let me know via PM or here how to combine the payback points as I am having 2-3 cards from payback and I want all the points to be merged under a single card