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Truth in Advertising - Indiatimes Shopping - Is It Reliable?
Rajiv Renganathan
It is not a pleasant sight to see an ad selling a product at almost half the price of what I paid for a similar product less than a month back. I am referring to the following ad in Times Of India, Bangalore, Page 3, 15th Mar 2006 & Page 11, 29th Jan 2006. Indiatimes selling a Windows mobile for Rs 10,000!
However, it is the Voq phone by Sierra Wireless! A discontinued phone! Yes. I personally like this phone but the company got sued early last year and announced discontinuation of this phone and complete exit from the phone market in June 2005. The June 7th, 2005 company announcement titled "Sierra Wireless Plans to Exit Voq Professional Phone Initiative; Shifts Resources to Core Business" is available here at the News & Events section in the company's website. Check the official website, voq.com for further clarity.
This ad by Indiatimes is misleading the readers and potential buyers by non-disclosure of market information. "Leading Brand of USA" is entirely baseless when they have exited the market months back. Retails $600 is also misleading. TigerDirect sells it on Amazon for $134.99 and here is Google product search result.
Do note that I am not trying to make a judgment on the quality of the product. My strong concern is the depiction of product in the ad especially considering the fact that this comes from a media house like "Times of India".
Beware... Research before any buy, what if it comes from a reliable source! Is the source reliable anymore? Ask yourself...
Related Article:
TOI Goofs Up Again
Indiatimes Customer Care
URL
December 14, 2006
03:03 AM
We deeply regret the inconvenience that may have caused to our customers. It is our constant endeavor to offer best of customer services. For any query/complaint/ suggestions, please contact us between 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, all days of the week on the following toll free nos:
1800 180 8800 from MTNL/BSNL lines
1800 102 8888 from Airtel lines
You can also reach us through the feedback link mentioned on the website www.shopping.indiatimes.com
SK
March 9, 2007
11:51 PM
And now being sold at Rs 4490 with a free pen drive also.
So it is the best windows mobile deal at the moment
Anonymous
URL
September 3, 2007
11:57 AM
On similar lines
http://soumyadipc.blogspot.com/2007/03/before-purchasing-online-check-prices.html
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