1. I am writing this to lodge a formal complaint against Bag It Today (India Today Group) for a fraud done against me. A brief of the case is as under :-
2. I got a mail on 17Mar2011, that my email ID has been selected at random and I am eligible for a Privilege Voucher (No. A10009) –a Reebok double glass watch, worth Rs.2999, for which I have to pay Rs.399 as postal charges, which were paid by me from my ICICI account to Bag It Today on 22Mar2011.
4. I got a call from Bag It Today (Miss Ruchi) on 22Mar2011 that based on a purchase (Order ID : 1004133020), I have won a contest, whereby I would be getting the following items worth Rs.200,000.
(a) Diamonds (12 Diamonds of 10 Cent each) worth Rs 1.2 lakhs.
(b) Blackberry Storm 9530.
(c) Philips Home Theater-DVP3126, and
(d) Philips DVD player-DVS2200.
5. I was told that I have to pay the taxes & Insurance for the diamonds to be eligible for the prizes. I was told that this payment had to be made by me before 12:00 PM on 23Mar2011.
6. On 23Mar2011, at about 10:30AM, I again got a call from Bag IT Today (Miss Ruchi) regarding confirmation about the prize, however when I expressed my reservations, I was again given a call form Bag It Today, and a Mr.Raj spoke to me and told me, that besides these prizes my name has also been selected for a prize between 10lakhs-20lakhs, which I can take as cheque, cash or a vehicle or a combination of these). Based on that assurance I made the online payments to Bag It Today, which I was told I have to make in two parts. Order details are :-
(a) 880187663 : Rs 24,999.00
(b) 1004203659 : Rs 20,299.00
7. I was then told that I would get a call from Bag It Today within one hour, for confirming the above, and once I confirm the order, within 10-15mins their Senior Manager would call me and discuss the mode of payment of my other prize, i.e the one between 10lakhs & 20lakhs. When no one called me regarding the prize, I again contacted Mr. Raj who told me that I have to wait for 2 weeks when the diamonds, Mobile, Home Theater & DVD player will be delivered to me, and a Bag It Representative will accompany these and take my ID proof etc for the 10-20Lakh prize.
8. I was not suspicious till then since all the online transactions had been from my ICICI account to Bag It Today. I however got suspicious due to the following reasons :-
(a) When I confirmed the price of a 10 Cent diamond, I came to know that even the best quality diamond of that weight will not cost more than Rs.3000. So, how come the so called tax & Insurance charges were Rs.45,298 ?
(b) Why was the transaction being shown as an order for a purchase, when I was told that it is just Tax & Insurance which I am paying ? They could very well have shown it as the tax & insurance charges for the diamonds.
(c) Why did I not received any written confirmation from Bag It Today regarding any of the awards, which I was told I had won ( in all probability to lure me to make the payment) ?
(d) I saw several similar complaints against Bag It Today on consumer court forums, where other innocent people had been duped using similar means and even the same numbers had been used.
9. When I spoke to the customer care and asked them for a refund, I was told to give the complain in writing (on dominic.saviou@intoday.com ), which I did on 29Mar2011. I sent a copy of the complaint to the customer care of Bag It Today also (customercare@bagittoday.com and pinkesh.jain@intoday.com). On 31Mar2011, Mr. Tanuj (7838028128) from Bag It Today called me and after listning to my case told me that India Today conducts a competition every year and my nominations are on and my name has been shortlisted, but I have not yet won it. He also told me that the prize amount was between 1-10 lakhs and not 10-20 lakhs as I had been told. When I told him I want a refund since I had been fraudulently lured into making this hefty payment, he assured me that I will receive the refund within 10 working days and a written confirmation from Bag It Today within a day. However I have not received any written confirmation and the individual is now not attending my calls too.
10. The Bag It Today numbers from where your representatives have spoken to me are :
+911140782300, +911149560000, 07838028128, 09654665711.
The representative who have contacted me for this fraud are : Ms. Ruchi, Mr.Raj and Mr.Narender Sharma and Mr Tanuj (who said he is the Sales team leader of the team which has made me undergo this ordeal).
11. I am a serving Army Officer and the India Today Group has not even spared me. I want a immediate refund, failing which I will be forced to ask for a compensation too.
Lt.Col. Emron Musavi




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