Flipkart is dealing with a bit of a PR crisis of late. Back when it launched in 2007, the internet was inundated with reviews that gushed about its customer service, its superfast deliveries, and how it brought the world of retail to our doorsteps. People were unanimous in their appreciation for the company, and Flipkart grew by leaps and bounds, becoming the $16 billion behemoth it is today.
However, along with Flipkart’s success, came rumblings that the company isn’t quite what it once was. It started off with the odd consumer complaint on social media, and those instances were quickly cast aside as minor aberrations. However, the rumblings grew louder and more frequent. Threads began appearing on Reddit and Quora, and the user base appeared to be vehemently anti Flipkart. Common problems that were raised were how its customer service didn’t measure up to the competition, how it didn’t offer the incredible discounts that it once did, and how it was throwing its weight around as the biggest player in the Indian e-commerce space.
But Flipkart Chief Product Officer Punit Soni seems to believe that there’s more to these threads than meets the eye.
Just read some 100% biased Quora threads. Someone seems to be doing a pretty good job of trolling Flipkart on Quora. Wonder who is paying.
— punitsoni (@punitsoni) September 10, 2015
Soni, a former Google Vice President who joined Flipkart earlier this year, seems to be hinting the its rivals are somehow behind these posts that now abound on social media. He went on the insinuate the these posts were paid as well.
There’s no love lost between Flipkart and its foremost rivals, Amazon and Snapdeal. Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl had recently dubbed Flipkart’s app-only strategy as “the most customer unfriendly move”, and Amazon and Flipkart had sparred over Flipkart’s #AcchaKiya campaign. But allegations of online slander are serious business, and can have legal repercussions.
Amazon and Snapdeal are yet to respond to the comments.