Laptop turns into ‘frying pan’: User shares ‘nightmare’ of shopping online; Flipkart responds

A man named Venkatesh Alla shared his bad experience with Flipkart on X (formerly Twitter). He ordered a Dell laptop for his sister from the e-commerce platform for ₹43,158. It was her very first.

The laptop arrived on May 11 through Open Box Delivery. However, the delivery person refused to wait while she checked if it powered on.

“The moment we charged the laptop, it turned into a frying pan. The keyboard got so hot, my sister couldn’t even rest her palms on it. We thought maybe it's just updates heating it up… we were wrong,” the user wrote.

The next day, it got even worse during simple Excel use. The fan roared, the battery drained fast, and it became too hot to touch.

Venkatesh reportedly contacted Flipkart support, who shockingly told him to take the brand-new laptop to a service centre 50 km away. Interestingly, they did not offer a replacement.

He later found Flipkart had quietly changed its return policies. Even faulty products won’t be replaced. Customers only get repairs, making them feel cheated.

“So basically, refurbished junk is sold as new, and you bear the cost of time & travel,” Venkatesh called out Flipkart.

Frustrated, he’s now filing a complaint in consumer court and urging others with similar stories to speak up.

“90% of the complaints on X about Flipkart are about one thing, their pathetic return policy. Even genuine customers are being harassed with mindless rules and horrible service,” he wrote.

“Flipkart, gear up. See you in Consumer Court. I'm not backing down,” he concluded.

According to Flipkart's res onse to LiveMint, the product has now been picked up from the customer. At the same time, the customer has been offered a full refund.

"At Flipkart, customer centricity is core to our DNA. We are aware of the reported incident and uphold a zero-tolerance policy towards any compromise of quality standards and for that effect we work closely with sellers on our platform, it said.

"On this reported issue, we have been in contact with the customer and have taken the necessary actions, including arranging product pickup from customer and processing immediate refund in accordance with our marketplace policy. We remain dedicated to ensuring a safe, reliable, and customer-centric shopping experience for everyone," it added.

Social media reactions

Venkatesh’s social media post, shared at 7:40 PM on May 13, has gone viral. It has been seen by over 1.4 million users.

“Thanks for the heads-up! I was just about to buy a Dell laptop from Flipkart or Amazon—safe to say, that plan’s going straight to the trash after hearing about your ordeal,” wrote one user.

Another user wrote, “Lesson - never do a high involvement purchase online.”

Another X user, Anil Sachdeva, shared their disappointment with Flipkart. At first, he was happy with the service and received products like iPhones and an Apple Watch without issues.

But later, problems began. He suffered damaged packaging and even received an expired product. He had to call customer care around 50 times to return it. Sachdeva now feels Flipkart’s service is now worsening.