Numerous online shopping portals have sprung up in the recent past. These portals promise the moon in the form of substantial discounts, but are far from reliable.
There is an online portal called Seventymm.com that, apart from selling goods online, started a DVD rental service a few months ago. My subscription expired on February 13 and I was offered a year’s renewal at a special price of Rs. 1500. A few days later, I received a telephone call from a company representative informing me that their DVD rental service has shut down. The subscription amount I had already paid and barely utilised would be refunded in the form of a shopping voucher to Seventymm.com. I mentioned that I was not interested in a voucher, but would expect a cash refund. However, this option was not made available to me. It is quite apparent that the company was aware that their rental service was going to close down in the near future and yet had no compunction in soliciting a subscription renewal.
I leave you to judge the ethics of this action.
— Firoze Hirjikaka, Colaba