Amazon and all E-Portals-Please stop selling of fake products. Have product recall policy

You are shopping online more than ever before. It is convenient, easy and the online marketing companies make it very attractive for you to do so with the vast range of merchandise and apparently good deals. But, have you ever suspected that you could be not getting what’s promised on the electronic screen? Or do you just believe that such big and famous companies will sell 100% genuine products? 

We give you a real example of what can happen with you when shopping online.  A customer purchased Lakme Eyeconic Kajal Pack of 2, from the Amazon portal in March 2017. The product was found to be fake as was admitted by the manufacturer Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL).  

Amazon  Seller-Sublime also admitted that the product it has sold/sent is fake. A total of 340 customers  purchased Lakme Eyeconic Kajal from Amazon seller Sublime. Amazon has refunded money to only 7 customers who complained. The Lakme Eyeconic Kajal bought from Amazon seller Sublime by these 340 customers could be fake. It could contain ingredients hazardous to your health. Are you okay with that? Obviously not. So, take action, join us in an effort to protect your Consumer Rights.

Have you bought a product from any e-portal and found it to be fake/counterfeit? Also, have you bought Lakme Eyeconic Kajal from Amazon seller Sublime anytime from January to March 2017? Have you bought Lakme Eyeconic Kajal from any other vendor and found it to be of poor quality or fake? If yes, please write to us at Consumer Education and Research Centre (CERC)*, Ahmedabad with details, on email id enr@cercindia.org  to get justice.

Amazon is responsible for the products sold on its portal. In this case, they later removed the Seller from the portal but Amazon is not discharging its complete responsibility as the primary seller of fake/counterfeit products. The customer is buying from Amazon, not from Sublime; customer has paid to Amazon, not to Sublime; hence customer has entered into purchase contract with Amazon and not Sublime. Amazon is responsible for the customers receiving fake product from its sellers.

What is Amazon doing?  

It has not recalled the Lakme Eyeconic Kajal from all the 340 customers and neither has it refunded the amount to all of them. Amazon is still evaluating appropriate ways to contact other customers and will wait to take action till they complain. How can Amazon expect consumers to know that it is a fake product and then complain? Amazon itself can easily identify all customers who have purchased this product from Sublime and inform them as well as compensate them, irrespective of the complaints received. Their inaction clearly shows the indifference Amazon has towards the health and safety of its customers.

Amazon defense:

Amazon says that they are a platform where buyers and sellers come to transact. They neither buy the products themselves nor hold inventory. According to them, they have systems in place to ensure that only 100% genuine products are sold on their portal. Clearly these systems are not working, as sellers continue to sell counterfeit/fake products with impunity through their portal, without any penalties or consequences.   

We seek your support and participation to see that the online marketplace is not unscrupulously used by e-commerce companies with deep pockets. 

Sign CERC petition and join us in asking Amazon and all E-Portals and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to:

• Ensure that Amazon immediately recalls this fake product, Lakme Eyeconic Kajal from all 340 customers as these women are unknowingly exposed to the hazards of toxic substances present in this fake Kajal sold to them through Amazon. They can easily identify all customers who have purchased this product from Sublime and compensate them.
• All E-Portals should ensure that Sellers on its portal do not sell counterfeit products to consumers who are actually buying based on their trust in Amazon. They should have strict pre-vetting of vendors before allowing them to use the e-portal. Random checking of products sold on the portal should be done and they should diligently review customer feedback for products and sellers. There should be penalties on sellers for defrauding customers. Unless Amazon and all e-portals take responsibility for every sale on its portal, consumers will continue to be cheated and shortchanged and will be exposed to unsafe and spurious products.
• Amazon and all e-portals should have a voluntary Product Recall Policy and Consumer Alert systems in place to develop confidence of customers.