Consumer goods company Hindustan Unilever (HUL) in a unique gesture sent a customer a Samsung mobile phone that he had ordered through Snapdeal during its Diwali sale, but instead got a soap bar and a brick delivered to him.
Laxminarayan Krishnamurthy, who had posted about the faux pas on Facebook, got nearly 19,000 shares of the post and Snapdeal refunded his money complete with an apology. The e-commerce company also told him that the courier service was at fault and they would have their own service soon, Mr Krishnamurthy shared on the social media website.
The soap bar in question that was delivered instead of the phone was a Vim bar- an HUL brand.
"Inadvertently our brand Vim became a part of a negative consumer experience. We not only realised the need for a positive engagement with the consumer but also saw this as an opportunity for creating a delightful brand experience for the consumer. It is heartening to know that our gesture has been appreciated by the consumer," HUL's spokesperson told NDTV
HUL also sent Mr Krishnamurthy, bottles of Vim liquid soap along with the mobile phone.
"Thanks to the Hindustan Unilever Mumbai for graciously presenting us with a Samsung Core Duo mobile and Vim liquid soap bottles. I had been wanting to gift this mobile to my wife during the Snapdeal Diwali bumper sale. Cheers to the Snapdeal soapdeal issue which has been hitting the headlines across people who relate with this issue of ordinary people like us," Mr Krishnamurthy posted on his Facebook page.
Not only did Mr Krishnamurthy get his money back, he got his phone too, albeit from an unlikely source.
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