I am posting this incident to make other people aware of the fraudulent practices of company called Bag It Today, an India Today Group company. I was contacted on telephone on 24/25 Sep 2011 by one Mr Rohan Arya from this company. He informed me that I have been selected for a contest where only 5 people have been selected and the first prize is Rs 20,000.00. I was told that there is an assured gifts of one HCL Tablet and two pack of diamonds worth 60,000/-. However I have to pay Rs 29,999/- as charges towards insurance, taxes etc. Normally I would not have fallen for such offers . However since I considered India Today group as a respectable company(till then) , I agreed and made the payment through my credit card. Mr Rohan Arya also informed me that I will get a verification call from one of the departments and I should confirm them to process the order. I should not tell them anything about the gifts or contest since it is confidential. After few days I got the HCL tablet and two pack of diamonds. The bill was for Rs 29,999/- but cost of tablet and diamonds was not mentioned separately. My order ID is 5800004562.
The cost of HCL Tablet is approx Rs 10-11000/- . That means the diamonds were sold to me for approx Rs 18000-19000/- I got the valuation of diamonds done from two three jewelers who valued one pack between Rs2000- Rs 3000/- ie two packs are not worth more than approx 5000/-.
On 10 Oct 2011 I got a call from another executive named Ms Natasha Rana. She asked me about the contest . She said something about my position being confirmed for fourth prize. Then she said that to update my file I have to do a transaction of Rs 42,998/-. I would also get one mobile , three pack of diamond and some other items as gifts. I told that the diamonds are not worth more than Rs 5000/- So Ms Natasha Rana said that the field agents of ur company would come and help me in resale of these diamonds and that 5 packs of these diamonds would be worth 2,00,000.00 minimum. She also asked me not to tell all this to the verification caller and just ask them to process the order. My order id is 1011646683(for Rs 18999/-) and 1011646575 (for Rs 23,999/-)
On 27 Oct 2011 I received a call from Mr Ajay Khanna who gave the same story about updating the file , sale of diamonds by ur representative etc and asked me to do a transaction of Rs 26,999/-. I do not have the order id of this transaction with me right now as I m out of my home town right now.
On 03 Nov 2011, Mr Kabir called me up and asked about the contest. Same story was repeated and I did a transaction of Rs 37,008. Order Id is 5800004498.
On 05 Nov 2011 Mr Raj Singhania called and informed me that since I have done large amount of purchases from ur company there is a offer for me. If I do a transaction of Rs 37998/- I will b refunded 50% of amount paid till then and with in one week representative from ur company will contact me for reselling the diamonds at around Rs 2,25,000/- for 5 packs. I was reluctant to do the transaction but since he offred refund of 50% I did the transaction. My order Id is 58888808(for Rs 18999/-) and 58888806(for Rs 18999/-).
However, till date no one from this company has contacted me for resale of diamonds nor have I got any refund. Few days back Mr Rohan Arya called me and when I told me about the above incidents he informed me that all the above people have told lies to me just to meet their sales target. Even now I am getting calls from people from this company asking me to do more transaction. Off course now I have refused.
I must tell u that this whole experience of dealing with Bag It Today has been a nightmare for me. I wish I had not attended that call in Sep 2011 from Mr Rohan Arya. I have spend Close to Rs 1,80,000.00 and got some mobiles and other items which are may b worth not more than Rs 60-70,000/- if bought from market and so called diamonds which are fake. I have sent a mail to sales department and customer care department of the company but am yet to receive any satisfactory reply. I am so surprised that a company like India Today can stoop so low and resort to such methods to sell its products. I could have understood if it was some small unknown company. Credibility of cpmpany is now zero in my eyes. Probably I should write to Mr M J Akbar to publish an article on Bag It Today in India Today Magzine.
I have consulted a lawyer from my department who has informed me that I can take following actions :-
(a) File a case in appropriate civil/criminal court against bag It Today for fraud and cheating.
(b) File a case against the concerned people of ur company for cheating.
(c) File a case in consumer court.

There are some interesting suggestion from my collegues also
(a) Post my story on Facebook so that the whole world knows Bag It Today.
(b) Write to 4/5 newspapers and TV channels about the modalities of company with a request to do some investigation.
(c) Write to CNBC TV 18 where a Programme called Pehredar is aired which deals with such cases of online/ telemarketing frauds/complaints.
Rakesh