Number of actresses come out swinging against e-retailer.
By Dileep Thekkethil
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Indiarush.com, the popular fashion e-retailer has come under the scanner for fake celebrity endorsements after World News Network an exposé, which alleges the Delhi-based e-commerce company of providing low-quality products and unethical customer service to the buyers.
Celebrity endorsements and coupon-based discounts have accelerated the growth of online buying in India, but many times the highly discounted price of products have come under dispute and even the top notch e-commerce firms like Flipkart and Snapdeal have faced criticism.
World News Network say they ordered four sarees through Indiarush.com for checking the quality and online service of the website, which has been live since 2012. They found that the quality and the material of the saree delivered were below par and defective.
World News Network also claims that the customer service of Indiarush.com was of little use as the company failed to initiate a return and refund for the products. Attempts to reach to the CEO of Indiarush.com, Rahi Jain, an ex-ibibo employee also turned out to be futile as he advised to go through customer policy and stopped answering their queries.
The Indiarush.com website has a variety of fashion and accessory products listed out of which sarees and Salwars are the most highlighted. Almost all products listed in these sections carry the names and photos of Bollywood celebrities.
The World News Network press release confirms through statements by several actresses that Indiarush.com carried their pictures without permission, which could likely lead to a lawsuit.
Here is what the celebrities have to say, according to the press release:
Chitrangada Singh– I am not associated with any online shopping website.
Gauhar Khan- I am not associated with any such kind of shopping website.
Drashti Dhami- Oh, my god they are using my pictures, it’s totally fake and I am not endorsing for any online shopping company ,please as a media you should do something to reveal the truth.
Mandira Bedi- I am shocked to hear about that online shopping company and I am not associated or ever endorsed any such kind of company Indiarush.com .I don’t know why are they using my photograph now my team will follow them
Monica Bedi-Actually online is a big gambling nowadays. I have faced many times this kind of situation as being a actor we sometimes do photo shoot for designer as they provide the clothes. Sometimes these kind of company do photo shoot with some other models and use our pictures on the models photo.
Sushmita Sen- Sushmita Sen’s spokesperson said Sushmita Sen was interested in endorsing or launching some online shopping material .but now she is not keen to be associated with any online platform .and she has not endorsed for Indiarush.com for sure.
Other celebrity faces used on the site are Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Sridevi, Kajol, Shraddha Kapoor Jacqueline Fernandez, Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and others.
Advocate Falguni Brahmbhatt said to World News Network, “Indiarush.com can be booked for cheating and a complaint can be lodged against them for infringement of copyrights and IT Act.”
After all using celebrity endorsements have become the new mantra for attracting customers. This is also considered as an SEO tactic as people associate fashion items with celebrities and end up searching online with their names as keywords. This is true in the case of Indiarush.com as a majority of product titles carry names of celebrities.
1 Comment
Agreed.indiarush is fake. Don’t shop with Indiarush unnecessary you are just wasting your money.