“Xiaomi smartphones sell like hot cakes, thus, we are always out-of-stock". This statement is well-known to everyone who have ever tried to buy any Xiaomi smartphone. The company’s India head Manu Jain also takes pride and boasts of Xiaomi being the number uno smartphone brand considering sales figures in the country. Being the top smartphone brand in India is a great achievement for a Chinese startup which had launched in first smartphone in 2014.
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Having said that it is also unusual at the same time that India’ top smartphone brand is still struggling to manage inventories and is unable to make enough devices available in the market. But the worst part of this story is that some local stand-alone retail shops including Mi preferred partner in Delhi-NCR are charging a premium for selling Xiaomi phones to consumers.
According to an exclusive news report by The Mobile Indian, “The premium these retailers were charging was between Rs 500 to Rs 2000. When we checked out the other stores which were not the preferred partner, the same story repeated except the premium was between Rs 700 and Rs 2,500."
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In other words, if you want to buy any of the Xiaomi smartphones in the budget range you will have to bribe shopkeepers somewhere in between Rs 500 and Rs 2,500. To add to this, these retailers charge an extra of 2.5 percent for using credit or debit cards for payment. “Sir on credit card we will only deduct the actual cost of the phone, which will reflect on your bill as well and the extra or premium charges have to be paid in cash along with 2.5 % charges for using the credit card," a retailer was quoted in the report.
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Interestingly, despite the demand for Xiaomi smartphones, many retailer are not keen to sign up to be a Xiaomi preferred partner. This is because the terms and conditions to be a Xiaomi preferred partner are not friendly enough and also “all the terms and conditions are not on paper and are communicated verbally," the report added.
Have you faced a similar incident while buying a Xiaomi smartphone? Feel free to share your story in the comment section below or on Twitter @News18Tech.
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