Customers Claiming YU's Yureka Smartphone Did Not Sell 10,000 In 3 Seconds And Some Were Overcharged

Yesterday in India saw the launch of a brand new device by a new brand, when the Yureka smartphone by YU was launched. OK, this is not strictly a new brand as YU is a sub-brand of the mighty Indian OEM, Micromax. But, semantics aside, YU is the brand and their launch device is Yureka. Now following on from a popular trend that has developed in certain markets (namely India and China) is the concept of a flash sale. These usually involve the device going live at a predefined time and users trampling (in the virtual sense) over each other to secure the device, checkout and purchase one before they sell out. well, when Eureka’s sale started it supposedly ended 3 seconds later. No typo, they sold out (apparently 10,000 units) in three seconds.

Now, again, we have been hearing of similar sales like these in recent times and most notably from Xiaomi who have done very well for themselves with these flash sales. That said, a lot of Yureka (potential) customers were left a little hard done by. Some felt, the sale was too quick and they were not offered a realistic chance of purchasing one. Well, that may actually be much closer to the truth than anyone realized. Some users are starting to notice inconsistencies in the manner of the sale and that things were not as clear cut as they were stated.

Firstly, the 3 second rule. Users are starting to report and even providing screenshots (like the one shown below) that they were able to purchase the Yureka prior to the scheduled flash sale start time which was 2pm. If this was the case then there is no way the devices could have sold out in the stated 3 seconds. The stock may very well have depleted three seconds after 2pm, but that is not the same as selling out in a record breaking time. Secondly and adding to the suggestions that the 10,000 units in 3 seconds claims are false, users have also been suggested that there was only ever 3000 units offered during the sale which seems to be uncovered by some canny Amazon code-teardowns. Following on from this, users have also been questioning the prices they paid for the Yureka. Again, screenshots provided (source link below) suggest that the downside to buying the device before the 2pm start time was users were being charged Rs 12,499 and not the MRP Rs 8,999. Which, when you think of the overall price is quite the rise. What’s more, is that if the screenshots are to be believed, these users were not immediately aware of the price as the price hike would only take effect during checkout. Following on from this, some users (and more screenshots) were showing that they did complain to Amazon via their live chat (after buying) about the inflated price and were told they would be receiving a check for the difference.

In fact, it seems so many users were disheartened with the process (and the claims) that a forum post has been started on the YU website under the title “yu the cheater,not at all the god”. If you want to check out all the screenshots and the details on the situation to make up your own mind then you can by clicking on the source link below. Did you manage to buy the Yureka? What was your experience like? Any of this sound familiar? Let us know.