Bengaluru: A home decor purchase that was supposed to bring joy turned into a year-long legal battle for a Devanahalli resident after her Rs 98,000 sideboard arrived in a broken state. The Bangalore I Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has now ordered Gurgaon-based Casa Gold to refund the full amount with interest, bringing relief to the complainant.On March 6, 2024, Teresa Varman placed an online order for a Kingsley Inlay Geometric Pattern Sideboard in black through Casa Gold’s website, paying the entire sum of Rs 98,000 upfront. She expected a premium addition to her living space.But when the sideboard was delivered, Varman said she was shocked to find it badly damaged, with cracks and breakages across the top and front panels. The condition worsened further, she alleged, when delivery workers dropped it while unloading from the truck.What followed was months of frustration. Varman reached out to the company repeatedly through phone, email, and WhatsApp. Instead of a replacement or refund, she was allegedly told to engage a local carpenter to fix the damage.“This was completely unacceptable for a premium product at this price point,” she told the commission, accusing Casa Gold of mental harassment and deficiency in service. Left with no alternative, Varman filed a consumer complaint on June 4, 2024.Company’s DefenceCasa Gold, in its written statement, admitted the order had been placed and paid for in advance. However, it argued that the sideboard was a “made-to-order” product and therefore non-returnable as per its policy.The company said the delivery was handled by a third-party courier, Ashu Couriers N Cargo, and acknowledged that the product was damaged in transit. It claimed that it had initially offered to replace the product with a new one, and when Varman refused, it went “beyond its policy” and offered a refund as a goodwill gesture.According to Casa Gold, the complainant’s demand for a refund plus Rs 2 lakh as compensation was “unwarranted and baseless.” It argued that asking the customer to repair through a local carpenter was part of its service process, commonly applied in such cases. The company also invoked the terms of service on its website, which state that disputes fall under Haryana jurisdiction, and urged the commission to dismiss the case.Court’s FindingsThe commission observed that the courier acted as an agent of Casa Gold, making the company liable for damages during transit.“Customers invest in premium products with the expectation of safe delivery. Any damage caused in transit falls on the service provider,” the order stated. The commission noted that telling a customer who had paid nearly Rs 1 lakh for a high-end product to rely on a “local carpenter repair” was not a fair remedy.It found Casa Gold deficient in service for failing to ensure safe delivery and for not addressing the consumer’s complaints in a proper manner. The commission said the company’s conduct had caused mental harassment and inconvenience beyond financial loss.On July 7, 2025, the bench comprising president Syed Anser Kaleem and member Sharavathi SM directed the firm to refund Rs 98,000 to Varman, pay 6% annual interest from the date of the complaint (June 4, 2024) until the amount is realised. The court also ordered that the firm pay Rs 2,000 towards litigation costs.
