Big oops by Micromax! Canvas 4 pre-order email leaks personal data of customers

Micromax’s Canvas 4 launch was probably one of the most hyped event for a smartphone in India recently. Unfortunately for Micromax, the hype seems to be backfiring after a goof-up by the company ended up revealing personal data of customers who had pre-ordered the phone.

Gizmodo India has reported that many customers who had pre-ordered the phone received emails on the day of the launch, confirming that Rs 13,000 was being deducted from their credit cards. A booking amount of Rs 5,000 had already been accepted by the company as part of the pre-order.

The mail that caused a mini-panic (Image credit: Gizmodo India)

The issue with the email was that it not only contained the details of the person the mail was sent to, but it also had personal information of about 130 other customers who had pre-ordered the phone. The mail contained shipping and billing addresses, email addresses, phone numbers as well as login and password information for the pre-order website. The revealing of the ID and password for the pre-order website was possibly the most alarming leak since one can easily use it to login and change the shipping address of the phone to another location. Users affected by this leak ended up alerting each other via email and Facebook, so that nothing untoward would happen with their details.

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While Micromax may be aiming to break into the big phone league with huge marketing spends and a massive launch event it seems that the company still has a long way to go in terms of getting its CRM basics right. As we had pointed out in a piece a few weeks back, these factors will determine whether companies like Micromax will be able to command respect and credibility enjoyed by established multinationals.