The story about the delivery executive and the female customer is highly problematic because she claimed to be harassed by a delivery agent after buying a sexual wellness product via Blinkit.
Over a period of several days, the woman detailed the experience in an exhaustive post on LinkedIn, describing it as "deeply disturbing" and raising serious concerns about women’s safety and privacy in online delivery. In her post, it is said that the incident happened on Monday, May 25, after the woman had ordered a sexual wellness product from Blinkit.
She said that the package was not sealed as necessary when delivered, which made her feel uncomfortable at that time. How it worked, though, came as a shock to her. The woman said the delivery partner first called her upon arriving at the location and seemed to react weirdly.
She said that after the delivery, the same delivery executive called her again to tell her what she ordered, and he commented. The woman wrote after sharing the exact message in her post, saying that the delivery agent asked why she used a vibrator, claiming, “Why are you using a vibrator when you can use me?”
She also said the man made more offensive comments in Hindi, recommending that she “use him instead” of the product she had bought. The woman said she was deeply uncomfortable and afraid, particularly because the delivery executive knew the address where she lived.
She said when she heard the comments, she instantly froze; she even felt unsafe in her own home. “I felt uncomfortable immediately seeing the way he looked at me,” she wrote, noting that she hurried to collect the package, close the door, and received the second call. She also said that when she told the delivery agent she would report him, he apologised.
The woman subsequently informed Blinkit’s customer support team and made a formal complaint. She said while the company support team acted quickly and logged the complaint, she also questioned customer safety and privacy in connection with the situation.
“Why was someone providing a sensitive order, and it was not sealed?” she asked. She said as she questioned. To what extent are the safeguards in place to protect women in such a situation today?
Not only did she hope that these concerns would be resolved later on, but she also pointed out if privacy restrictions were enforced more seriously, and we found this same company and delivery executive were taking action against everyone involved, should stricter privacy measures be strengthened.
The posts were immediately responded to on social media. Respondents expressed how upset they were and how worried they felt about it. Some backed the woman for speaking out publicly and said authorities and the company needed to be put under severe action if the allegations were to become a fact.
Others cited a larger issue of women’s safety, privacy and dignity through daily interactions, whether the apps were for delivery. And most of these social media users said no customers, and they should not be judged and harassed, or hear rude comments or unkind remarks for buying legal or personal items online.
The alleged incident put on a wider scale, once again, issues of workplace accountability, customers’ protection, and higher, tighter safety standards for fast-paced fast-store sales and delivery in India.
