Customer refused package

[wickedinhere]

I was mailing some pieces out this morning and had a piece returned that said it was refused. I emailed the customer and she said that the size wouldn't work for her so she refused the package and wants a full refund. I never heard from her till i got the package back and emailed her. I can re sell the piece but i think i am owed my shipping plus 10.00 restocking fee for my troubles. What do ya'll think?

[Shane Warnick]

Don't know how much the piece was to begin with, but I would say shipping and at least 15 percent restocking fee, prob be 25 percent or more depending on how mad I was. How did she know it wouldn't work if she never even opened the package? Sounds like either buyers remorse or most likely found something real similar or same thing only cheaper somewhere else.

Problem is are your terms stating this up front? What's your return / refund policy? Not saying she is being reasonable, just saying if you don't have a clear policy now may be the time to make one and make it known up front going forward.

Shane

[beefy]

My response would be quite black and white depending on how everything eventuated.

If I gave her exactly what she asked for and she basically just stuffed up or simply changed her mind, I would expect full payment plus any costs (postage, etc).

The only reason I would allow a refund is if I was somehow obligated by law, or had a written policy of doing it that way, or purely for customer good will, in the hope that would be less damaging to me than her bitching to the whole world about how she was "ripped off". If she's thick skinned enough to expect a refund for being given exactly what she asked for, then she's probably thick skinned enough to falsely complain to everyone about everything you did wrong, you get my meaning.

So your call really. Do you think her moaning would do you any damage.

[rdj357]

I agree with Beefy. There are a few options, refund all, refund all but shipping, refund all but shipping and restocking fee.

If you don't have a fee clearly defined before the transaction it will be a problem.

It all comes down to how much damage/good can come of the situation. FWIW, having been self-employed for 20 years in the HVAC business, a lot of people owed me but never paid and on seldom occasions I wrote off or refunded all of a purchase because it wasn't worth what I'd have to spend marketing to fix the fallout regardless of my being right.

Good luck and luckily these situations are the exception and not the rule!

[wickedinhere]

Thanks for the advice guys. She said the size wouldn't work for but she knew the size before ordering.
I think she just changed her mind or whatever. What gets me is she could have called or emailed me saying she didn't want it anymore. If she would have contacted me it could have saved me the trouble of shipping it out. She said she had already contacted paypal and that i needed to go ahead and refund the money. I haven't heard anything from paypal so i just think i will wait till i hear from them.

[Gamelord]

If you can re-sell the piece, I would just give her a full refund minus the shippng charges - did you think to ask her what size she needed and offer to send her the correct size at a slightly less price? Maybe you will only have to refund a tiny amount instead of the whole thing? Treat her right and make her happy and you never know, she may purchase 10 more items from you over the next few weeks. Not only that, she may meet her bridge club this weekend and mention how nice and understanding you were and suggest some of your products to her friends who may order something. Word of mouth is great or it can be a huge killer of business. I have had issues that pissed me off to no end but bit my tounge and refunded money on items that I felt I should have been paid in full. Nearly every single time I treated the customer beyond right, business has came back 10 fold either from the customer or from people in the exact same area as the customer.

choice is yours. But it sounds like you are only butt-hurt on the customer returning the goods, not financially hurt - Pride can be a huge problem. Is it worth causing a stink that will ruin your reputation and any future business? Maybe it was remorse, maybe she found something else she liked better...until you open a friendly dialoge with her you may never know. Perhaps she thought of something unique that she wants that may turn out to be your best seller item? Talk to her and see. Be more than happy about returning her money and be sure to extend a sincere thank you to her for choosing your company over all the others who are out there competing against you. At least she gave you a try, don't slam the door on her foot as she is coming in.

Also agree with the above that your return policies MUST be listed on your business/website/facebook etc... plain and clear! Without those, you really don't have anything to go back on. I offer a 100% full return on any product within 30 days, NO QUESTIONS ASKED, regardless of reason minus any shipping charges but only on normal production products. Custom items require 50% down up front and full payment before shipping and all custom order sales are final. I try to view every return as a chance to better my relations with my customers and the best chance I have of building a good reputation in my area and in my industry. ..... Not as "That #$%@ jerk just wants his money back from me!"

Surprising is that my returns policy has got me more business than I have ever had in actual returns. Had customers on the phone who were questionable and I state my return policy and it puts them over the bubble and they order. Rarely do they ever send it back and in most cases gets them to order again - plus they tell their friends.

[cosimpson]

Gamelord;

Nice write up.

Chris

[beefy]

Gamelord,

appreciate the great advice, I always enjoy your wisdom and you often have me re-evaluation my own thoughts.

When I think about it, I always get a feeling of comfort with shops that offer a "no questions asked" returns policy. That one reason alone causes me to use that shop if it has what I need, so at the end of the day they get more sales from me. The sales are many, the returns are few. BigW is one such shop here (there you go, I've just advertised them ).

There are shops that do returns BUT they tend to "interrogate" you, asking why you returned it, and sometimes they attempt to make you feel bad. It can be embarassing giving your "excuse", and I may avoid that shop in the future. I've had that problem with Dick Smith shops and their "techsperts" (said rolling with laughter).

Keith.

[muzza]

I'm with Gamelord on this one, it's not going to give you a cash advantage every time but peace of mind is priceless.

Hey Keith, you do know who owns "Dick Smoths" don't you
Murray

[wickedinhere]

Sorry Gamelord but i disagree. Why would i want a customer that refuses the package for some BS reason. She knew the size of the piece before ordering and my Facebook and website state no returns. I am not worried about if she bad mouths me because my work speaks for its self i shipped about 250 pieces so far this month and refuse to put up with this kinda stuff. She wont answer emails or phone calls now so i really can't resolve the issue. I just think the whole thing is chicken poo and never heard of anyone doing something like this. If she wanted a bigger size why not contact me and see what we could work out? Not butt hurt at all i have a very successful business but refuse to be taken advantage of.