How deal with a customer, your thoughts?

REK Knives said:
Yeah I'd refund but wouldn't pay return slipping personally
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Ben's wood is very beautiful and pricy. If I were him I'd be happy to pay $7-8 postage to get that block back. But that's just me
 
Refund him but as some of the others have said don't pay return shipping, that's on him.
 
There are 3 things that are ultimately unavoidable: death, taxes, and a customer you'll never be able to please. If you have a good product and good customer service, the bad customers will be much fewer and farther between. If you have several customers per month contacting you with complaints, or asking for refunds, then it's time to think about changing some policies or practices. If it's 1 guy out of 100 (or 1000, or whatever), then I wouldn't worry much about it.

Personally, I'd refund them and move on. Refund policies and disclaimers can only go so far, and most people won't read or pay attention to them anyway.
 
Wanted to update this, he wasnt too bad to work with, he sanded the piece but still lchose to return it for store credit, which i can work with.
 
Greenberg Woods said:
Hey guys, if this isnt allowed let me know, but i wanted to see some other peoples opinions.

I recently had a client order a piece of figured rosewood, this was a piece that i had oiled without first buffing, so the color of the surface darkened in much the same way that ironwood does. Upon receiving it he asked to return it, he said that because the block looked different that the photo he was entitled to a return. I used to have a very lax return policy, but amazon has made many people believe they are entitled to return whatever they want whenever they want, which is incredibly disruptive and difficult to handle for a small business selling specific pieces.

I told him that the darkening is only on the surface, and that if he sands the wood even a small amount he will see the colors and figure again, but so far he seems to be resistant to the idea, wanting to ship it back to me to be sanded, and then have me ship it back to him all on my dime.

What do you think?

Thank you.
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Little late to this one.

As mentioned in this thread a disclaimer is absolutely vital if there's any chance the product may differ from the picture.

As for giving your customer a refund, I wouldn't be so quick to do so right away.

Unhappy customers can be a real pain in the ass and really cost you time, effort and some sanity. If your business is on social media at all then they can be real fuckers up to and including harassing customers who have left positive feedback. It may just be worth taking the loss and moving on.

On the other hand, a no-questions-asked type return policy can really eat into your bank account and make your business struggle. Sometimes you need to put your foot down. Had someone try to return an expensive pair of boots because they thought the inside of the boots smelled funny and said they were used so wanted them returned. Nope.

During Covid19 a lot of people are getting buyers remorse. Don't be afraid of putting your foot down and don't be afraid of their negative feedback. People use it like little terrorists.

And yes big stores and companies return policies have really made a lot of people entitled. Can you compete with Amazon? No.
 
Ben,
Life is too short to deal with idiots and rectums. Give him a refund, and make a note in your billing program that he is one or the other.
 
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