Is it normal to need to confirm that you want a refund when order is cancelled?

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supratentorial

supratentorial

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I bought and paid for a GEC #74 with elk covers and I got an email saying that my order was cancelled because the knife was sold to someone else. Apparently, the website glitched. The sales rep asked if I wanted a refund or another knife. They are sold out of the 74. If I were the seller, I would have provided an immediate refund. Is it acceptable to hold onto my money to try to make another sale? There's no benefit to me for them to hold onto my payment.
 
I guess it depends on how things went down. I could see how it can be considered good customer service in a bad situation. Certainly they should have refunded your money if you never contacted them again...
 
No, it is perfectly reasonable for them to ask you as a service if you would like to substitute a different product, or receive a refund. No wrongdoing here.
 
I haven't done business with the company previously and don't know the owner like I do some of the guys on this forum. Basically, I ordered the knife and paid for it and then a couple hours later I got an email stating the problem. If they refunded my money and I wanted something else then I could just place another order. It seems like a poor sales tactic. I guess, if it was someone that I knew from the forum then it might be a bit different.

We are contacting you to let you know that there was an error with the website and it allowed you to place an order for the Great Eastern #74 Mustang - American Elk #2. We regret that the American Elk handles had already sold out. That item is no longer available.

I have tried calling you a couple of times but get a busy signal. Please let us know if you would like to change to something else or process a refund on your order. The website has been updated.

You can speak to any of us here to work out your order. Please give us a call at xxxxxx.

Our apology for any inconvenience,
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jeffsenpai said:
No, it is perfectly reasonable for them to ask you as a service if you would like to substitute a different product, or receive a refund. No wrongdoing here.
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Ok. But I don't understand how it could provide me any "service" at all. It's just a hoop to jump through and it will just take longer for me to get the refund. I was busy and now they are closed for the weekend. It's not a big deal but I would have fixed the problem by refunding the payment.
 
The better customer service would have been a notice of the bad news and an automatic refund. It's like a department store loss leader...get you in the store but the item for sale was sold out (because there were very few in the first place)...so since you are in the store...
But as a business I guess, no harm in asking, although in doing so a small discount for the trouble would have been appropriate, I have had a dealer do this for me.
 
I suppose I can't fault a salesmen for trying to sell stuff. But without other 74s in stock or any discount, it seemed inappropriate not to do an immediate refund. I have had the exact same thing happen previously but I received an immediate refund.

I was a little irritated by the way it played out yesterday... refresh pages for days to find the knives which are listed without any advance notice, drop everything to order the knife, then my order is canceled, then I have to be available at a moments notice again to confirm that I want a refund before the store closes for the weekend. It's a lot of wasted time.

The "lolly grab" for these short runs must be hard on the ordering system. It's hard on the customers too. So much wasted time. But accidents happen. Hopefully, they'll be able to figure out how to avoid it happening again. This is a good example of why some folks order more than one. I've missed other opportunities to buy the knife. But hopefully, I'll be able to pick one up from another dealer.
 
You are overthinking it. I prefer to be asked with a choice. You dont. Nothing more than that.
 
jbmonkey said:
You are overthinking it. I prefer to be asked with a choice. You dont. Nothing more than that.
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Ok. But you didn't give any reason why you would prefer it. I can't think of a single benefit. They don't have any more of the 74 in elk or other handle materials. They aren't giving a discount to make up for their mistake. If I wanted to place an order for something completely different then I could just make a new order. To me it just looks like a sales tactic... We don't have your knife but we'd like to keep your money so can we send you something else. ;)
 
Seems they are just trying to meet your desires, if possible, in a bad situation. I imagine had you not responded to their inquiry, they'd have quickly refunded the money.
 
leghog said:
Seems they are just trying to meet your desires. I imagine had you not responded to their inquiry, they'd have quickly refunded the money.
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I responded only to confirm that I would like the payment refunded. I suppose they'll see my response next week during their business hours. I have no reason to assume that if I didn't respond that they wouldn't eventually processes the refund on their own.
 
You asked for opinions, you got them. Nobody's right or wrong... there was no malicious intent.

It seems reasonable to see if there was another product they could substitute... you did want to buy a knife, they know that much. Of course it's a sales tactic, that's their business... to sell knives to people who want to buy them.

Regarding the high demand... that's not the sellers fault. Given the amount of time spent on this thread... your time's not that precious. Move on.
 
rustysocket said:
You asked for opinions, you got them. Nobody's right or wrong... there was no malicious intent.

It seems reasonable to see if there was another product they could substitute... you did want to buy a knife, they know that much. Of course it's a sales tactic, that's their business... to sell knives to people who want to buy them.

Regarding the high demand... that's not the sellers fault. Given the amount of time spent on this thread... your time's not that precious. Move on.
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So just a sales tactic. I'll ignore the rest of your reply.
 
jeffsenpai said:
No, it is perfectly reasonable for them to ask you as a service if you would like to substitute a different product, or receive a refund. No wrongdoing here.
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This is what I have experienced. Not a poor sales tactic at all, rather they have the payment for an item that is no longer in stock, is there something else that you would like since the original item is unavailable? I call it saving you the trouble if possible. If the store didn't care about your business I would imagine they would throw your money back at you and not ask anything at all. I've been on the receiving end of both sides.
 
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