First refund

[orangeman]

I've been on the craft show circuit for 10 years now and just issued my first refund!!!!!!!!!!!!

Over the weekend I sold a wooden Santa puzzle for $28.

Seems the recipient turned it over to her grand kids who proceeded to turn over a table and the puzzle dropped

on a hard surface. one of the pieces broke. Grandma complained that a children's puzzle should not break.

I always insist that when folks buy a puzzle they take it in a plastic bag for ease of carrying and safety. Wooden puzzles will break when dropped on a hard surface.

She thought she could glue the pieces back together but also said she shouldn't have to.

I refunded her $$ via her credit card and told her I have a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

That was yesterday. No response from her as I write this.

I really think she was looking for another puzzle as the one her grand kids broke could easily be glued back together.

But the real story here is this is the first complaint in 10 years!

I've had others say their kids lost a piece or broke a piece and if I could replace. Sometimes I could and I did not charge anything.

bb

[kmmcrafts]

I've had a few instances.. one was my fault and one was not..

One was back when I had some letter openers.. the lady asked for a large handled one because the person she bought it for has large hands.. I specifically made one with a larger handle even messaged the customer the pattern.. told her to print the pattern as that would be actual size.. She even liked it once she received it.. apparently the person she was giving it to didn't like it.. she wanted to return it.. I told her I'd just send a refund and she could donate it to a local charity or goodwill, salvation army ect.. no sense in shipping it back.

The other one was.. I finished a Oak clock I made with Danish oil.. the oil kept bleeding out.. I didn't know better at that time.., LOL.. But.. this customer tried to take advantage of the situation.. Her first message to me about the first one was she mentioned how it dried splotchy.. and said she thought I'd packaged it up too soon.. I explained how it was just the finish I used and I had not really used it on Oak before.. anyway.. she said she'd like a replacement and she could send it back.. well I should have left it at that.. but I said just donate it but keep the clock out of it because the replacement won't be shipped with a clock.. The second one I sent.. she literally tried to rip me one and said I am not letting these dry long enough and proceeded to tell me how to do my job.. LOL.. Funny thing is.. I finished it with shellac.. that doesn't bleed like the oils do.. I explained to her this time that it was funny because the finish this time was dry to touch in 30 min or less says it right on the can.. and that I waited two days before I shipped it.. Told her that I would refund the money but only if she sent me both clocks back.. guess she decided to keep them.. Never heard a word from her again.. LOL   I believe because I didn't ask for the first one to be returned she thought she was going to get the whole family a clock by complaining about each one.. I really wonder how many times she would have done this had I let her.. 

So in either of these cases.. I feel I did go above and beyond to do my best to make the customer happy.. as in both cases.. I offered a full refund.. You do sometimes have to stand your ground though.. there are customers that will take you for everything you've got if you'd let them... and I find this more so with selling online.. because the customer cannot come back and show you the problem.. and hash things out in person.. some get more cocky about things because they aren't face to face with you.. You just have to shake your head and do what you have to do.. 

 

[orangeman]

I'm convinced more than ever now that refunds are the way to go as it gets rid of potential annoying customers.

Another thought:

Ask them to return the item and then refund the cost of the item plus their shipping cost if indeed the item was defective. If not defective then only refund the cost of the item.

Comments?

bb

[kmmcrafts]

1 hour ago, orangeman said:

I'm convinced more than ever now that refunds are the way to go as it gets rid of potential annoying customers.

Another thought:

Ask them to return the item and then refund the cost of the item plus their shipping cost if indeed the item was defective. If not defective then only refund the cost of the item.

Comments?

bb

I do believe the first item was in fact defective.. ( she sent pictures of the blotchy clear/oil bubbles ) the second one I'm pretty sure was not because I used a spray finish not a oil finish.. but I cannot be certain because she offered no photo so that is what I did.. offered full refund IF they returned both clocks.. apparently they wasn't so defective that they wanted to make the return.. I think they was trying to get another freebie.. The original one could have been sanded.. and cleared.. which they asked about doing themselves.. I offered to send a partial refund if they did this OR just send them another.. so basically I think they fixed the first one.. got a second one free.. and tried to get a third.. That is why I offered a full refund but they was required to send both back..

 

Yes I always will take a loss on an item to make a satisfied customer.. but I will not be run over buy a customer either..

Damaged items I require a photo of the damaged item including packing materials.. Most all my larger items get shipped priority mail which come with $100 insurance if on Etsy.. other sites I use paypal for shipping and the coverage there is only $50 so I sometimes have to add to that on higher priced items.. Only had 2 items damaged one was insured and the other was not.. I don't insure my ornaments because.. they are quick and easy to make.. I stack cut those and they are only $13 - 18.. Not paying $2-3 insurance on a 3 ounce package containing a  $13-20 item.. Only ever had to replace one so far.. I sent out about 600 ornaments last year between all my selling sites I used.. so saving $2-3 on cheap quick to make items pays off a pretty large sum of money.. If a customer orders more than 2 ornaments ( which most do ) I then automatically upgrade shipping to priority mail.. because that is cheaper than adding insurance to a first class package.. and a bonus for the customer because they can get their order in 2-3 days rather than 5-10 days.. and then it's insured up to $50 or 100 value depending on where the sale was from..

      

[orangeman]

Not even a Thank you for the refund!

Obviously she wanted another puzzle and repair the one her grandkids broke.

bb

[amazingkevin]

On 10/19/2017 at 7:41 AM, kmmcrafts said:

I've had a few instances.. one was my fault and one was not..

One was back when I had some letter openers.. the lady asked for a large handled one because the person she bought it for has large hands.. I specifically made one with a larger handle even messaged the customer the pattern.. told her to print the pattern as that would be actual size.. She even liked it once she received it.. apparently the person she was giving it to didn't like it.. she wanted to return it.. I told her I'd just send a refund and she could donate it to a local charity or goodwill, salvation army ect.. no sense in shipping it back.

The other one was.. I finished a Oak clock I made with Danish oil.. the oil kept bleeding out.. I didn't know better at that time.., LOL.. But.. this customer tried to take advantage of the situation.. Her first message to me about the first one was she mentioned how it dried splotchy.. and said she thought I'd packaged it up too soon.. I explained how it was just the finish I used and I had not really used it on Oak before.. anyway.. she said she'd like a replacement and she could send it back.. well I should have left it at that.. but I said just donate it but keep the clock out of it because the replacement won't be shipped with a clock.. The second one I sent.. she literally tried to rip me one and said I am not letting these dry long enough and proceeded to tell me how to do my job.. LOL.. Funny thing is.. I finished it with shellac.. that doesn't bleed like the oils do.. I explained to her this time that it was funny because the finish this time was dry to touch in 30 min or less says it right on the can.. and that I waited two days before I shipped it.. Told her that I would refund the money but only if she sent me both clocks back.. guess she decided to keep them.. Never heard a word from her again.. LOL   I believe because I didn't ask for the first one to be returned she thought she was going to get the whole family a clock by complaining about each one.. I really wonder how many times she would have done this had I let her.. 

So in either of these cases.. I feel I did go above and beyond to do my best to make the customer happy.. as in both cases.. I offered a full refund.. You do sometimes have to stand your ground though.. there are customers that will take you for everything you've got if you'd let them... and I find this more so with selling online.. because the customer cannot come back and show you the problem.. and hash things out in person.. some get more cocky about things because they aren't face to face with you.. You just have to shake your head and do what you have to do.. 

 

This is the reason i give so much away.I don't need headache's,complainers and lies,Just big smiles!

[kmmcrafts]

31 minutes ago, amazingkevin said:

This is the reason i give so much away.I don't need headache's,complainers and lies,Just big smiles!

Overall, of the few thousand items I have sold.. this has only happen like two times.. and trust me when i say there is always a smile at the end of every transaction.. ( might be just me smiling and shaking my head at the crazy customer but.. it's still a smile LOL ) .. so at the end of the day a few thousand sold items.. I can afford to loose 1-2 items and give them to the customer.. not like giving everything I make away for just a  I get money and smiles, LOL

Biggest headache I have with customers is.. They place an order online, pay for it.. then ask to have it customized or sometimes they don't even ask.. they just tell you to add the date or name etc. to the item.. Then I get a small headache because I have to message the customer and workout the details and send an invoice for the extra work being done.. when if they ask first I can work over the details agree on pricing and skip the whole create invoice process.. This will be changed for the new year.. because I will be making up different price points for different custom work.. then they can choose what they want and the price will be calculated in..