posted on January 30, 2006 12:20:57 PM new
We have been selling about 5 years and have really noticed an increase in requests for refunds.
I have always described very well and have had few problems but since December 2005 I have had more requests for refunds. Is it just me or maybe we were over due for a rash of these requests?
The last one wanted to know after he had the item if I would trade for another or something along that line I just replied return it.
December I had a guy who stated I sent him a paper item that was ripped with holes in it etc very graphic information. I thought no way I packed in cardboard, envelope, do not bend, the whole bit. When I got it back it had a quarter inch tear as shown in the original picture. It took him 45 days to return it but I gave him his refund.
Just curious are others noticing this refund bug too?
posted on January 30, 2006 12:26:44 PM new
yes,requests for refund are on the rise,they want the $$ back so they can buy again and ask for refund again!
/ lets all stop whining !! /
posted on January 30, 2006 12:45:17 PM new
I noticed it too in the last few months. I've had about 3 returns lately and before that I think I had 2 returns in 5 years. And to top it off - I relisted these 3 with the same auction - changed NOTHING - all 3 items netted positive FB???
posted on January 30, 2006 01:33:03 PM new
It may just be a coincidence that all major retailers now have anti-fraud returns systems in place that require picture ID from the person returning the item.
Or it may not.
It's kind of funny, really, how much of our personal selves can be tied up in shopping. I'm sure other older people have had the same experience I've had, listening to twenty or thirty-somethings bragging about the name brand crap they just bought, when we know from long experience that it's no better and may be even of lower quality than a less flashy product. Young people listen to marketing messages and believe they can buy prestige. My husband laughs about people who buy Bose and gold-plated-connector Monster cables to hook it all up.
Since shopping IS so very personal on a variety of levels, some of our personal problems are worked out in the shopping milieu as well. Some compulsive people buy, buy, buy then return, return, return the next day without learning anything from the experience. Some of us pin our hopes of happiness on a particular purchase. If the joy fails to materialize, you've got to send the item back.
You can argue that people should seek peace from within, but I don't see a whole lot of introspection going on today, do you?
Is it any wonder we sellers get some nutso buyers? I firmly believe we would get more of them if not for the news stories about seller fraud on eBay. A compulsive shopper has no problem cheating a seller but sure doesn't want to end up with less than they bargained for.
posted on January 30, 2006 02:15:57 PM new
The only request I have had in the last few months was for a item that was appararently packaged wrong from the factory. Wrong item in correct box. Told them to ship it back and I would refund purchase price plus shipping both way's. 3 months later still no response and then yesterday he leaves me a positive feedback that reads "B- Wrong product..." I guess he liked the wrong product
They say your memory's the second thing to go, I just can't remember what the first thing is.
posted on January 30, 2006 02:32:27 PM new
I guess I'm lucky. I don't get many requests for refunds. The last one I had was on a dog training collar ( shock collar) that I sold about 2 mo's ago. A month later, I received an email from the buyer stating that it was junk. Seem the battery in the sending unit or the collar needed replacing, and he had to purchase a new one. After letting him know that a month is a long time to have use of an item and then complain about it, I offered to reimburse him for the battery if he would provide me with the receipt for it. I haven't heard another peep out of him.
posted on January 30, 2006 03:04:36 PM new
Probably because there wasn't anything wrong with the batteries in the first place. They just wanted a "free" spare.
They say your memory's the second thing to go, I just can't remember what the first thing is.
posted on January 30, 2006 04:05:20 PM new
Max, your dog training collar (shock collar) buyer wanting a refund reminds me of a great (and perfectly legal) way to minimize refunds from troublesome buyers.
1) Have buyer return item and you'll refund by business check.
2) Send refund check to buyer drawn on your seldom used Max d.b.a. Fetish Slave Shock Collars bank account.
3) Place small fingertip to mouth and do Dr. Evil smile.
They'll be most unlikely to cash it (especially if they live in the 'bible belt'). This of course is a variation on a well known mail order scam where the item ordered is always "out of stock" and the refund check for your innocuous purchase is drawn on the account of An*l Explorer Gay Wonder Vibrators.
posted on January 30, 2006 04:27:34 PM new
LOL That's a good one agitprop. I got a good laugh out of that. I would like to see the expression on the bank tellers face if they read who the check was from.
edited to add: I cant stop laughing over this one. You got the imagination going now. Just think if the guy took the check in and the bank teller "was" gay. Boy I bet he would be wishing he had never asked for that refund in the first place.
They say your memory's the second thing to go, I just can't remember what the first thing is.
[ edited by mikes4x4andtruckrepair on Jan 30, 2006 04:33 PM ]
posted on January 30, 2006 06:52:31 PM new
Radio shacks real name is Rent-a-shack as they will "buy" a speaker, mike, Camera, etc use it at a wedding etc and return it.
My wife after over five years threw in the towel on that outfit.
The only defense is check condition very close. This is a pattern that retailers have brought upon themselves. Returns are always with customer volume and rudeness.
Your TOS should be very clear with time limits on returns.
posted on January 30, 2006 08:25:21 PM new
I just got a nasty negative from someone when I stopped being in the mood to play. I've had to fend off 4 of these in the past couple of weeks.
I'm starting to use my ultraviolet pen on EVERYTHING now.
My scientific sample says that the jerk rate has gone from 1% to 8%.
posted on January 30, 2006 08:57:37 PM new
Claude...I got a rather nasty neg yesterday also. I still haven't figured out what his problem is, but if he had emailed me and explained it in a reasonable and rational manner, there is a better than 50% possibility I would have offered him a refund without him even having to ask. Apparently there was some damage he perceived. I don't know if it was caused in transit or not. In any event, he has forfeited any chance of a refund or a damage claim being filed with the carrier. And since he had zero feedback, he is now a -1 which will prevent him from bidding on any auctions where the seller has set his preferences to block -feedback bidders. I told him I'll contact him in the future about how he can restore his feedback score to it's original state. In another case, about 6 months ago, I sold an item to a guy who didn't know how to operate it. Out of the clear blue sky, I get a nasty email demanding a full refund including shipping both ways. He further threatened to turn me in to Ebay and pursue all possible avenues to have me kicked off if I didn't comply with his demand. I calmly replied that if he wasn't happy with the item, he should place it in an area where the sun doesn't shine, and if he threatens me one more time, I will fly to Florida and place it there for him, sideways. Both instances, a buyer immediately slammed the door to any possible cooperation from me simply by acting like the south end of a north bound horse.
If Murphy's law is correct, everything East of the San Andreas Fault will slide into the Atlantic
