Difficult Customers! HELP ME:(

[Former_Member]

I need your opinions on something please... I have this customer at one of my other stores that is starting to drive me crazy. Don't get me wrong- I am all about pleasing my customers and making them happy but this situation is getting ridiculous. It started out when she kept wanted me to "hold" numerous items for her , so I would make reserved listings to her liking and she was constantly changing her mind- I was changing my listings so much I was getting sooo confused! She had me reserve at least 20 items for her and 2 weeks after all of this hassle , she only ended up purchasing 4 of the items. (a sale is a sale I guess I can't complain too much). So I sent them out to her immediately, along with 2 freebies and she was very happy. Now she says that they are all broken and falling apart and she wants a refund and store credit to make her happy. I have no problem doing one or the other- but I am finding it hard to believe that all of these things are actually broken. I put my items through what I like to call a Quinn test before I ship them out. I let my 15 month old hold them and if they can make it through his rough play then I know they will hold up for anything. I have a feeling that she's just trying to get all of her items for free and I'm being taken advantage of. I'm scared that if I don't do what she wants she will leave bad feedback and thats the last thing that I want in my store. Does anyone have any advice on how to deal with this nightmare customer?? I'm really stressing about it!!
All opinions are welcome:) Thank you for listening!
P.S. I have read her feedback that she left to other sellers and its horrible. This girl has no mercy- please help!
Jen

[JustForGiggles]

"Dear Ms.--- feel free to return the items and I will be sure to offer you a refund as soon as they have arrived,"

THEN, if she Ever returns them or has the nerve to bother you for ANY other reason,
"Dear Ms.---- I'm sorry but I don't think that I can offer you the time that you require due to personal reasons."

done and DONE!!! but i don't think you'll be getting your stuff back ;~)

I've gently declined service before. I can't allow one person to make me hate what I do!!!

[Former_Member]

I think it would be fair to offer one or the other but not both - that would mean she came out with more than what she purchased which is not a plausible idea. Personally I would give her store credit and a "loyal customer" (give it a positive name that way she interprets it to be helpful) coupon if she spends more than a certain amount. So if you refunded 25 - tell her she can have 25% off 50 or more - that way you are still selling and making a profit, moving inventory, and nobody (even a grouch) can resist coupons! Plus being a seller and buyer - if someone has OVERWHELMINGLY good feedback - one bad apple doesn't hurt the mix.

Good luck!!

[Davs]

I wouldn't refund until the item is returned to you. Sorry you have to deal with this!

[Davs]

*Of course depending on what the item is worth and how much having good feedback is worth to you, in some cases it might be best to just refund and hope the customer doesn't return in the future. You can also always say that you can either refund OR do the in store credit but doing both is not financially feasible for you with apologies for any inconvenience she has experienced. :/

[Chymiera]

Hey Brighteyes, PM me , I may have dealt with this customer before, sounds familiar, but I wont call out.
:)

But in the chance its not the same person, I would let her know you will give her a full refund plus whatever it cost for her to ship back the items once you have received them. That way she is out nothing.

[RebeccasSoapDeli]

I'd have her take photos of the items and send you the pics of the damage and/or return them before even considering a refund.

[Former_Member]

Cancel the sale. Then she can't leave bad FB.

[Former_Member]

Kind of ChYMieRa to refund the shipping, too - but this isn't LL Bean or The Gap! The sellers on Etsy are individual people and it sounds like she's been through the wringer already with this high maintenance customer.

In the future, you can offer in your shop announcement 3 holds per customer and in your returns description state that 'this shop accepts returns of merchandise not fitting the listing's description that has not been subjected to unusual wear and tear.' I think that will cover the bases and it wouldn't hurt to put up some guidelines during your ordeal with this customer so she can reference your new policies.

Ask her to take pictures of the items and show you what is unsatisfactory about them. But I wouldn't offer a refund until you get the product back in hand.

[Davs]

Be careful about cancelling a sale, there is still a 24 hour (if not longer) period before the sale actually gets cancelled in which time she can still leave feedback.

[Former_Member]

Make sure you have a policy on holds, 20 items is a lot to expect. A refund and a store credit is too much to ask. It's too bad shops can get "blackmailed" by someone leaving feedback. It would be great if Etsy had a feature where you could respond to someones feedback. Sorry you are going through this.

[Chymiera]

littleeyedesigns says
Kind of ChYMieRa to refund the shipping, too - but this isn't LL Bean or The Gap! The sellers on Etsy are individual people and it sounds like she's been through the wringer already with this high maintenance customer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

so true! I meant to clarify that if the items were indeed broken as the buyer suggest, that this would be something considering.
Good customer service.
However, once the items were received & appears nothing is wrong, I would simply cancel the sale give her a refund of just the purchase price of the listing minus any restocking fee and be done with it.

I once had a customer order 2 stacking bands(that were custom ordered per size), when she got them, she emailed me saying she wanted a full refund and was sending the rings back - no reason as to why. So when i asked she said they were too tight, I suggested that I resize them, nope she wanted her money back. I told her I didnt refund custom orders unless there was something very wrong from our end, which also states this in our shop policies. Long story short- she kept them. I think she just ran into financial problems and needed the money, but I could be wrong.

But- If there had been a mistake on my part, she would have gotten a full refund including shipping, why should someone pay for shipping on someone else mistake? I wouldnt.

xo

[Chymiera]

latherandlotions says
It would be great if Etsy had a feature where you could respond to someones feedback.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

good idea, I also wish Etsy would give us the feature to block other users.

[Former_Member]

I think having the items shipped back and refunded would be best. If you give her new items she might say they break in a few weeks too. Best to be done with it. Good luck!

[Former_Member]

Thank you all for your wonderful advice:) I told her that I can only refund OR do an exchange- not both. She is taking her sweet time making her decision, I just wish this nightmare was over with. And I totally agree with ChYMieRa, Etsy should have a feature to block users! I don't want her to come back:(

[SherryKayDesigns]

brighteyessupplies,

I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this and I hope you can get it resolved soon. Thank you for posting this question and I see you have received wonderful advice & tips. This hasn't happened to me, but I've heard of other shops being taken advantage of by certain customers. There are con-artists out there and I guess it's just another thing we have to worry about happening to us. I really hope it all works out to your advantage and peace of mind. Good luck to you!

Sherry

[Former_Member]

I must agree you should offer full return upon receipt of the 'broken' items! Then take an advice from someone who suffered - always ask for a down payment when you make reserved listings, say 25% to be sure the person will buy what they say they will!

Let us know how it works out!

[Created2Inspire]

also be careful that everthing you say to her cannot be twisted around to be used against you... I had a customer take what
I said, twist it around, take it out of context and made me sound like a bitch and post it on the feedback, and not want to "kiss and make up" so that is a neg feedback that
I cannot do anything about... I havent had a sale in a month since she did that... good luck

[Former_Member]

I definitely agree - giving a refund OR store credit is fair enough if the items are faulty, but I would not refund until the customer has returned the goods to you. If the items are faulty then it's for your benefit too - I know if it was my items, I would want to inspect them to see exactly what had happened so I could prevent it next time.

Good luck, I hope you get it resolved!

[Former_Member]

I can't add any more advice, but I added your shop to my favorites so I can find you when I need supplies again. I hope that cheers you up. Your stuff is really cute.

[Former_Member]

Yes, have her send the items back and you will offer a full refund at that time. If they really are broken that sucks but if they aren't then she'll just have to suck it up. She sounds pretty awful. Also I don't do holds unless it's a regular customer that I know and trust. Otherwise I tell people if it's meant to be it'll still be there when ever they are ready.
I do not want this customer by the way!! LOL
XO

[Former_Member]

ChYMieRa hit the nail on the head - sometimes customers change their minds because rent or mortgage time comes around and they're like 'oh! woops! maybe if I make a big stink they'll send me my Paypal pmt back'

Which is a pretty faulty method since it takes a few days for Paypal to transfer money anyways... :)

It sounds like you did the right thing. Her good sweet time in deciding what to do sounds like she realized that you're not a pushover, that you are, indeed, a business, and aren't going to flip hand over foot to fulfill unreasonable expectations!

I've only ever worked in food service... can't IMAGINE what it would be like to work retail!! lol

[TrueRebelClothing]

I think I have had her, be very careful about what you say to her as everything was wrong when I had a situation like this. Goodluck to you and so sorry you have this happening

[wayfarervintage]

I used to sell on eBay and I was always furious that eBay stepped in on behalf of the buyer; never the seller. But in a case like this, I wonder if you state well in your Shop Policies what littleeyedesigns suggests above, then does Etsy cover you? Support you? If you didn't have the Policy clearly stated (no returns or whatever) then you don't have much to stand on. Just try to rid yourself of this buyer by blocking them from future purchases and if she leaves neg feedback, so be it. Learn from the experience. You did nothing wrong except to sell to her and you didn't know how difficult this buyer would be.

I empathize with you. It's maddening!

[JudyStalus]

Personally, unless there was a lot of money involved I would refund her money just to get her out of my hair. I would not accept any future purchases from her though.
Also I don't do reserved listings for people, they can purchase or not when they are ready. It doesn't come up in this shop since my photos are not ooak but in my knit shop, especially in the busy fall season, I would never set any items aside for one buyer. I can't afford to miss other sales.