To return or not to return?

[Former_Member]

Good morning,
I would so appreciate your thoughts on this. I had a customer email me this morning about a pillow she bought from me and would now like to return. She says she loves the pillow and tried to make it work but the white cotton clashes with the taupe of her chair. It was delivered on the 24th of January and she said it is in unused excellent condition.

My policies state that I want my customers to be happy and so I would gladly accept returns within a week of them receiving the item, minus shipping of course. So at this point we are outside of that but I also want my customers to be happy and not leave negative reviews, you know?

What would you do?

Thanks so much!
Megan

[Former_Member]

Allow her to return, she pays return shipping. If when you get it back it is in good condition, then you can do as you feel best...refund all her money including the new shipping or just refund the item cost. It depends on how YOU want to run your business and give customer service. Some will tell you to refund it all to keep a happy customer and others just refund the item cost. In this case, I would allow a return even though the time has expired.

Consider these questions: Is it truly a poor match or is this buyer's remorse? Did life just get in the way for your buyer and the time limit expired for contacting you? Did you send the buyer swatches first, so its her own darn fault? Lastly, how would you expect to be treated as a buyer in this case?

[UrbanCoutureJewelry]

I agree with Sandy, allow her to return. I too have a 7 day window but I will allow returns if the buyer feels the item is not functional.

[RayOfLightJewels]

Since a person or pet might sleep on a pillow or otherwise get germs on it, I would say no returns in the future. Kinda like taking back underpants.

That's the nurse in me talking. If you can't wash the whole thing I wouldn't feel right about reselling it.

I haven't looked at your shop yet. Some people just sell the pillow cover, which could be washed and I would offer returns in that case and accommodate a nice person if they are just outside the deadline. I figure most policies are written to protect yourself from jerks. You could also point out that he is outside the timeline and offer an exchange or store credit.

[TremoughGlass]

I also agree with Sandy. I would bend on the timing issue and ask the customer to return the item and when you get it you I would refund the cost or cost and shipping if the item is in an unused and clean condition (which should be fairly easy to ascertain). In my experience most customers are genuine and not at all 'jerks' :)

[Former_Member]

I think it is right to offer a refund in this situation. I would likely not offer to refund the original shipping cost or the cost for her to return it to you. The customer must understand that you can't absorb the shipping costs as well just for them to try an item out in their own environment.
As a small business it is important to offer great customer service and flexibility, but provide refunds on shipping when there was nothing wrong with the product. Large retailers will not typically refund shipping either.

[RayOfLightJewels]

Just to clarify, I wasn't saying your customer is a jerk. I mean that I am very flexible with policies unless someone is being rude and nasty. That's when your policies are helpful. Since this lady is being nice I would help her out. Who knows, she might be back in the future.