Customer contacted me, AFTER purchasing item, as to whether or not it would be delivered by October 1st. I responded that I saw no reason why not. She then came back with that if it couldn’t be delivered by Oct. 1, she would cancel the order. I informed her that I’d be mailing it out Monday a.m., but once the USPS has it, there is no way I could tell her, with absolute certainty, that she would have it in her hands by then (again, I see no reason why not, but things do happen, particularly with the USPS).
I’m not new to selling online (and using various shipping services). I’ve been doing it for almost two decades. But I’ve had customers like her in the past, and, invariably, there are other problems that almost always mysteriously arise. I’d like to hear what others have done in this situation (also, she only just signed up on Bonanza).
Thanks in advance
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Autumn_Offerings Reputation: 40 See Autumn_Offerings' booth |
I’ve seen a lot of complaints about USPS delivery times lately, and since none of it is guaranteed, you are always taking a chance. I’ve never had anyone inquire about a parcel, so I assume they were delivered on time.
Maybe send one last inquiry, letting her know that it will be shipped on the 21st and the USPS estimate is xx days (give the longest), but the USPS does not guarantee any dates and you have heard of delays in certain areas lately. Remind her that you cannot guarantee a delivery time and does she prefer to cancel?
Put the ball squarely in her court. If she says go ahead, knowing it possibly won’t arrive, she doesn’t have a leg to stand on and any future complaint shows that you absolutely did not guarantee anything and she said go ahead.
If she does start to inquire closer to the date, if the parcel hasn’t arrived, tell her to mark it refused and return to you unopened. Once it comes back, intact and undamaged, you will refund item price only. Shipping cost has been spent.
Either that, or just refund right off the bat and tell her since you cannot guarantee a delivery date, you don’t want an unhappy customer. Sometimes people will back down when you call their bluff.
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BookbinEtc Reputation: 1322 See BookbinEtc's booth |
I would ship it, by all means, with a tracking number so you can verify delivery date. I would agree with you that it sounds suspicious. I would put the ball in the buyers hands, if you can’t guarantee delivery by that date, do they still want the item. A lost sale is better than the possibility of losing even more through litigation.
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loves_birds Reputation: 2047 See loves_birds' booth |
2 Comments
I don’t trust USPS. I’ve had a lot of trouble with the USPS. I try to ship with UPS or FedEx whenever possible. It cost a little more, but you have more of a piece of mind. I’ve only had problems with UPS not getting the item delivered on time, and that was expediated, but that was when the country was under all the snow. I had problems with the USPS twice on the same item, and customer never did receive their merchandise.
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chestoftreasures Reputation: 159 See chestoftreasures' booth |
Unless the item is going outside of the USA, the USPS Priority mail will get it to them in 1-3 business days (if shipping Priority mail is cost effective for you). I have had very good luck with using USPS with only 1 lost package in over 1000 shipped. Things even seem to move along over the weekends even though the PO is not open once it is placed in their hands. Mail it and EMAIL them the tracking number so they can see the progress along the way.
On the other side of the fence, I do hate customers (or the auction site) that think that I have complete control of their package after it has left my hands and placed in the hands of the shipper. Like THEY can control the weather and delays along the way better than the shipper (and you). The customer sounds too demanding on things that you (and they) cant control. Good Luck!
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Atomicdiner Reputation: 1902 See Atomicdiner's booth |
3 Comments
I agree with what others have said here. For me personally, I would rather go without the sale, because we can not absolutely guarantee when something will arrive. Plus, I think you need to factor in your experience with this buyer – myself I would cancel the transaction.
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eclecticwares Reputation: 16 See eclecticwares' booth |
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