One of the constant tips and tricks that you see all the experts going on about is that you have to have excellent customer service in order to foster a successful business. Especially if you want to have repeat customers.
And, while that is mostly true, how much customer service is too much? How forgiving can you possibly be before it’s too much? Should you forgive every transgression? Every bypass of policy? If you don’t stop somewhere, what’s the point of having policies in the first place?
An example. I recently sold a camera with a lens that wouldn’t autofocus. I knew that it wouldn’t autofocus. I tested the camera with a lens that I knew worked, and it worked fine. So, the lens itself had the issue. I listed the camera with the lens (I could have easily just listed the camera) and clearly stated in the auction description that the lens would not autofocus, so any focusing would have to be done manually. No problem.
About a week after the item sold, and shipped, I get a message from the buyer. In short, he can’t believe that I would sell a camera that doesn’t work. It won’t autofocus! My return policy is pretty simple. If the item doesn’t perform as advertised, I refund the money. No questions asked. However, in this case, it performed exactly as I described. Exactly. I pointed out to the buyer that the auction description clearly stated that the autofocus would not work on the lens, but that it was only the lens and the camera was fine.
In return, the buyer admitted to not having read the description. But, still only claimed to be half at fault. I’ve done the same thing. And when I have, I know it was my fault if I didn’t get what I wanted. At further expense to myself, I could have let the buyer return the camera, and resold the camera. Hopefully, to someone who would bother to read the description of what they were buying. But, I won’t. Because, there is nothing wrong with the camera as advertised. Very few merchants will take an item back for return just because the buyer bought something that was exactly as the box stated.
Am I wrong? Should I have refunded the camera or a portion of the price for the sake of customer service? I don’t think so, but maybe you have a different opinion. My thoughts are that if you don’t read the description, it’s not my fault if you end up with a Microwave antenna instead of a microwave oven.
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June 2nd, 2010 at 1:25 pm
I think the key thing to remember here is that the customer is usually right!
August 18th, 2010 at 5:29 am
not at all. some customers were very demanding. nothing’s wrong with that, but once it’s done the abusive way, that’s the end of the line!