part custom printed item returns

[DS Designs]

Hi all,

I would appreciate some advice on this.......
One of my websites I have club shop pages where the members of the particular club can purchase merchandise with their club logo on. All items are printed once sold. A guy ordered and paid for an iPhone 4 case Friday just gone, it was printed over the weekend and posted this morning, I received an email after it was posted saying he wanted to cancel the order. Now if I hadn't printed the item then there wouldn't have been a problem, but not sure what to do now. It only has a club logo printed on it (no personalisation like a name etc...) so it could be re sold I guess...Do I accept the return or not?. There was no error in printing, he just wants to cancel the order.

Any advice gratefully received

Dave

[smitch6]

i think as a good will gesture i'd refund him the purchase price only not the postage tho as he left it too late and it was posted.

as you say you can always re-sell it
if it was personalised then i'd say no sorry all orders are final

[Martinx]

If you don't already have this, It might be worth including something in a 'Cancellations and Returns' policy on your site.

I'm with smitch, it's important to keep the customers happy (through gritted teeth) as you never know if they will return or recommend

[DS Designs]

Thanks guys......your advice is appreciated

Dave

[logobear]

There are 'distance selling' rules that you should look at.
basically anything ordered on line has a 7 day grace period when the customer can just change their mind, but there are exceptions... notable fresh flowers, and custom made items, - like printed photos, mugs, canvas wraps etc. I don't know if you make it clear that you are custom printing..... otherwise you must refund.
Memo to self, - must revise on these rules myself !

[mrs maggot]

have this a lot, if its just the club i always take it back, if its been personalised then no, but just the club - you cant afford not to. also it was ordered on a working day, and cancelled on a working day - so maybe he was not expecting you to print over the weekend - just a thought, the other thing i would do is set up an auto email when you receive an order, where you send it back to them - confirm spelling design whatever, and then tell them they must confirm it back to you before the order will go ahead, that can help with personalised items

[JSR]

There are 'distance selling' rules that you should look at.
basically anything ordered on line has a 7 day grace period when the customer can just change their mind, but there are exceptions... notable fresh flowers, and custom made items, - like printed photos, mugs, canvas wraps etc. I don't know if you make it clear that you are custom printing..... otherwise you must refund.
Memo to self, - must revise on these rules myself !

I've made this clear on my website from day one. Looking at the DSRs was one of my first priorities for this very reason.

It's not going to matter too much if it's one item and, as a goodwill gesture I might refund it anyway - but if someone wants to cancel 100+ order of something, then it would get expensive.

[JSR]

then tell them they must confirm it back to you before the order will go ahead, that can help with personalised items

I find the trouble with this is that they often use hotmail/gmail email accounts and emails either end up in their spam box, rejected, or the customer just doesn't check their email for days (because it's not their real personal email addy - only one they use for online buying to avoid spam on their personal email addy).

The result is that, a few days later, you get an email from an irate customer asking when they can expect their order because they wanted them by the weekend. :rolleyes:

[mrs maggot]

mmmm, not had that yet, i am lucky i guess, if i dont get it back they have normally filled out the phone number, and i just call that and check.

[JSR]

mmmm, not had that yet, i am lucky i guess, if i dont get it back they have normally filled out the phone number, and i just call that and check.

With BT's prices being 8p per minute plus 13p call set-up charge, a couple of phone calls like that and that's your profit up the spout... :biggrin: :biggrin: