Customer got over on me by asking for a refund after the product was shipped

[MoreVolume]

A customer purchased one of my products on Sunday night. I shipped it off to him this morning. He was notified that the product was shipped, plus he was given a tracking number. About an hour ago (late Monday night) he emailed me asking for a refund. Of course I refunded him his money.

I was planning on having customers return the packaging to me in order to get a refund, but I don't want to do that until I get a PO Box.
Until then, how could I go about making sure that this doesn't happen again?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[RazorCut]

What sales platform? Personally I have never given a refund if a 'customer' has requested a refund after receiving a shipping notification but before receiving the item, and I've shipped well over 100,000 orders in my eCommerce days. Usually its a polite 'no problem, just return the unopened product and as soon as we receive it we can process your refund'.

If the cost/profit is minor then it can make financial sense to let them keep the product and refund without incurring the return shipping costs and also shows goodwill. However there are lots of 'customers' out there that try to get away with murder and I don't see why these people should get away with it.

 

[Fresco]

Refund after receiving product unopened. Depending on what product you have and your sales channel will affect your refund policy and how you should handle returns.

 

[oimate]

As for the case in hand-i would just email this guy saying you will refund once you receive the product back-Nothing unreasonable about this

Without wanting to hijack thir thread I have a refund quuery of my own-I sold a product a week ago and informed customer it would be dispatched last saturday-I was waiting on one item to arrive that made up the kit. Product arrived and they sent the wrong one! Meaning a min 3 day delay in dispatch.

So far I admit to lousy customer service for this customer and tempted to refund him as its been stupidly long to ship product.

Profit only about £40 but accept he'd prob never buy from me again(probably wont anyways)

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[RazorCut]

As for the case in hand-i would just email this guy saying you will refund once you receive the product back-Nothing unreasonable about this

Without wanting to hijack thir thread I have a refund quuery of my own-I sold a product a week ago and informed customer it would be dispatched last saturday-I was waiting on one item to arrive that made up the kit. Product arrived and they sent the wrong one! Meaning a min 3 day delay in dispatch.

So far I admit to lousy customer service for this customer and tempted to refund him as its been stupidly long to ship product.

Profit only about £40 but accept he'd prob never buy from me again(probably wont anyways)

Call the customer and speak to them personally. Explain the situation and apologise. Tell them you want to do what's best for them and ask how they would like to proceed. Tell them you are sending them a freebie regardless as you are feeling terrible for letting them down.

I've done this in the past and it often produces a loyal customer. In fact some have even become good, longtime friends.

The personal touch is so much better than playing email ping-pong if you are sincere in wanting to do what's best for your customer.

 

[MoreVolume]

What sales platform? Personally I have never given a refund if a 'customer' has requested a refund after receiving a shipping notification but before receiving the item, and I've shipped well over 100,000 orders in my eCommerce days. Usually its a polite 'no problem, just return the unopened product and as soon as we receive it we can process your refund'.

If the cost/profit is minor then it can make financial sense to let them keep the product and refund without incurring the return shipping costs and also shows goodwill. However there are lots of 'customers' out there that try to get away with murder and I don't see why these people should get away with it.

I use Shopify. I actually kept the shipping which covered the shipping and production of the product, so its not a total loss.
I should've planned for this situation, and looking back on things, i def shouldn't have sent the refund until he sent the package back, but im not too bummed about it. Its a learning experience, and I will just adjust and keep rolling.