To refund, or not refund?

K

Kiopa_Matt

Banned
May 13, 2011
5,216
52
0
Do you guys ever get customers coming to you 6 or 8 months after purchase, requesting a refund? Do you provide it? I have absolutely no issues providing a full refund within the 30 day window, and have done so several times. But come on, 8 months after purchase, 4 months since your last support communication?

Problem is, if you don't provide the refund, there's a chance they could get pissy, and take their grievances public. That's happened too. 6 months after purchase, some guy pops in demanding a full refund, I decide to be a nice guy, and give him 35%. It was meant as a "shut up" fee, but didn't work, because sure enough he took his grievances public, which now rank #2 on Google, and cost me a whole lot more in sales than the refund would have.

I don't have a problem issuing refunds, but come on, 8 months? And in my mind, if I provide one refund after 8 months, then I have to extend the refund policy from 30 to 240 days for all customers, which I don't really want to do. What do you guys do in this situation?
 


Would you rather have the money... or an unhappy customer? In all honesty, I believe businesses that just honor the refund, even though they don't need to, get massive points for doing so.
 
Garrett said:
Would you rather have the money... or an unhappy customer? In all honesty, I believe businesses that just honor the refund, even though they don't need to, get massive points for doing so.
Click to expand...

But where's the cut-off point? If someone comes to me say 14 months after purchase requesting a refund, because they found themselves in financial difficulty and are trying to raise some money, should I provide it?

Or what happens if a quality open-source solution shows up in the market, wipes me out, and everyone who's purchased within the past 16 months decides they'd now like a refund. Should I give them one?

And again, if you do it for one customer, you have to do it for all customers, and I don't want to offer a lifetime refund policy.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
But where's the cut-off point? If someone comes to me say 14 months after purchase requesting a refund, because they found themselves in financial difficulty and are trying to raise some money, should I provide it?
Click to expand...

Kiopa_Matt said:
because sure enough he took his grievances public, which now rank #2 on Google, and cost me a whole lot more in sales than the refund would have.
Click to expand...

Like I said, would you rather have the money...or an unhappy customer? That is the decision you need to make.

If you just refund the person, they are far more likely to turn into a cheerleader as opposed to slamming you. I think in your case, the only way refunds would be an issue is you have a high refund rate to begin with?
 
You should just provide his refund over an 8 month period.

EDIT: FYI i tried to find his complaint of your software based off what you've mentioned here, and using a couple keyword searchs etc I couldn't find it.

Soooooo thats good.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
But where's the cut-off point? If someone comes to me say 14 months after purchase requesting a refund, because they found themselves in financial difficulty and are trying to raise some money, should I provide it?

Or what happens if a quality open-source solution shows up in the market, wipes me out, and everyone who's purchased within the past 16 months decides they'd now like a refund. Should I give them one?

And again, if you do it for one customer, you have to do it for all customers, and I don't want to offer a lifetime refund policy.
Click to expand...

What % of customers ask for a refund after 6 months? My guess: less than 1%

Some people are really stupid. Sounds like this guy is part of that minority. Stupid people can either be appeased or they can hurt your biz.
 
So let me get this straight. Some guy (who ranks shit for a living) is unhappy with your product for whatever reason and is asking for a refund. You then decide ah fuckit I will give him a partial refund and see what happens. Guy gets pissed at your insulting refund and goes on a crusade and out hustles you. Which all results in your loosing $1000's in overpriced software sales everyday.

Assuming I have understood you correctly, why would you need to ask when to give a refund? The answer is anytime not giving one could potentially disrupt your business. Could be a week it could be 5 years. If you get involved from the start and dont do stupid things like issue a partial refund you can avoid many problems.

You have to remember your customers are very astute web savvy people who rank shit for a living.
 
Always give a refund. It doesn't matter if they're right or wrong. If not giving the guy a refund 2 months, 8 months or 2 years later is going to cost you more then it would to just process the refund then swallow your pride and do it. Too much money to be lost by not doing so.
 
As shitty as it is, there is no principle to be had here. You can't factor time into the equation whether or not you should refund.

Just like the guys above me, which is more valuable/detrimental?
- The money lost on the refund
- The potential future losses from an unhappy customer

If you don't think the guy can impact your business much, fuck-em. Otherwise, pay em and hope Karma comes around.
 
Just give him the refund.

All it takes is 1 batshit crazy customer w/ too much time on their hands to put a dent in your sales.
 
In online business, always factor in your refunds. Include them in your pricing to cover your losses. Remember customer is king coz they can either fuck your reputation, chargeback which could lead to merchant account issues and what not.

Better pay that poor fuck than loosing thousand of sales.
 
Kiopa_Matt said:
Problem is, if you don't provide the refund, there's a chance they could get pissy, and take their grievances public. That's happened too. 6 months after purchase, some guy pops in demanding a full refund, I decide to be a nice guy, and give him 35%. It was meant as a "shut up" fee, but didn't work, because sure enough he took his grievances public, which now rank #2 on Google, and cost me a whole lot more in sales than the refund would have.
Click to expand...

I believe you answered your own question.
 
Give the refund.
Based on your own experience, you really shouldn't have to ask the question.
You don't need to update your refund policy as this is an exceptional case.
Just give the refund and move on.
 
Alright, I'll give the guy a refund. It's not the money, but just the principle of the matter. Purchases 8 months ago, no communication for 4 months, then shows up out of the blue requesting a refund. So I'm assuming he's just hurting for cash, and trying to dig some up wherever he can.

What an ass. Really, who requests refunds after 8 months? I can't even remember what I bought 8 months ago, let alone remember it enough to request a refund for it.
 
I think the refund is also a good idea in the long run, but would require a reason with the request.

You guys are basically saying give a refund for any reason, no matter what. I'm not sure i disagree, but that shit just sucks. This guy's business needs change so he can just get his money back, after using the product, making money, for 8 months?

Don't you think there need to be some guidelines for returns that are 6+months old??
 
mpbiz said:
Just give him the refund.

All it takes is 1 batshit crazy customer w/ too much time on their hands to put a dent in your sales.
Click to expand...

This. I've dealt with and have been that customer from hell. Someone caught me in a bad mood the other day and I made sure my complaint ranked for his business name as well as his personal name. It literally took me less than 30 minutes; and he'll have to pay $1000s in reputation management to get it bumped down; if they are able to. (the guy deserved it... but that isn't the point; all it takes is for someone to 'feel' you deserve it)

Unless that refund accounts for a significant % of your earnings and you are in a short term business model. But anything long term and where the refund is a small percent of your profit; give it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom