How We Avoided A $1,900 Refund Request

1 week ago 2

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Refund requests happen, so let’s talk about a recent $1,900 refund request and how we handled it.

We recently shared about a pizza dough press that we sold. When the buyer received it, they said it was not working right. Before listing the item, I had checked that the temperature was working, and made sure everything was heating up. I checked it with my temperature gun and saw the gauge, and I even took a video of it.

What happened was that when you lift these pizza dough presses, they’re supposed to lock into place or have springs that hold it up and then you press it down and it releases the spring and presses on the dough itself. I didn’t know that. When the buyer received it, they said “Hey, this is not working right. I can’t hold it in the air and pull the pizza press out. Please advise what to do.”

Responding To A Refund Request

We don’t get a lot of refund requests, and if we do, it’s usually because something is broken in shipping. In this case it was not, it was missing two springs that hold the arm. I don’t make pizza and I don’t own a pizza shop, so I had no idea about this and it really was my fault. I should have looked into it a little bit further to make sure nothing was missing on it.

This is where you can go into different directions on a refund request. When they first contacted me, they were upset and used multiple exclamation points. Instead of jumping right in, I stopped to think for a second. Don’t just jump right in. You can change the outcome by waiting and getting more information.

I was very apologetic and asked if something was damaged in shipping and how it showed up. They sent me a picture of underneath the arm and it looked like something was missing.

I was polite and apologetic and said I had no idea something was missing and that was an item I had not personally used. I said, “Let me pull up the diagram and see if I can find something is missing.” They let me do that and I saw that two springs were missing.

I said absolutely, I will take care of this, something was missing.

How Did I Fix The Refund Request?

I found out which springs were needed and they were $40 a piece. I had sold this press for $1,900, so I knew I had room to buy these springs, but I didn’t know if they have the capabilities of being able to install these springs.

The next day, I wrote back, “So sorry again for the inconvenience. I found the springs. I already ordered them. They will be here by the end of the week. I will forward them onto you once I get them. But I also would like to give you a $250 refund on this item to help you once you get the springs, to get them installed. Hopefully you can find a local repair shop, appliance repair shop that will install them for you.”

They wrote back and said it was more than fair and their whole demeanor changed and they were very appreciative.

Why I Agreed To A Partial Refund?

Now, I didn’t have to give them $250 back, but I’ll share my thought process on how this helped the return request.

It was a $1,900 sale and took a little less than $350 to right this whole situation. I had paid around $270 on shipping. If it would’ve been a return, I would’ve had to eat the shipping on this and then also the shipping back, which would’ve been over $500 and then I would have the item back.

Now, I had that decision. Do I want to do that or do I want to try to make this right and make the buyer happy, and, you know, make the situation right? Because it was my fault all around. For this situation, it was the right thing to do.

We seldom get a return request because when people are spending large amounts of money on these specialty items, they usually want them and they want them to work.

If you get a refund request, don’t panic. Don’t jump right in and issue it. Dig to the root of the problem, ask questions, and think of a solution that works. Everything can be figured out.