What Would You Do

What Would You Do?

09/22/06

Return To Online Bookselling Home Page

Since many of you already know I am always here to help you and do my best to provide very timely responses to your questions, I am going to trust that you will understand my frustration in the following scenario that I am going to describe. At the same time, I think it is important to share this, particularly with all of you that are new to online bookselling because this is an extreme case that will give you an idea of just how obnoxious and unreasonable some customers can be.

Before you read the story I am telling below, I want you to know that this is the first time I have ever refused a customer a refund, but the circumstances of the situation are such that I really have no other alternative based first on principle and second on the fact that a credit card chargeback is involved which would also cost me an undeserved penalty on the order of $25.

On June 10, I had a customer purchase my book and software CD combination (limited first printing & autographed).

Two days ago, September 20, the same customer sent me an email and informed me they had mailed the book and software CD back to me and also told me they had filed a complaint and dispute with their credit card company claiming, the software CD was unusable and kept telling them it was Read Only, and that the book was outdated with only 218 pages instead of the current book which is 228 pages.

Facts:

1) Only 218 of the 228 pages in the book have numbers, but the book is 228 ages. As with any other book in existence, the blank page at the beginning and end of a book have numbers and are included in the page count even if a number is not printed on them, and I also included a few pages for notes at the end of my book.

2) If in fact the CD is telling her that it is Read Only, it is because she does not have a recent enough version of Microsoft Excel to access it. I made it very clear on the order page and other pages on my website what version was required.

3) This customer waited over 90 days to make any kind of contact with me regarding either the book or the software, and without discussing the situation with me at all, she filed a dispute and has put the book and CD in the mail to me.

4) Per this customer's email address, she is an online bookseller.

What the dispute looks like to me:

1) This buyer apparently cannot read very well as she obviously missed the requirements I posted for the software. Hence, if she cannot read, she probably shouldn't be an online bookseller.

2) As an online bookseller, she obviously has some understanding about how to manipulate the system and wants me to give her a refund.

3) I want to emphasize that ordinarily I am very customer oriented, but the email I got from this particular customer was not only rude, it was presumptuous and obnoxious. In fact, it was the most disturbing customer response I have gotten from any customer in my five years of online bookselling.

4) Based on ALL of the other customer feedback I have received on my book and the few reviews that have been written on Amazon, I have to attribute this one incident to not being able to please everybody. Under ordinary circumstances I would simply refund this customer and move on, but she pushed one too many of my buttons and I plan to contest her dispute and deny her refund.

As an online bookseller herself, she has to learn that:

1) To wait more than 90 days to mention anything while retaining the book and software is unacceptable.

2) It is unacceptable to send someone an email with an accusatory tone without any prior attempt to make contact or resolve an issue.

3) It is unacceptable to file a chargeback dispute with a credit card company without contacting a seller to see if other resolution can be worked out first.

4) It is unacceptable for buyers or sellers to be judgmental and jump to conclusions without facts or any dialog.

This particular buyer must really be illiterate to not be able to read the posted Microsoft Excel requirements, totally in the dark to not know how to determine the number of pages a book has, and I didn't mention it before, but when she initially wanted to purchase the paperback version, she had to place orders for both versions (CD-ROM and paperback) and ask me to refund her for the CD-ROM book because she couldn't read the order instructions.

So, now you know how I intend to handle this particular situation, if you would like to share your thoughts I would like to hear them.

Incidentally, as wound-up as I got after hearing from this particular customer, I got the following email from another customer and it was really appreciated - it couldn't have been timed better.

Hi Mike.

I just finished reading your book . . . for the 3^rd time in one week! You've got me hooked! I went book hunting for the first time this past weekend and came home with about 30 books. I sold 9 of them within 48 hours.

I love your idea of starting the process over again and sharing your new experiences with us readers.

I'm looking forward to seeing your first newsletter. I just added myself to your mailing list.

Thanks,

G Michael R.

Thank You for this email G. Michael R., now you can understand the email I sent you in return saying that you couldn't have timed your message to me better!

You are visitor:

Hit Counter

To This Page

Thank You For Visiting

Look Up Any Book On

Amazon.com, Just Click

Icon Below