Sunday, September 19, 2010

When sales go wrong...

I was checking my email account yesterday afternoon and had received the magical message from Folksy to say I'd sold an item, followed by the even more magical email saying my buyer had paid for it.

The item in question was one of my amigurumi patterns, so, as stated in the listing, I sent an email with the pattern PDF. Then a short time later came a message from the buyer saying they'd thought they were buying the finished object rather than the pattern and they should have read the listing properly.

I responded to their message asking if they would like a refund, and they replied that would be nice but not necessary as it was their mistake. I decided to give a refund, and amended my listing to make it clearer (here is the listing - I added the red text, the rest of the description is the same).

Now maybe I've done myself out of a legitimate sale, but I figure it's better to have someone think "Hey, people on Folksy are nice" and tell their friends about a good experience rather than have them think "Huh, I'm never shopping on Folksy again".

So, did I do the right thing? What would you have done?

5 comments:

  1. I would have done the same thing you did, I had a bad experiance once with a buyer who paid for a hat - wore the hat - two weeks later I recieved an email telling me she had lost the hat while shopping and asked for a refund!! I politely told her that a refund for her loosing the hat would not happen, but I would make again the same hat at a reduced price as I knew she really loved the hat and was heartbroken at loosing it - I think you have a very good business head :)

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  2. thanks Neen - can't believe someone wanted a refund for a lost hat, crazy!

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  3. You did the right thing - you must have been disappointed though!

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  4. That's interesting Neen - would that person have gone back to M&S and asked for a refund because they lost the hat they'd bought there?
    It was generous of you to refund on the pattern, Claire and I'd have done the same though it is very clear it's a pattern.

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  5. I think you did the right thing - I always think if you do everything to please customers, even if it was their fault then they will be more likely to come back and not be put off. I've made mistakes before when buying - it is so easy to do!

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