How do you handle refund requests?

I'm going to slide a question of my own into this thread as it relates to refunds/demos. I'm currently having an issue with a customer who purchased an item that offers a free demo (which my transaction history shows she did not take), she then sent me a notecard stating she was unhappy with some of the shading in the product. I went into photoshop and re-did it to what she was describing her issue with it was. I then sent her that copy, as well as another free item in another tone to see if it was more of what she wanted. She waited a couple days and sent another notecard that she still was not satisfied with it.

She has been totally nice, and I do appreciate feedback on my items...however, at the same time I don't know what to do in the long run because I can't spend hours in photoshop every few days adjusting something for her that a demo was offered for. I've sold this product to multiple dozens of people with no issues. I'm trying to offer the best customer service as possible, but at the same time I'm throwing my hands up and asking myself "What else does she expect me to do?". Again, she didn't try the demo that is offered, so have I already done enough or should I continue to work with her until she's happy?

I would explain to her that you do have demos and she should have tried one first

and that you have tried to redo it to make it so she likes it but it seems it will not meet her requirements, and explain it could be differences in video cards or some such thing. Then tell her that there is nothing more you can do and suggest that she look for demo's in the future (in any place she may shop) and if she continues to im you about being unhappy, offer a refund, keep the customer as happy as you can

If all that fails chalk it up to a bad experience and move on

I would not put any more time into it, cuz it could be it will never look how she wants it to, and you do have demos she should have tried one

I would be really polite and express your disappointment at not being able to help her out on this occasion and then offer her a refund. I though would also point out politely that if she tries a demo in future, she may get an idea of what she likes.

I know that seems you are taking the blame, but seriously you could be going back and forth for yonks!

Because the stuff I sell is mod/copy/no-transfer, I rarely give refunds because it's not possible to verify that the customer has in fact deleted the item. That being said, I bend over backwards to try to address the underlying problem, and very rarely get complaints about my customer service. And I've had some really noob-ish customer queries.... ranging from "I bought [item X, shown on the poster as a female av] and I'm a guy and it looks dumb on me" (I made a coupla new textures and remodelled the item to suit a male av, then gave him that one), through to "I bought your item and it doesn't look the same as it does in the pics, the edges are all square and lumpy, you cheated me!" (I gave them a crash course in graphics setting adjustment and level-of-detail slider use). I even had one customer who bought a cat then came back demanding a refund because she'd changed her mind and wanted a different colour. I didn't refund the original payment, but I gave her a steep discount on another cat (and advice to think carefully about which one she wanted this time coz I wasn't going to do it again).

If someone has difficulty editing a part of something they bought, I'm generally quite happy to walk them through the process of doing so. I won't make them a custom copy of the item, but if the adjustment they want is something simple and they seem genuinely unable to figure out how to do it themselves (as opposed to just wanting me to do it because they can't be bothered - usually those are "repeat offenders" and rude to boot) then I'm happy to just adjust a copy and give it to them directly. And of course with bug fixes and items where SL has screwed up the perms on an item I spend as much time as necessary and do whatever it takes to provide the customer with something that'll do what they need it to, because I figure that SL's screwups aren't their fault and they deserve a working copy of the item they've bought.

So despite not giving out refunds, I generally seem to wind up with happy customers. For me it's all about figuring out what the underlying issue is and fixing that as best I can; and it seems to work. Giving refunds when asked would certainly take a lot less time for me; but I suspect the customer would still be less than happy overall in those cases, whereas if I take the time to try to sort it out, everyone winds up happy. I can think of one customer off the top of my head that this strategy didn't work for, out of all the folk I've dealt with at my store - and they were all "I bought a cat in Colour A, and I got a cat in Colour B! I want a refund!" where the transaction record was very clear that they'd actually selected Colour B, and they were very rude and demanding about it all, blaming everyone but themselves for stuffing up. So I didn't feel particularly inclined to give them a free cat because they couldn't be bothered checking that they'd selected the right vendor-box before hitting "Buy". In that case, I think it was the rudeness and the sense of entitlement that put me off; if they'd been polite and pleasant about it and admitted that they might have been the one making the mistake then I'm sure I'd have been a lot more accomodating. But accusing me of cheating them one moment then demanding that I hire them as a sales rep the next (yeah, right) isn't gonna really get me on-side.

So yeah, that one annoying individual aside, my "no refunds but lots of assistance" policy seems to work out pretty well, both for me and my customers!

Your best customers are repeat customers and your best advertising is word of mouth. Keep them happy and they'll return and they'll tell their friends.

More than enough I would say. I think refunds should be dealt with on a case by case basis unless you are gettng tons of them in which case you may want to question the quality or marketability of your product.

As an SL consumer I don't believe I am entitled to a refund for anything I buy unless it is broken regardless of whether there is a no refund policy posted or not. That's just common sense to me. Just because I may get buyer's remorse because something does not look as nice on me as I thought it would doesn't mean I should be able to get a refund and yes, clothings and accessories with prim parts are always a gamble. Accomodating a request for a refund on clothing is a business decision where you are going to have to assess whether this consumer is likely to be a repeat customer (he or she may already be one in which case it is quite easy to make that assessment) and/or refer business to you.

All I know is the better you treat your customers the more business you'll get as word of mouth spreads and people wil want to return.

You're selling mod items so thats a big plus in itself.

Refunds should be taken care of according to the situation.

This is just an idea I had. Can you set perms to Mod/No Copy/Transfer? If you could, then anyone who is satisfied with the product and wants a Mod/Copy/No Transfer can give the original item back to you to receive the newer one.
This may be too complicated and would require two different copies of everything you have for sale.
I guess it just depends on how much of a hassle refund requests are for the individual. Anyway, to my mind, clearly and politely posted policies are the way to go.