Unusual customer request

I've never had this happen before.

Last night I received an IM (by email) from a customer who I don't know. It said, "hi, can i have a refund for the kitchen set" - that's all it said. I replied simply, "Why?". About an hour and a half later I went to bed without hearing anything back. I was in SL so there wasn't an email problem.

When I got up today there were 6 emailed IMs from him and the SL system. They went like this (SL sometimes bundles things together in a single email):-

1. "i dont have room for it, takes up too much of my prim"

2. 7 notifications that he had offered me 7 kitchen items, "sent ya back the kitchen stuff", another notification of an 8th kitchen item.

3. 8 notifications that he had offered me 8 tables, "i dont have room for any of this, i got into a small apt and do not have room", another notification of another table offer.

4. 1 notification that he had offered me another table.

5. 2 notifications that he had offered me 2 more tables, "i believe thats all of it", "im sorry to do this, but i dont have room for it, and i dont want to waste money on stuff i cant use"

6. 5 notifications that he had offered me 4 sofas and a chair.

All but one of the tables are non-kitchen types; the other is a dining table.

I checked my accounts, and most of the items were bought a month and a half ago, and a few were bought 2 weeks ago. He returned 25 items in total.

What it amounts to is that he bought the things and used them in the accomodation that he had - hence coming back for more a month after the first lot of purchases. But now he's moved into a smaller place where he doesn't have room or prims for them all, so he thinks he can sell them back and, without waiting for me to agree, he simply sent them back for a refund.

I'm not asking what other sellers would do in a case like this. I just thought it was interesting. I sent everything back to him, and told him that I don't do sale or return. I do take things back for a full refund if the circumstances merit it, which they occasionally do, but not in this case.

I would have done the same Phil in this case. (no refund)

Ty, Rioko. He wasn't in when I sent the stuff back and IMed him, so I'm wondering if he'll react to it.

I think what you did is right in this case. Just because their apartment is too small now doesn't mean they won't get a bigger one in future, they might as well keep it. Especially if they've had it beyond any reasonable return period (7 days or so maybe).

If you were to take a product back to a store in real-life, leave it in the doorway with a note attached saying "Send my refund to x" then the store-owners are very unlikely to do anything with it except check its condition and sell it on.

While it is possible the person is making a genuine mistake in thinking they can still get a refund, I don't think it's realistic to offer any kind of refund scheme in SL except for broken merchandise, or misunderstandings (e.g - your package info wasn't very good and the person thought an item did something it doesn't in fact do).

That thought crossed my mind. I'm not a buyer of things in SL, but I think that many people's inventories are full of things that they bought and no longer use. Imagine using a dress for a while, until you don't want to wear it any more, and then trying to get refund because it's surplus to requirements

I bought lots of stuff I don't use. Can I return it ??

I think you did right for what it is worth.

"CX"

I wish I could return half of my inventory for a refund when it suits me! Its a bit like those 'ladies' who order a posh dress online, wear it to their function then return it when done for a refund!

I mean..come on.. does he even know if he managed to get all the food stains off of this set?

If it was me I would send a really polite message about how SL works... he may just be being 'new' and not use to the usual way if business in here

Phil, I can picture your face reading those ims..."WTF...??!!" LOL LOL!

Didn't you accidentally use the phrase "can I have your stuff" on the forums

Anyway, I am very easy with customers, refunded even a few times without the customer asking for it because I saw they purchased 2 of the same copyable items, but in this case I would have done the same. If the stuff is transfer, they can put it in a yard sale, but this is just to weird

LOL Tiana. I did read them open-mouthed

I hadn't thought that the person might not be used to things. The av was created last Decemeber, but he may still not be used to it all. I'll send him an IM to explain it a bit.

I do similar things when I see them, Marcel. For instance, I sell dining chairs individually, and also in boxed sets at a discount. If I see someone buy 3 or 4 individual chairs, I stop them and refund the discount that they would have got if they'd noticed the boxed sets - which are only a few meters away. But I don't always see it happen.

Wow...Just wow.

ROFL!
Maybe the person was low on L$ and figured he/she would take back some inventory for refunds!! That is just crazy stuff!! But when dealing with the general public there is no end to the surprises!!

WOW. Your customer must be an adherent of the "you never know until you try" school of thought, but even that theory has its limitations! You did the right thing, Phil.

You are great with customers, Phil; you always go the extra mile, so I wouldn't worry about this one.

My friend would buy something in the store, use it for 29 days and then return it. Then buy something else and use it, then return it before the return date expired. Perhaps this avatar was carrying over that reasoning from RL?

Either way, thanks for the laugh. lol

bwa ha ha ha ha that's funny. i would have told him no too. but that's funny.

If he IM's again- sen him a link to the whine thread

I would return them - and tell him to resell in a yard sale ... =)

Ugh....wingnut.

I had a RL friend that did stuff like that...embarassed the hell out of me. She was weird. lol Anyway....yeah..I would have done the same thing in this case.... the guy obviously has no real concept of how things work in SL. If I thought I could return even half the stuff I don't use in my inventory...OMG... I could cover my tier for the next 3 months probably. LOL
Definitely an odd case....but people are just as bizarre in SL as they are IRL cause, well..they're still people. And some of em are just kinda 'off' a bit. He'll work it out.....maybe he'll figure out he can have a yard sale.

This is why stores institute restocking fees, and special rules for things like large TVs (especially around super bowl time). I believe it's also why they take name and address on returns, so they can monitor abuse.

I dropped him an IM explaining that getting refunds on things that become surplus to requirements doesn't happen in SL, just like it doesn't happen in RL. I suggested keeping them for the future or, if he really wants to get some money back, holding a yard sale.

Can I get a refund from you for things I bought from other stores?

I'd refund just the items that were bought 2 weeks ago, in the interest of goodwill.

Then I'd pick a policy, put up a sign stating it, include the policy on a notecard in all packages (or all for which it applies), and stick with it. A 2 week return policy for furniture seems reasonable to me, perhaps with an unstated 24 or 48 hour grace period. I wouldn't go less than a week or more than a month.

The reason this is appropriate for furniture is that no matter how you have the models set up in your store, it's still very difficult to visualize the way it will look in someone's house, particularly with regard to color scheme and scale. Also, there's a lot of furniture out there with either poorly scripted pose balls or scripts whose physics changed as a result of changes to the SL servers. I once had a couch that I tried placing against a wall, but upon standing I'd always wind up on the other side of the wall. You can't expect customers to do all this testing in the store.

Of course you can. I'll refund anything up to 100L for sex beds/systems that cost over 4000L

To be perfectly honest, I'm not overkeen on that idea. One reason is that almost all of my stuff is not boxed, so I'd need to create an awful lot of boxes (thousands), all with suitable textures, in order to include the Policy notecard. A sign would do it, but most people don't read signs.

But the main reason is that I'd rather not do anything that could cause people to buy an alternative that they see later, knowing that they'll get a refund from me. For one thing it means a bit of unpaid work on my part, and another thing is that I'm in business to sell things. There have been times when people have come to me and said that they saw an alternative somewhere else that they prefer, and ask if I'll refund for my item, and I've always said yes. But I'd rather not push the idea under their noses. It is real business, after all

What about an automatic notecard giver, that has your refund policy on it when they enter the store?

Just think, if they ever merge the teen and adult grids businesspeople will have to do a LOT of basic education like this on how the world really works. Oh joy!
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