Advice on Refunds/Returns

My apologies if this is the wrong place to post this. Just point me in the right direction and I'll be happy to take my questions elsewhere.

A situation occured with one of my merchants that leaves me a little confused as to how it ought to be best dealt with. Customer X purchased a mod/no copy/transferable item at 2pmish yesterday afternoon, and then sent the Merchant a message at 4am this morning claiming to have only recieved documentation in the bag (the item is usually delivered inside a bag with a documentation notecard, a bag script and a settings file notecard). A check of the sales receipts shows that Customer X did indeed pay for the item claimed, and that many similar purchases were also made out of that particular vending machine both before and after, presumably with no issues given the absence of any other customer complaints. A check of the land in the area also revealed no items accidentally left behind by Customer X. A look at Customer X's profile revealed no negative feedback marks.

The 14-hour time difference between purchase and complaint, the lack of other vendor issues from other customers, and the Transferable nature of the item purchased make me a little queasy about simply offering a replacement on the item even though this Merchant does have a generous customer service policy and practice in place. However, there is no way at all to know what truly happened here, and it is perhaps not fair to Customer X to assume the worst. I am wondering how other Merchants would handle this situation if it happened to them. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I also wonder what the reason is for forcing a merchant to choose between Transferable or Copyable on items sold. Why can an item not be no mod/no copy/no trans?

Thank you!

Nyteshade Vesperia
Eventide Island

Because First Sale Law is a good thing.

My own experience of late has been tha on several occasions in the last month I have made purchases only to find on returning 'home' to have an unpacking/trying on/out session that items purchased have either not arrived in inventory, or have only part arrived, typically a notecard and no product, or missing parts of multi part outfits.

While you may have a rogue customer there, my own experiences strongly suggest that this is not the case.

Maybe its a do-it-yourself 2-for-1 sale. More likely the customer accidentally deleted it, dropped it in a lake, copied it to the wrong folder, or maybe its in their lost-and-found.

In the long run you're better off assuming that the customer is always right. Sometimes you get taken advantage of, but that's a cost of doing business.

Buster

i would give another copy of it to the customer. you have no way of knowing whether they got the item or not, so it's better to assume that they didn't. we all know glitches happen in sl all the time, so it's very likely that they didn't get it. it's good customer service, and i'm sure the customer would appreciate it greatly.

First, establish a policy of business and POST it all over your establishment and in notes. Keep tidy book keeping records too. I deal strictly with Demo before buying, and No Transfer=No Refunds. Straight refunds tend to get abused by shady customers, and they are fairly easy to spot. This customer doesn't sound dishonest, so I would offer them a ONE TIME replacement of the item, or store credit. Verify that they have the item in question (it can either be worn if clothing/prim attachment, or rezed if something else) second time around, and impress upon them the terms of your offer (especially the ONE TIME part).

Thank you for the responses!

The First Law thing was an interesting read, and makes me wonder why we even have the option to make things No Transfer at all if that's the rationale.

Normally, I wouldn't try to second guess customers. However I witness this particular Merchant being taken advantage of daily by customers as a result of his overly generous customer service policies, so with this latest twist I was hoping someone out there had devised a clever, mutually satisfying solution that could be applied. I suppose as someone points out that getting taken advantage of truly is merely the cost of doing business, and all merchants can do is grin while taking it... but hey, certainly can't hurt to hope!

My initial suggestion was to inform the customer of the conundrum presented and then offer a refund with the stipulation that no further customer service would be made available on any future purchases. I suspect this is all that can realistically be done.

Again, thank you for the thoughts and suggestions.

Nyteshade Vesperia
Eventide Island

It happened to me once that I bought a dress, and when I got home to put it on – the box was empty. I almost didn’t talk to the seller because I was sure she wouldn’t believe me– and what proof could I really offer? So I waffled for a few hours. In the end, I did contact the seller and she gave me a new box which did contain the dress, and all was well.



Give the customer the benefit of the doubt once anyway. The nice thing about SL is that there are no production costs once you’ve created something. I’ve noticed lots of wacky inventory things have been having in the past little while too.

I think it depends on the value of the item... if We're talking a couple of hundred L$, I'd give them another, and maybe keep their name in a notecard (along with anyone else who requests a refund or says something didn't arrive) (I suppose this is what the notes section of the profile is for really).. Innocent 'till proven guilty and all that..

But if it is/was a substantial L$ purchase, I'd look further into it.. Maybe ask them to send back the packaging, see if I could come up with anything better..

Dunno, tough one.. Since I don't sell anything above about an L$250 value I tend to knock out refunds.. Altho I suppose I shouldn't advertise that haha..

But I check everything! 15 times! and track down anyone whose trying to take me for a ride and enbed them on the peice of furniture they're trying to return!! watch out!

1. it is impossible for permissions to be set to no trans/no copy/no mod.

the least an object can be is 1 selection like copy itself or transfer itself
but if you are selling a product no point of making it all 3 full mods because it would get into circulation.

2. if a consumer buys from me for example, i look at the permissions. if it is no transfer i usually set it to copy or copy & mod. my decision is quick, i will just send them another copy of the exact thing they bought. it is copiable to them anyways.

3 if a consumer buys a transferable object no mod or copy. and they claim a vending machine did not give the product, the first thing I do is ask which machine, location, what product. Then i proceed to make sure they did indeed buy a copy, then i go to that vendor itself and try to recreate the bug wityhout touching the machine or resetting it. I try to buy the product they claim they did not recieve. if indeed the venndor was flawed I imediately give them their product. If not then I try to show them how to find it in their inventory.

4. if I am recieving the product and nothing is wrong I tell them sorry there is nothing I can do for them, there seems to be no flaw in the vendor or objects packaged. I suggest them to report a bug to LL because it is something on their end (or they indeed are trying to scam) now if it is someone i know and know they arent trying to scam me and i cant find an issue i give them a no transfer copy.

now I hope that helps people not to be afraid to approach a creator because as a designer i need to know any known bug issues with my vendors.

As a mall owner, if a customer can not resolve this matter on their own, yes please let me know. I wil contact the creator, I will also test to recreate their bug. If the Creator still refuses to give a new copy to the consumer of a known bug, I remove that merchant from my mall and group.

A couple of days ago a customer IMed me to say that his purchase had not shown up. I asked him to check carefully, and then when it wasn't there, I sent him another one. It's a terrible feeling when you buy something that doesn't show up. I was glad I could help him out. I think keeping a notecard of names is a good idea, but I also think it's best to assume that there was a glitch that, luckily, you can easily remedy.

It happened to me once as well. I was still learning to make vendors and I made a mistake in the options (selling the vendor instead of what's inside). I felt so embarassed and I was more than happy to give her the skirt she originally bought from me.

I don't find it so bad when people complain and stuff. Usually I test the vendors myself again to see if there's a glitch or not. Usually if I don't see anything, I'll have to contact the mall owner to check if perhaps someone accidentally dropped stuff. Or asking the customer to do a search on their inventory first. They could have just accidentally deleted it or was lost in one of the folders (hey happens to me all the time!).

If I do have buyers who bought around the same time the complaining customer did, I usually ask them too if they experienced a glitch just in case.