Objective Advise.

I offer 'bulk discount' in the store. The notecard states " 10 sets or more 10% 25 sets or more 25% discount refunded"

Now, to be fair I didnt outline on the notecard that it had to be in one purchase. I assumed most ppl knew bulk buy means your buying all in one sitting.

I have sold and discounted in bulk prior and had no problems the customers understood.


A customer recenty IMd me saying she was waiting for her refunds as she had spent X amount over the last month.

I have had no notecard and do not recall a conversation.

Anyone that does contact me about bulk I do explain they need to copy & paste the purchases onto a notecard & I will check it against my acct history and refund accordingly.

My profile also states my IMs get capped and to notecard me only regarding after sales.
Any post sales enquiries to goto my store manager Elizabeth Tinsley.

She wanted to send me a notecard of her purchases over the last month with a view to recieving a discount.
Many of my customers buy the same amount and volume this person has and my argument is if it was that 'open' I would be receiving bills for refunds of customers every month.

I have explained it has to be agreed prior and the bulk purchase must be on one day and a notecard sent ASAP or on the day of the purchase.

I am unsure of the customers feelings since I sent my notecard reply

But came here to see what the general feeling was.

If someone offers bulk discount do you assume it means you have to buy in one 'bulk' purchase?
As I say this is a 1st to me most ppl understand how it works but I dont want to piss this person off but at the same time I cannot afford to have all customers now sending me refind bills because they have bought over 10 sets in the last X amount of days either!

I will need to outline it in the notecard but Hell theres so much written on it already ppl get bored half way down
Do I have to cross every T and dot all my i's incase of misunderstandings like this?

Feedback welcome.

Thanks in advance

LB

What part of bulk purchase doesn't imply all at once?

I see no point in giving this person the discount just because she misunderstood (you said bulk, which means bulk, which means a load of stuff bought at one time). Personally I'd be embarrassed for the misunderstanding when explained to me and would apologize to the shop-owner profusely, but people are different, so maybe in order to keep good customer relations, you might want to meet her half-way. Say send a note saying you are sorry for the misunderstanding and that you will clarify the instructions, and maybe offer a small gift or something from your store as an apology and thanks for letting you know it is unclear.

I've only ever known it to be 'single order' only.
Otherwise it isn't bulk but accumulative .. and I don't think I've ever heard of that.

RL stores often offer an aggregated rebate for recurring customers. If your notecard says "bulk discount", it should be clear that the items have to be purchased at the same time. But "10 sets or more 10% 25 sets or more 25% discount refunded" could perhaps appear like an aggregated rebate, or a patronage reward.
Well, even then it should be clear due to the word "discount" - a discount is given at the time of the purchase, not a week later.

Point her in the direction of this thread - bulk means 'purchased at once'. Unanimously agreed.

You said bulk, she read regular or frequent. You're totally in the right as far as I'm concerned.

On the other hand, a gesture of goodwill might not be a bad idea, especially as she obviously likes your stuff and will probably come back. But make sure you let her know that that's what it is if you do that, and that it won't happen again.

Well, it is clear to me that "bulk" means at one time.

But since she did at least buy the proper number of sets, I would have explained to her that she misunderstood, tell her I would correct that in the notecard or on the sign, and give her her discount this one time.

Then put a phrase on the sign or notecard - "This means you must buy all the sets at one time."

That is how I would handle it, anyhow, and that would prevent it from happening again. Usually when one person misunderstands something, others will too.

coco

Like the coffee shop that gives you your sixth late for free. (you get a punch-card)

1) I think it's very (but not perfectly 100%, maybe 97%) clear that 'bulk' means one order.

Otherwise, heh, I bought some textures back in, ah... what was it, August? How far back does it go, then? How could you know? What kind of overhead is it, to go track all this down? It would take me half an hour or more, just to verify one person's last 30 days of activity in my businesses. It starts to get ridiculous fast.


2) What I'd do about it:

- make the notecard EXPLICITLY clear, for that 3% that don't get it, or pretend not to, like Cocoa says

- offer a refund this one time, to this one person

- make it clear that you think it's *very* tacky, and ask the person not to come to your store any more


For all the 'good people' you'll lose this way (what, 1 in 1000 maybe? Perhaps less?) you'll get rid of 999 scammers who would rob you blind, laugh behind your back, and come back for more.

You will never, ever, ever be able to write a completely foolproof notecard.

There will always be *someone* ready to pick at the tiniest detail in order to gain advantage, and press it.

That's called a complete lack of class, and it's rampant online due to the snakelike ability to shed one's skin and start 'fresh' at a moment's convenience.

yeah, like they say

but honestly you don't have to justify yourself.

A positive customer service experience goes a long way.

Even though I think you're right, LillyBeth - I would probably give that customer the discount *this one time*, explain what the conditions are going forward, and update your notecards/signs to make the policy crystal-clearer for the next person that comes along.

The money you pay out in that discount is money well spent - think of it as a marketing cost, seeding positive word-of-mouth in the process

Though I agree with most posters so far, I disagree to give her the discount this time. That could be very easily abused by some people and creates a dangerous precedent. Next time you'll receive a message saying:

"Hi Lillybeth! I bought one of your packs today. The pack has 35 textures, so that qualifies for the 25% discount!"

Then you'd have to explain this person that the discount is per pack, not per texture. He'd just argue that he didn't understand what "pack" means. And then you'd have to refund the amount to this person and add even more clutter to the notecard (most of which is 100% common sense).

Frankly, it isn't your fault if they don't understand what "bulk" means...

Thanks Guys

Actually she was ok and once explained she intends to do it the proper way in the future.

Had you all said " refund her!!" I would of done but changed the notecard to avoid possible issues again.

My fear is if I do it for one others will hear and complain if I don do it for them etc.

The situation is fine I just wanted to double check I wasnt being naive or trading with bad ethics for not agreeing to refund her on this occasion.

Its all good. Thanks again I appreciate the feedback

I might do one or the other of these, but not both. If the former, it would be to keep goodwill from a proven customer; if the latter, it would be to get rid of an annoying one.

One could give a rebate, store credit, or bonus merchandise in trying to keep that goodwill.

I would never have thought of posting such a question here, LillyBeth, but I think it was a good think that you did. It demonstrates your willingness to consider that your viewpoint may not be as "common sense" as you (and most of us) thought it was. It certainly make me more likely to trust you in business dealings!

Seconded

Because I'm a geek....

According to Merriam-Webster:

- in bulk
1 : not divided into parts or packaged in separate units
2 : in large quantities

Bulk purchasing is what you do at a warehouse store (ie Costco). You get good deals because you buy a large volume of something at one time.

You might want to restate your notecard as such: (I would consider what you're doing a rebate as opposed to a discount).

REBATES: YOU WILL RECEIVE A REBATE IF:
1) ALL ITEMS ARE PURCHASED ON THE SAME DAY (OR YOU COULD SAY: WITHIN 24 HOURS);
2) SEND ME (SUCH AND SUCH) INFORMATION VIA NOTECARD WITHIN 48 HOURS OF PURCHASE;
3) REBATES ARE AS FOLLOWS: 10 SETS OR MORE, 10% REBATE, 25 SETS OR MORE, 25% REBATE.
4) PLEASE ALLOW 48 HOURS TO PROCESS REBATE.


I do agree with a few of the posters, since she did miss understand, you could offer her a rebate or free product this one time only.

Good luck!