returned items, missing parts, missing box etc! Any advice please

[cubzworld]

We have had a customer return goods that they did not like, which is fair enough.

But....

One item is a set of toy shopping baskets, which was full of pretend empty food boxes. They have returned the baskets but not the food!

The other was toy icecream which was returned in a carrier bag without the box and the toy icecream all scuffed.

I obviously can't resell them and just looking for advice on how to deal with this.

If I was a bricks & mortar shop I would just say you can't return them but where do I stand under distance selling. Should I just post them back at my expense or make them pay a re-delivery charge?

My terms and conditions state items must be in original condition and original box but they don't say what will happen if they don't return them in this condition. In 3 years trading I have never had anyone do this!

Many thanks

Tracy
Tots n Toys

[jdpos]

I'd personally just return them at my own expense and be done with it. Just change the terms and conditions, make this clear on your site that the terms & conditions have changed and be more careful when they want to return things, just say if they are returned and are not in sellable condition they the item(s) stay with you until the re-delivery charge is paid.

[sysops]

The first thing you need to do is sit down and draw up a set of standard procedures which define how you handle returns, including cases like this. These become the core of your return handling policy, and allow you to treat all cases using the same standards.

There are really only 2 different types of returns: Unwanted Items and Faulty Items. Unwanted Items are governed under Distance Selling, while Faulty Items fall under Sale of Goods. So you need 2 different standard procedure lists.

Read up and learn what your obligations and rights are in both cases, then draw up the procedure list.

I can't stress the importance of having set procedures enough - it will allow you to get on with running your business, without getting hung up on individual cases. It will also allow you to delegate returns processing as your business grows.

It's up to you what you do in this particular case; legally you are not obliged to issue a refund, and can charge for re-delivery.

The majority of reputable online retailers would probably give the customer a set of options:

1. You re-deliver the goods, no charge (it's just petty)
2. You refund a % of the sale price (say 50%)

HTH

[Venka]

Hi

Under the Distance Selling Regulations the customer has a duty of reasonable care, obviously no care was taken in this case as items are missing or damaged.

I would contact the customer and ask where the missing items are. I think you need to consider what your loss is and maybe refund part of the funds to cover your loss. Alternatively you could post the items back to the customer and charge the customer the cost of doing this.

Our Terms and Conditions clearly state that the goods have to be in a re-saleable state in order to receive a refund.

Hope this helps.

[quikshop]

If this is a one-off or very rare event to receive damaged or soiled goods back from a customer I would be tempted to offer the refund minus a percentage for the missing / damaged bits, but justify your response by listing the reasons why the product is not in an acceptable condition.

If its a more frequent event, as long as your terms and conditions state that you adhere to the Distance Selling Regulations and either detail these or provide a link to the Government website, refuse to refund the order and offer your customer the opportunity to have the goods returned to them.

Returned goods, unless they were damaged before they reached your customer, must be returned in a condition which would allow you to resell them.

If it is a rare event I would be inclined to go easy on your customer in the interests of maintaining a positive reputation - word of mouth is the single most important and cost-effective long term marketing you will ever have :)

[Cathy]

Just a note, under the Distance Selling Regs while customers have to take reasonable care of items sent to them if they are seeking to cancel

a) They don't have to return them to you at all unless it's in your terms and conditions that they must

b) You can't require it to be re-sellable, only that reasonable care is taken and that (if you haven't put in your T&C's that it must be returned) they make it available for you to collect.

Obviously all of this applies within the specified periods allowed under the regs to cancel, which can be anything from 7 days to 3 months and 7 days.

[cubzworld]

Thanks for all your advice.

I'm still not totally decided what to do as they are a nursery with the potential for lots of repeat business if I deal with this right.

I think I am going to ring them and ask what happened and take it from there.

Many thanks

Tracy
Tots n Toys

[castilejewellery]

Personally id ask them for the postage to return them back. If I get anything back that looks like its been used or worn on a night out , (We get this alot!( I do exactly this. Anybody sending back obviously used toys in my eyes isnt a candidate for further potential business from them anyway.
If its incomplete and damaged you can't resell it anyway which means you having to stomach the whole cost of the order. Thats my personal opinion.

[cjd]

If this is a customer that may give you future business, deal with it sympathetically. I would be against issuing a full refund given the p1sstaking circumstances but you may think about giving them a discount against their next purchase.

Best to talk to them, as you say, so that you can decide whether they are just messing you about (many do) or they are genuine.