Question
About 3 weeks ago, I sent the wrong item to a bidder. Bidder emailed me about the problem and I immediately sent the correct item out. I asked him to send the other item back (it was a car brochure so it is easy and inexpensive to mail). I also told him that I would credit his next purchase with the amount of postage he paid to send it back to me. I emailed him about 10 days ago asking when he sent the brochure back as I had not yet received it. He basically said he hadn't gotten around to mailing yet.
I would like to send him another email to get it sent back to me so I am asking how would you word such an email
Answer
Hi.
If he's not going to send it back, then there's nothing you can do. Next time this happens you should ask them to send the item back and then you will send the correct item, that's what I've done. One time with post cards and I sold them both and had the people send them to each other. Woops.
Mel
Answer
9snip) and I immediately sent the correct item out.(snip) I also told him that I would credit his next purchase with the amount of postage he paid to send it back to me.
Hindsight is always 20/20.......you should have just included a folded, postage already attached, SASE when you mailed the replacement and have made it easy for him to mail back the wrong one.
"Crediting a next purchase" wouldn't have me jumping thru any hoops either.
Basically all you can do is be polite and ask if he can give you a date of when he will be able to get it mailed.
Answer
Quote:
"Crediting a next purchase" wouldn't have me jumping thru any hoops either.
EXACTLY. Not to be hard on you or judgemental, but why on earth should he have to pay a penny for a mistake made by a seller, and frankly if he can expect to have to pay for the sellers mistakes, there isn't likely going to be any "...next purchace".
Once again, I'm not implying your a bad bad seller, I'm just saying if it was me, I wouldn't even send it back at all if it required me to spend money out of my pocket to correct some elses goof-up.
However, I might actually do it on my own as a kind gesture if it didn't cost too much and the seller showed some humility about it. But if the seller expected it of me, I wouldn't spend a penny on principle alone.
Your email should appologise up and down for the mistake, include a prepaid anvelope to get it back (including any padding and reinforcement that you would deem apopropriate), and ask him KINDLY to please send it back as soon as possible so you can send it to the proper party and then appologise once more for the inconvenience you've cased him for having to make a special trip to the PO because of your screw up. And then I might even consider reimbusing his original shipping cost as a surprise gesture when he gets his proper item that HE had to/or is patiently wating for as well.
If you're really, really lucky you just MIGHT get a repeat customer out of him.
Just my opinion, I hope it works out for the both of you.
Answer
He is a repeat customer. At the time of that email, he was high bidder on another auction, hence the credit on his next purchase. However, he was "sniped" out on the auction.