Question
A few weeks ago, I had a customer in Ireland snag a couple of 1960s Matchbox cars from my store. I had them listed as "free shipping" for the USA and when I did the invoice for them, I factored out of the international shipping charge the amount I was allowing for domestic postage. Low and behold, 10 days later I get a money order for just the combined sale prices......didn't bother paying the less-than-cost, $4 global priority charge & insurance.
Sat on it for a day or two.....argued with myself over whether or not to make a deal out of the $4 shortage and wait for another payment from Europe......took a vote with the furkids.....and ended up shipping them off anyway. But I did make a mention of a $4 balance on the invoice/thank you note I always include. Even left them positive feedback ahead of time. Figured it was a one time deal and write it off as customer relations.
But lo and behold, earlier tonight they popped another vintage diecast car from the store and almost immediately sent an ASQ note apologizing for shorting me; how much they appreciated me sending them on ahead; and to be sure to ADD the shortage to this new invoice.
They are happy!
I am happy!
I remember when this was TYPICAL with eBay deals and we all trusted each other!
Answer
When I first started on ebay I asked them to reply to my invoice with their mailing address.
Those that did, I mailed their item that day.
I felt guilty making them wait the two weeks it would take for their cheque to get to me, plus the return shipping.
I was never burned.
As much as the bad customers end up making up most of the threads. Its nice to be reminded that MOST transactions end up positively.
Nice story Packy, Thanks.
Answer
Yes, thanks! It's so easy to get jaded when more and more transactions are turning into a hassel so the extra special nice ones are like a breath of fresh air.
Answer
Originally Posted by packratsattic
I remember when this was TYPICAL with eBay deals and we all trusted each other!
Yeah, before PayPal made everything safe, you mean?
They did everything they could to destroy Pierre's "people are basically good" tenet in the name of building their electronic payment business. "You can't trust anybody who doesn't take PayPal" is chattered quite a bit, when in fact, the instances of fraud were far less common before that whole concept evolved into the monster it is today.
I still don't take PayPal, and I don't use eBay checkout either. I like chatting a bit with my buyers.