Certainly the ‘you bought it you own it’ situation does not apply
here in the UK. We have quite strong consumer protection laws here
and a purchaser can legally demand a refund - not a store credit - if
for example the goods are ‘not fit for purpose’, do not match the
description, do not last as long as they reasonably should etc.
Exceeding the agreed delivery date by an unreasonable amount of time
is also cause for cancellation and refund (however, it is expected
that the purchaser should have stated a time limit if necessary - a
birthdate or suchlike - when placing the order). It is up to the
seller to point out such things as the fact that every hand-made
piece varies slightly. Documentation, photographs and signatures on a
suitably worded order are the key.
It is a pity that the US does not have the same protection (or does
not appear to have) for its consumers. I have been trying
unsuccessfully to cancel and obtain a refund for a booking I made
with a Florida holiday company, which was completely mis-sold to the
point where it could be described as deceptive. Even reporting the
company concerned to the Federal authorities has achieved nothing.
I would not presume to offer any advice on how you should deal with
your situation, since the legal circumstances are so different. But
can your buyer prove it is not the same ring?
If any UK Orchidians feel I have got something wrong in my
interpretation of UK law, please feel free to let me know - I always
like to be sure of my ground
One of the most successful retailers on Earth is Walmart. The
reason Walmart is huge is because of Product, Price and most
importantly Customer Service. This company will take back
anything, no questions asked even if it is damaged.
I don’t get the comparison. It’s like moving to a small rural town in
the plains and expecting the standard of living you would in NYC.
It’s not going to happen. The guy new he had a hard choice to make
and he was careful in making it. It’s not like he bought it at
first sight! His actions prior to the sale showed that he knew that
he wasn’t shopping at a WalMart style establishment. He knew what he
was getting himself into, despite his protestations afterward.
Besides, the writer isn’t a brick and mortar store. The venue was a
craft show made up of artists, not deep pocketed businesses.
Whatever decision is made about this, learn from it. Get a sales
form with your sales, service and return polices clearly written on
it. Any changes to that should be written and signed by both
parties.
I appreciate your comments. I look at the whole scenario from the
viewpoint of a 20 year machine shop owner. Machine shops
unfortunately do not have the uniqueness that a custom jeweler would.
My viewpoint is slanted by the fact that unless the project is
particularly difficult and beyond the capabilities of my competitors
I don’t have a lot of clout with the customer. It would be very nice
if your work was unique enough to demand a little bit of respect and
consideration from the customer. I am sure there are a lot of
Orchidians that fall into that category but as of yet I am not one of
them. I certainly agree that a world view of the situation is called
for and that any policies between customer and artist should be
understood by both at the outset of the sale. Thanks again for the
food for thought.
I have never had a problem customer with a jewelry sale or
commission, but my husband and I own a rental house, and we have had
a few tenants who have been “the tenants from h…”.
My philosophy is that I am not successful unless all parties are
happy, so if there is a complaint at the end of a lease, I simply
ask the tenant what “they” feel is a fair way to deal with the
problem. This invariably takes them off guard, and I will agree with
what ever solution they come up with. They will always come up with
a solution that is far more in my favor than I would have expected,
and they walk away very happy at being empowered in the decision
making process. It works really well, and take the stress off of
me.
No stress, no hassle, no pulling out my hair trying to figure out
what is the right or best thing to do. I would do it the same way
with a jewelry client.
You would be hard put to find a solution in the many varied replies
you have gotten.
For those who are unaware of Cynthia and her specific style of
jewelry, let me enlighten you a bit. I had Cynthia’s jewelry in my
hands last year at the Santa Monica show. I was astonished with the
design and the complexity.
Cynthia weaves her designs with hair thin gold wire. Tiny weaves,
wonderful patterns. Her work is exquisite and very time consuming.
It is unique. Her heart and soul are in her rings, necklaces,
chains.
This customer only needed it sized. the new shank she made was
woven, not fabricated or cast. This was time consuming. She was
willing to do it. We all get bent out of shape, physically and hurt
painfully. She had a reason for missing a deadline. Money is not a
good option at this time.
Cynthia will have to do what she feels comfortable with, a
restocking fee may help a bit. I know she does not want a scene at
the coming show, her apprehension is clear in her words.
Cynthia, I don’t know what you will do, please know all the replies
are from the heart. You are in the midst of kind and loving
Orchidians. Feel the positive karma from Orchid and perhaps let the
show promoter and/or staff that you may be a bit fearful. Perhaps
you will have good vendors either side of you that can offer you
some support. I know I hope I can be there, I have not yet seen the
announcement. I look forward to talking with you some more.
Most people that order a custom job do not know what to expect.
It is best to educate them so that they understand.
As for treating clients differently because they live in a different
part of the country is not good business. Everyone deserves the same
level of service no matter where they live.
My main business for many years has been as a custom jeweler and I
have been put in this same position of making a piece and the
customer than wanting to back out.
I have gone as far as involving the customer in each step of the
process so they understood what the finished piece would look like.
For the most part this has worked but once in a while you get
someone that just doesn’t understand the process.
It always hurts to put your time and money into a project and then
have to eat the work but you will do far more harm to your business
by having a strict policy of no returns.
By treating a customer like you care more about them being happy
than just making a buck can go a long way in future business.
... I look at the whole scenario from the viewpoint of a 20 year
machine shop owner. Machine shops unfortunately do not have the
uniqueness that a custom jeweler would.
Hello Harry,
Boy, can I appreciate that! My father was a welder for 25 years,
sometimes working in a shop, sometimes freelance. I know if often
pained me to see some of the contortions that he, or the shop he was
working for at the time, had to go through to please customers. He
was a careful worker and very, very good at his job but sometimes that
just wasn’t enough. Thank YOU for the food for thought.
I’ve been reading through all of the answers that you’ve gotten to
your post about the problem customer. I may catch some heat for my
opinion here as it seems it is only shared by Greg DeMark so far.
We have all experienced problem customers, ones that are truly out
of line and sometimes dishonest. I’ve had a few of those myself. I
worked in retail sales for many years so I know there are some truly
horrible customers out there who will screw you even if you’ve done
everything right. But I don’t see your customer as one of those
people, at least from the account you have given in your post. It
distresses me that the majority of the responses you’ve received
blame the customer and put all of the responsibility on his lap.
First, this man obviously (by your account) spent a large amount of
time searching for the perfect gift for his girlfriend. He gave
serious consideration before settling on purchasing a ring from you.
The ring had to be resized and you promised him a completion date
which he accepted. Unfortunately, a physical ailment kept you from
achieving your delivery date. My opinion is that the minute you
could foresee that you wouldn’t make the deadline date, you should
have called him and offered him a full refund. You were aware of the
limitations that your ailment was putting on your work hours and you
also knew that you had several shows coming up that would interfere
with finishing the ring. Instead of telling him that it would be an
additional month, you should have insisted that he take a refund with
your apologies and just been finished with the whole situation.
The following sentences are purely theorization since I don’t have
facts from both sides. I can imagine how incredibly disappointed I
would be if I ordered a gift for someone dear to me (most likely a
birthday or anniversary since he put so much thought into it) and it
was a month or more late before I got it. The occasion would have
passed and another gift would have been bought. Of course, the
customer does have some responsibility as well. He should have told
you that it was for a special occasion (if it was) and that the
original deadline he agreed to was the latest he would accept the
ring. By accepting that you would be a month late, he agreed to the
new deadline. (Unless of course you told him he had no other
options.) He did hold on to the ring for 2 to 3 weeks before
contacting you and this is a bit too long. We don’t know if he was
traveling or simply busy (the days do fly by don’t they?). It could
also be that he decided to hold the ring for another occasion and
then he and the lady broke up. Now he has a ring that was sized for
her and no girlfriend. You most likely notified him at the time of
purchase that there are no refunds on items that have been sized or
custom made. (Of course, missing your first deadline sort of
nullifies this.) He may feel that his only way out of this is to
claim the ring is different than what he ordered. He may realize
that it is in fact the same ring and that it is ridiculous to say it
is not but what other avenue does he have to get such a large amount
of cash back? I imagine that he is feeling very bitter about making
such a large purchase and being stuck with the ring.
It is unfortunate that you are not in a position financially to
refund his money. He isn’t out of line in asking for a refund but
you certainly can’t give what you don’t have. Also realize that he
may speak badly of you to others whether you refund his money or not.
If you don’t have the money to refund, stick to your no refund
policy and refuse. However, if you can arrange the refund you would
be karmically cool. You have as much responsibility in this
situation as the customer does. To refund his money now won’t help
you to keep a customer but you can at least know that the situation
is over and you won’t have to speak to this man again.
I know I’ve been long here and I apologize to all of those who pay
for downloads. I simply wanted to take this opportunity to say that
the customer isn’t always wrong and they aren’t always right. It’s
easy to blame others and take no responsibility ourselves, and it
happens far too much in this country (USA). We are so quick to say
"It’s not my fault" instead of taking control of the situation and
simply fixing it. It’s a shame that this issue got to the point that
it is now when it could have been resolved much earlier.
I think there is something more here than meets the eye. I think
there is some anger toward this customer because of his accusations
that this is not the same ring and that Cynthia has give him a
different ring. I say this because of a recent experience. I sold a
home a couple of months back that I had spent 5 yrs of my life
remodeling it from the ground up. I did everything myself and was
very proud of the results (my father was a remodeling contractor). I
sold the house myself in 3 days. The contacts are signed and a
deposit made. It is the day before closing and I do a walk through
with the buyer and all is fine. I get a call later that afternoon. It
is the buyer wanting me to confess that I had removed and replaced
light fixtures in the house with less expensive models. Her reasoning
was that I found out that she was going to rent the house. I have to
admit that I was not wild about this but she paid 99% of listing
price. Needless to say I was furious with the buyer. I was being
called a liar, a cheat and a thief !! I was raised to be an honorable
person and I would never do anything like this. I met her at the
house with a person that knew both of us and had saw the house. They
confirmed that the house was still the same as they had seen it
before the contact. We closed the next day and I did have anything
to say to her. I took my check and left.
When I make my jewelry there is a little piece of me in everything
that I make. It does not matter if this is a gift, a donation for
auction, or a gift shop piece I make them all the same. I always
strive to make each piece better than the next.
So I can see where Cynthia is bitter about this because the buyer is
saying that she is not being honest. I question his situation. Did he
have buyers remorse and realize that $800 was not in his budget?
I am as stubborn is the day is long so I do not think that I would
relent. I am not saying that is what she should do but that would be
my personal path.
Being in an out of retail for 27 years, and in many different retail
atmospheres, there is one consistent truth I have found. If a
customer is really determined to get their money back, they usually
will. Written policies help, stainless steel backbones help, having
people sign agreements up front helps. But none of it really matters
if you have customer who has determined that nothing else will suit
them and they will use any means to get there. When it comes to the
bottom line, which do you want? To keep the money or keep your
reputation? For me, I try to keep myself covered and stand my ground
to reasonable lengths. But, the long run for me is that I will
recover from an occasional financial setback, and hopefully learn
from the experience, and improve my reputation for fairness in the
bargain. If I stand my ground to firmly, I will end up with a bit of
money, but a tarnished reputation. That reputation is far more
valuable than a returned special order.
I wanted to thank the many Orchidians who helped me come to a
decision with my customer.
I decided that the only way to handle this, would be to refund the
money. The customer and I both agreed to disagree on our individual
perceptions of the ring, itself. I certainly realize, that no matter
how “right” I felt in my perception of the ring, I was still late in
my delivery, which I’m sure impeded his faith. We could go on forever
regarding “suppositions” about why he changed his mind, but none of
them matter. What mattered, was that he was unhappy and wanted a
refund. What mattered, was making this situation right, where we
could both walk away satisfied (if at all possible).
What I realize most of all, is that the weight of this problem was
not worth the money under ANY circumstances. As soon as the customer
and I had the conversation, I felt uplifted and relieved - we were
both able to end on a friendly note. Now that it=92s over, I feel ther=
e
really was no other choice. I think if there was a time to “hang
tough” in defense of a sale, this was not it.
Most importantly, through all of the responses, I=92ve learned some
very valuable lessons on how to do business in the future, and have
already instituted some changes. I consider the customer refund to
be my “tuition” for all of the lessons learned through this
incredible forum.
Once again, a very sincere and grateful thank you for bringing
clarity to this situation.
You embody what I have grown to love and admire about this group.
Ethics can sometimes be a bitter pill, but when ingested and drawn up
to the heart, makes you stronger and wiser for the experience.
I am proud to call you my friend.
-k
Karen Christians
M E T A L W E R X
50 Guinan St.
Waltham, MA 02451
Ph. 781/891-3854 Fax 3857 http://www.metalwerx.com/
Jewelry/Metalarts School & Cooperative Studio
