A customer ordered a product in a certain colour back in February. They reached out just now realizing they were sent the wrong colour (a similar one) because their sister ordered and got the correct colour.
Ecommerce business owners - do you honour this even though they have been using the product for nearly a year? Or do you have a limit to when inquiries can be opened on an order?
You must log in or register to comment.
At best, I would sell them a replacement at cost. They’ve been using the one you sent for 9 months with no complaints. I’d start by offering a pretty good discount and see it’ll that makes them happy.
No. The window for that to be a reasonable request closed months ago.
There is no expiration date on making an error - OP if you sent the wrong colour - your customer never received what they ordered - that’s not your customer’s fault in any way.
Send a replacement and a hand written sorry note, along with a 10% off next purchase coupon code.
So you send me the wrong color item and I use it for many months and only after seeing my sister got a different color which is actually the color I wanted, you’d not send me the right color?
Lots of good advice, but something I haven’t seen mentioned is your written return policy. Update it to mitigate this issue in the future.
If your return policy is 30 days, you can stick to your guns and dent the return or you could look like a hero and bend it a bit.
The fact that they didn’t complain the first time proves they were satisfied. Some products can have a slight difference in color by different batch of production. Or tell them they can return the newly purchased one and you will send the same colored one as last time if they needed to match the color. Or give them some discount for next purchases for being a loyal customer for their problem, everyone should be happy.
I’d just send them a replacement if it was cheap enough, and try to sell them on something else. They’re interacting with you, sell something new to them, send them a coupon 🤷🏾♀️
I find that a lot of times people just want to be heard. Listen to them and solve their problem, and offer something better.
It works out great, I can usually turn complaints into positive reviews, new orders, and referrals.
I’d send them a discount code for 50% their next purchase and some nice words (like, actually)
That’s ridiculous. The customer is NOT always right
But they think they’re king and have unreasonable expectations.
I’d give a % discount coupon equal to the profit margin ($100 sale item costs you $40, give them a 60% off coupon for that item), free shipping.
You don’t lose any profit beyond shipping costs, they get a new item in the proper color for a good deal— seems like a win-win compromise.
If you really want to go for it— send the sister the same coupon for helping find the mistake. Send them each a few 10% off coupons to share with some friends. Now you have two happy, brand advocates!
Idk about these comments or what your websites sales policy is, but the FTC says merchandise that you didn’t order is essentially a free gift. So they never got their item they ordered and are entitled to a refund or new item sent. (This all varies based on your websites policy and disclaimers).
I would just say that the new one was actually in the wrong color (depending on how close the colors are) and you would be able to replace the new one otherwise you can offer a good discount for a future order.
I mean you made the mistake, you should honor that. Is. It an expensive item?
I’d say it depends on the product, and other similar products sold.
If it’s something standalone like a Christmas ornament, the colour doesn’t matter so much, especially if they didn’t notice for a year.
If it’s something that could be part of a set, then it matters a lot more.
Nevertheless, if you sent the wrong colour, you should do something to make it right. How far you should go, depends on how much the colour matters.
You could offer a full exchange of either product, if the colour is very important. Or you could offer a coupon/ % of a refund.
Whatever you do, could likely decide if this person will buy from you again in the future.