How do you handle difficult customers?
We’ve just had our first tricky customer.
Customer has placed an order for a Seller fulfilled item and then the very next day sent us this message:
Please REFUND…Item not arrived and apparently not arriving today as promised. Also didn’t know I was being charged £3.99 for postage!!! NOT WORTH IT
Timeline:
Order placed on the 27th, dispatched on the 28th. Message has been sent on the 28th.
Amazon delivery expectation on the details page isn’t until the 1st of Dec.
Delivery cost was actually £3 rather than £3.99.
With customers like this, do you tend to just refund and move on? I have no doubt that when the product does arrive it will be returned as defective, no matter how perfect the condition of it is.
If this kind of thing has ever happened to you and you fought it, did Amazon have your back?
Seller_8Wsckn3UoR095
Nope. You’re fuelling messages like this if you refund and move on, in my opinion. I tell them straight & say if you don’t want it, they can return it under ‘no longer wanted’. Amazon may not have your back but you’ve done your best. We have a low A-Z conversion & if it goes to A-Z put a response & appeal in.
Assuming it’s not SFP I would state it’s an estimated delivery not promised.
53 replies
Seller_8Wsckn3UoR095
Nope. You’re fuelling messages like this if you refund and move on, in my opinion. I tell them straight & say if you don’t want it, they can return it under ‘no longer wanted’. Amazon may not have your back but you’ve done your best. We have a low A-Z conversion & if it goes to A-Z put a response & appeal in.
Assuming it’s not SFP I would state it’s an estimated delivery not promised.
Seller_7VbclcPFFRTnc
As above but screenshot the order too with the EDD on
They possibly looked at a prime option but chose yours without realising
Seller_otCbjI8XlTQWk
I found that I really don’t have the temperament for people like that and so I stopped responding to them. By which, I mean I ignore all of the padding around the actual issue and have a series of responses prepared which saves me from biting back at them. This one, its been dispatched and they’ve changed their mind, I have a reply prepared to cover that instructing them to return it or refuse delivery. Don’t engage, its not worth the stress it causes.
Seller_hCLWKv55a6ZU3
Create message templates for various situations. Make them polite “Apologies for the issue…”, “Kind regards” etc. This saves a lot of time and reduces stress as there is no need to consider the specifics in each case.
Screenshot relevant order details and attach to aforementioned polite message.
Accept the fact that customers can be tricky. Expect it.
Distance yourself from it, mentally. It’s part of business, it’s not personal.
Seller_r9IzAmeV4A9Pl
You will get a lot of scammers this time of year, Amazon will always side with the buyer rather than their customer , us sellers. You can fight your corner, and the option to block buyers would be great, but as said above you can waste a lot of time with no chance of a result for yourself.
Seller_SnNztJIII3ZP5
Here is my 2 pennies worth
Customer ordered on the 24 of October, item tracked and delivered the next day ie 25th of October. three weeks later customer emails me that he changed his mind and wants to be refunded. I replied, no problem send them back and when they get to me I will refund you. Nothing for a week. Then customer makes A to Z claim stating that the order arrived too late (less than 24 hours after order was placed it was in his hallway ). I sent the tracking data plus the message sent by the customer to Amazon. Guess what it was granted in favour of the customer. No order has been returned. Goods kept and money refunded, Amazon the the patron saint of fairness !!!
Seller_RSaktJ3KqN82w
I’ve had this a couple of times recently. Apologize, say it’s an estimated delivery, mention Royal Strikes if you’re using them. I always provide an UNPAID return label, and am amazed by how few actually send items back and follow it through. With legitimate returns, I do refund return postage, but I get hardly any.
Seller_yUp0QRI4hMCX1
My problem with all this is that it’s taking up more and more of my time and most of them are just chancers that have been on some website telling them how to get free stuff. I’m getting more and more of them and we mainly sell low value items and probably not sending that many orders compared to most of you.
Seller_CXiDpm7SIS3OI
I’ve also had a bad message today. Sometimes it irks you and you can’t shake it off. You can never please everybody even if you are offering 100 carot diamonds being delivered in a golden horse drawn carriage for 99p free delivery. There will always be someone there complaining. It will always be your fault, your product will always be awful, you will always have the worst customer service in the world, and through this transaction they tell you have ruined their whole year (or life). TRY and be professional, non personal, and rise above insults and rudeness. EVERY SELLER gets these messages. Try not to soak up their bad karma. Peace out.
Julia_Amzn
Out of curiosity
Do you know any special customer service techniques, which can help you to overcome challenges like this?
Julia.
