Forum Moderators: buckworks
I'm considering a new policy that we only issue store credit after 90 days. What do you think about that? Is it reasonable? Would it make you angry?
It's hard to put myself in consumer mode without merchant thoughts drifting in, but I might dislike the policy a little bit. But 90 days sounds pretty reasonable for most items.
My card processor says they can give me the ability to credit any card for any amount, regardless of whether or not I've charged the card, but that sounds like a major security vulnerability to me.
I have this feature enabled with my PayPal Merchant Account. So far (8 years or so) I have noticed no additional security issues due to this feature -- if there are any such issues, I expect them to be handled by PayPal as I, personally, am not actually storing any of the card information. I suppose there could be additional concerns with internal employees crediting themselves, someone hacking my account and doing so, etc. But those issues would exist without this feature.
my card processor won't allow me to issue a refund after 90 days.I would get me another processor as I can make refunds up top a year latter. Refunds cost the processing company nothing as the amount is deducted from that days batch. Refunds cost me another 3% plus .25 per action.
I would question this policy and look for another proceessor. Sending checks is a good way to give a refund really as it doesn't cost you the extra processing fees but it could be a way you lose double in case of a disputed charge.
To answer your question regarding store credit. We charge a 20% restocking fee on returns when the customer wants cash back. If the customer prefers we give 100% store credit. We have a 30 day limit on returns. Of course in the case of defects, late shipments, etc we work with the customer to make it right.
Sometimes it helps to give them a choice to make in the matter. Ultimately we want to help them buy the right product and retain them as a customer.
A competitor of ours has a 1 year return policy with 100% refund including the shipping charges. Perhaps they make up for this on volume. Our philosophy is to work smarter not harder.
To answer your question regarding store credit. We charge a 20% restocking fee on returns when the customer wants cash back. If the customer prefers we give 100% store credit. We have a 30 day limit on returns. Of course in the case of defects, late shipments, etc we work with the customer to make it right.
This is our policy, except we do not issue store credit. We do 100% refund if we delay a shipment and they want a refund, if the item is damaged in transit or defective, etc. We honor manufacturer warranties if we are able to get credit from our manufacturer, too.
We have a listed 30% restocking fee for return items, but often negotiate with customers. I've found that if customer's have something to haggle over, they are much happier. It makes difficult customers much easier to deal with if you can knock your 30% restock down to 15 or 10% -- then they tend not cry foul over return shipping fees and feel they have won an argument and accomplished something.
