Forum Moderators: buckworks
Now, this download is just a zip file and the unzipped product is merely a folder full of html files. The product is an entire website. There is most certainly no "installing" to be done and the readme file (available pre-download and as a pop-up on the download page with "Read Before Downloading" in a huge font alongside) gives full instructions on how to unzip anway.
It is my opinion that the said customer is "trying it on". She has what she paid for, realised she could just download it and claim her money back.
I use 2CO for payment processing and they have advised me to "put it down to experience and cancel, preferably within 48hrs to avoid chargeback fees".
This customer is blatantly STEALING from me and I'm the one who has to blink first, or face chargeback fees? Err, yep, that's the long and short of it.
does anyone else here have these problems with downloaded acquisitions? What is your strategy for these people who try and get something for nothing?
I have this issue with PDF files believe it or not. But here's the thing - you assume she's trying to commit fraud over (I am guessing) 50 bucks. Not so likely... maybe over 5000 bucks and maybe over 50 bucks when she can do it quietly without anyone knowing. But she genuinely doesn't know what a Zip file is. Zip files are not recongized by default on many operating systems, including windows 2000 and probably even early XP - so you gave her a file she can't open.
Be nice - it's your customer support skills that you need now. If she is trying to steal, then not helping her will not arm her, but helping her will either make her feel thankful (most likely) or humble.
Either way, you only gain.
Really... ZIP files confuse the heck out of non techies.
Alternative: There are some really well witten 'Terms of Sale' out there from some of the major companies that outline up-front, there is no recourse once downloaded. The buyer must agree and read the terms before the purchase is accepted.
[edited by: Jon_King at 5:06 pm (utc) on Mar. 17, 2006]
It's worth the cost to avoid a chargeback. You get too many of them, and you'll create other problems with your merchant account provider.
-Corey
I did the "right thing" and gave the customer a level of membership on my site which not only encompassed the original software she downloaded but also 6 months' access to the "premium" version of my site. And I didn't charge her an extra penny so she was getting the deal (CD download plus 6 months' access) for half price.
so I went to my member control panel and changed her expiry date to September 16 (6 months ahead of her "sign up date").
I get a mail from her today which I expected to be along the lines of: "wow, thanks for my free membership" but she actually wrote, paraphrased:
I just saw my 6-month membership expires on the 16th September - and not on the 19th which is six months from today.
do I qualify for the worst possible customer? At least the award gathering dust on my mantelpiece would give me some level of solace whilst replying to her nth e-mail of complaint.
I sell ebooks myself, and problems with download occur nearly every day once you have volume. I usually offer to post them a hard copy of the ebook for free. Its good customer service and helps drum up more business. Fortunately, costs where I live (Hong Kong) aren't that expensive and I price my products accordingly anyway.
I would delete her from your system after writing her a letter telling her such. give a person an inch and usually they will take a mile.
-Corey
the sheer cheek of some people...
equally we could say "the sheer foolishness of some people" .......... (not meant in a nasty way!)
some customers are a real pain - if they are like that with you now, they will be like it with anyone, probably all the time - get rid of them and let them annoy your competitors instead
She has really shown her colors I think and you really have to ask yourself - is she worth it? While we all want to try to please our customers, there are some people that you can never please.
-Corey
Give her the money back and do no further business from her. 5% of your customers give 95% of your headaches. Please the ones you can and write off the unpleasable.
I've also put on hold another account this evening - this is another weird story. Bloke gets in touch with me asking for free access because he's a volunteer teaching in poor villages in Romania, etc, etc (I have an education website). I get probably one request a week for free access and usually ignore them.
But I checked out this guy via his blog and he really is there in the downtrodden villages of rural Romania. So I thought to myself, "ok, bit of nice PR here..won't cost me anything". So I wrote back to him offering him a free account (only talking 50 bucks here, but still...it's the thought that counts) and saying I only wanted in return a good bit of verbal publicity on his part to the other teachers he meets on his travels and a mention on his blog.
that was a month ago. I wrote to him 2 weeks back asking if everything was OK. No reply. I wrote to him 5 days ago asking the same...and if he had managed to get that link onto his blog. Niente. Nada. Rien. Zip.
So I blocked his account tonight. If he doesn't even have the decency to acknowledge me, why should he have FREE access to a site everyone else is paying for? He manages to get online daily to write his blog and I know from reading that blog that he is getting mails from around the world. We exchanged 5 or 6 mails a month back without a problem ....as soon as his account name and pw were posted to him, I haven't seen hide nor hair of him. Oh, and my access logs tell me he's accessing the site on a near daily basis.
not anymore he ain't!
why are you still making life difficult for yourself?
(and why do i bother giving advice / opinions?)
I usually have no correspondence with 95% of my users - this one has been a bit problematic but we are still talking about maybe 5 e-mails written for a total time expenditure of 7-8 mintues.
For her to literally be "more hassle than it's worth", she would have to be far worse than she is. It's taken a little more trouble to get her on board, but she's still worth the price of the ticket.
