Do you offer 30 back guarantees for service?

money back offers for non-products

[jlowder]

I recently hired a copywriter to create my ad copy for the main page of my website. I'll be selling monthly memberships to various tools and as part of his copy he put in a 30 day guarantee - if they don't like it they can cancel and get their money back.

While I don't really object to doing this, I was wondering what everyone elses experience has been with this? Do you end up refunding a lot of money (yes, I'm fairly confident in the value of the services)?

My only hesitation with this is when it comes to affiliate payments. I'll make my payments once a month and after paying that out, a user could cancel and request a full refund. This leaves open the possibility of fraud or loss of money. How do you handle this?

Jason

[dmorison]

I provide a web service and have always offered a free trial rather than a money back guarantee. This means that no payment is due unless a customer really wants the service (and can therefore be non-refundable) and also shows your confidence in the service far more (IMHO) than a money back guarantee, which many people I think associate with the "oh it's going to be impossible to get my money back" and if anything implies a lack of confidence in your service.

Granted, some people will make use of it for the trial period and benefit from that use without ever paying a penny, but if, like you say, you have confidence in your product then people will buy.

What are your thoughts on a free trial?

[jlowder]

That's not a bad idea actually.

The money back guarantee was the product of the copywriters imagination - I hadn't really considered that aspect of it yet.

I'm guessing I could set the merchant system up to start billing 30 days after signup and simply allow for the first month to be free.

I'll look into doing it that way.

Thanks.