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osCommerce

The e-commerce.

Off Topic question to store owners.


zoti

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Posted

I sell one product at the value of about $30-$40. I ship to customers based on the address they put when they sign up on my website.

 

So this customer signed up and put the wrong address. I use PayPal for payment and he put his correct address there. The difference was a wrong city and zip code.

 

I have shipped the product a week ago. He contacted me today saying he did not receive it and that he noticed that his address is wrong. He asked me to ship again to his correct address.

 

What would you do based on your experience?

 

1.Ask him to make a second order and promise a refund when the package sent to the wrong address return to you?

 

2. Tell him that he needs to wait until you receive the package back before you can ship it to the right address?

 

3. Just send another package at your lost?

 

This is the first time it happend to me so I need some help.

 

Thanks.

Posted
I sell one product at the value of about $30-$40. I ship to customers based on the address they put when they sign up on my website.

 

So this customer signed up and put the wrong address. I use PayPal for payment and he put his correct address there. The difference was a wrong city and zip code.

 

I have shipped the product a week ago. He contacted me today saying he did not receive it and that he noticed that his address is wrong. He asked me to ship again to his correct address.

 

What would you do based on your experience?

 

1.Ask him to make a second order and promise a refund when the package sent to the wrong address return to you?

 

2. Tell him that he needs to wait until you receive the package back before you can ship it to the right address?

 

3. Just send another package at your lost?

 

This is the first time it happend to me so I need some help.

 

Thanks.

 

Tell him to send it back to you, and when you get it you will reship it to the correct address. That worked for me when I was selling on eBay. Otherwise, he could wind up with two products and not pay you for the second one.

 

Paul

Posted

Paul, how would the customer send it back if they don't have it and it was shipped to the wrong city/zip? :unsure:

 

Zoti (and other shop owners) Always give your customer the benefit of the doubt and 99% of the time you'll be happy you did. Most importantly your customer will be happy and feel great for being honest and sending the extra item back if they happen to get another. For the 1% that screw you, well that's just business and you'll more than make up for it in sales from loyal customers.

 

I've had a similar issue... customer used PayPal and the address they entered at our shop was different than the paypal address. I shipped to the address on the order, not the paypal address and of course I was wrong (even if the customer didn't take a second to review their order before confirming it). Fortunately, it was her fathers address in another state or something like that. Anyway, I shipped a replacement to the right address and asked her to have the original forwarded back to us.

 

Even if the customer gave the wrong city/zip in your shop, I'd still ship another and simply hope that the other address does not exist and the package will be returned to you. If not, lesson learned. Check the addresses in the future and if they don't match, contact the customer to confirm the ship to.

 

These are IMO of course and this is how I run my business. :thumbsup:

Posted

As a good business practace you should always get a tracking number from your shipper when you ship a package this way when there has been an error with the address you can check with the shipper online or by phone as to the status of the package.

 

I use FedEx most of the time and print the shipping lables from my account with them. With FedEx you can opt to have an email sent to you and the customer when the package is shipped, delivered and if there is an exception.

 

When I'm notified there is an exception I contact the customer and verify there address, in almost every case there has been an error on there part. A quick call to FedEx and the address correction in made and the package is delivered. There is a $5.00 charge for this but if your shipping a high dollar item, a one of a kind item or just don't want to wait for it to be returned to you and then re-ship it this is the way to go. Also you will be billed for the original shipping and the reship costs.

 

Although I don't use UPS I'm sure there is a simular process with them, and I have yet had an issue with USPS so I don't know what there process is.

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Posted

I ship USPS first class with no tracking. Most of them arrive and I have a high volume of low cost items so I can't sped much time comparing the addresses.

Posted

Not to be smart, but the $0.50 extra for delivery confirmation and a tracking number from USPS will save you $30-40 down the road. You can grab a stack of forms from your post office or ask your postman for a bunch. Fill them out ahead of time and it will save a bunch. Or get something like Stamps.com and you get delivery confirmation for free and a tracking number preprinted directly on the shipping label printed by them. Plus it allows USPS to track it and get it back to you should there be a delivery problem like you have now. Personally, I would never reship anything unless I truly knew that the customer never received it. We used to sell electronic equipment valued at anywhere from $50 and up to $1000+ and you would be amazed at the numbers of "loyal" people there aren't in the US... :) There is always the risk of alienating a potentially good customer, but that is a risk in business. If Walmart allowed customers to return everything without receipts they would go bankrupt in a year. They have established a business policy that says they won't replace something unless you can prove you bought it from them. The same applies to shipping in a way. If they can't prove they didn't get it, they don't deserve another.

 

Now with that said, I would look at the situation another way too. If perhaps, the addresses were highly similar between the address they entered on the site and the address in PayPal (i.e. the street address is the same, just the city and zip code are different), they could have moved and made a typo. I would probably resend in that case. If the two are completely different, or the state is completely different, I would hesitate highly on reshipping. The bad part is that PayPal won't protect you, the seller, if the address you ship to is different from the address they entered on your website.

 

Ultimately the decision is yours and how comfortable you feel with the situation. Every situation is different and you can gain a level of confidence in most customers you speak to.

Posted

Good points! If you sell highly desireable and resellable or high-ticket (hey buddy, get new stereo speakers over here. they're real cheap! :devil: ) items like electronics, sports equipment, jewelry etc. then you should be more skeptical than if you sell plants, food, general gifts, crafts etc. However I've worked for a few large catalog/online companies (one as a customer service manager with a call center of reps to coach) and learned a great deal about customer service and as the old saying goes... "the customer is always right" and this applies in the online world even more so than offline being as there are far more online competitors for what you sell than offline. I've dealt with so many unprofessional online shop owners that won't think twice about blaming you or the post office or anyone but themselves just so they don't feel like they have to solve your problem. The really big corp companies like Walmart don't NEED YOU and are willing to risk losing you as a customer to save a few bucks. The medium companies usually treat you well and the small business owners are pretty crabby when something goes wrong because they care too much about the $10 or $20 it might take to make a $50 or $60 customer happy one time.

 

I do agree that if someone flat out gives you the wrong address, then they should be responsible for the costs in replacing or retrieving the shipment but for an honest mistake like explained above, make the customer feel good about ordering with you instead of dwelling on the fact that they made a mistake. Make someone feel bad even for a second and they may never come back even if the mistake was theirs.

 

Anyway, I'm rambling and could go on forever... going to bed now! -_-

Posted

I use a small postal store to ship everything and the owner claims I can't put delivery confirmation on first class mail. Only on Priority mail.

 

BTW, this is the first time I've had doubts about re-shipping. I have re-shipped many times and I know that I take a risk when I ship without tracking but it is a risk I'm willing to take. Most customers are honest and have sent the package back if they received 2 instead of one.

Posted

I've already decided to send him another one. I have been doing this for the last few months and I don't want to brag but my customers are very satisfied with the customer service I give them. One reason is that I do ship a second order if it is lost in the mail.

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