Under what circumstances do you refuse to refund a buyer?

I guess everyone will be different, personally I will refund all request within the money back guarantee period with no question asked. I reckon the relationship is more important to me than the money I received. The trust will be strenghten and they potentially will buy from me many times over in the future.

For me, it would really depend on what I have done since the initial payment. If I have a substantial amount of prep time invested, or materials purchased, then no, I wouldn't give a refund, at least of the whole amount. What's more, if the initial amount I was paid doesn't cover what I've done up to the date of cancellation, you'd get another bill.

But all of that is built into my contracts, so my clients know up front the cost of canceling.

You didn't say WHEN you canceled - was it the day of the 'conversation' (I'm assuming this was some type of coaching session?) or close to it? Did the vendor have to do any prep work in order to provide their service to you? Did your cancellation leave them on the hook or cause them difficulty? If any of those are 'yes', then I think you should expect to pay at least something, just to compensate them for the time and trouble they've already undertaken.

For me (not that I offer such a service), it would depend on whether I could reasonably be expected to re-fill the time-slot ... not necessarily on whether I could actually re-fill it - though I'd refund if I could.

I do think it's not unreasonable for people "selling their specific, appointed time" to have a cut-off after which they don't give refunds (they've arranged their life to be available for you at that time, haven't they?), though ideally one would like that be stated clearly beforehand ... :confused:

For example, it's printed on my dentist's appointment-cards that cancellations within 24 hours of the appointment will incur the full fee if the time-slot can't be filled. (Whether they actually send a bill, or not, I don't know - I haven't cancelled one!).

I suspect, though, if nothing was specified beforehand about this contingency, that you're probably not entitled to a refund, and one being given would be purely ex gratia.

Firstly, I'd encourage that we reschedule. Like wise I'd let you know I was disappointed and that I don't normally reschedule a time slot and that I'm doing you a great favor to do so (that's the businessman/salesman in me).

Secondly, after a short battle, prior to offending, if I determined this was not going to happen. I would likely cancel the transaction and refund the monies, possibly we'd agree that I keep a percentage for my lost opportunity.

Life's too short, we just need to be doing the next right thing.

When you start to talk about "conversations" you paid for - or "consultations" - you are talking about not only a person's time, but their talents as well.

So I ask you this - how much notice did you give to cancel the conversation? Was there a cancellation policy clearly in place when you paid for the conversation/meeting?

Even most doctors offices, massage therapists, physical therapists, etc. will charge you at least a partial fee for not showing up or for canceling without enough notice.

This is because they don't have enough time to find another person to fill the time slot you have essentially wasted.

So the person won't refund you - will he allow you to reschedule?

Hey Beatrice,

I personally always give refunds if requested however if they literally come through 30 seconds after purchasing I ask if there were any problems or issues.

If I get:

"I just want a refund"

I just refund and wish them every success.

Not worth wasting your time with because you have to treat it like they didn't really want it in the first place.

A BIG positive to take from it is that your sales page must work well!

Chris

I would never deny anyone a refund unless there was some type of fraud involved.

This is just a guess, but I'm sure if the cancellation had been the vendor's fault, you would have gotten an immediate refund.

Nevertheless, I don't think this situation warranted checking into the vendor's background. It's a matter of putting a refund policy in writing, and the customer understanding what it is.

Sometimes the lessons you learn along life's journey far out way any initial cost, might be time to focus energy on moving forward in a productive way and if you get the refund in full or part count that as a bonus.

If the item is not returned or if it is clearly a scam.

If you haven't given any service/product yet then it's good to refund to build trust with your customers.

I usually refund just because it's not worth the hassle.

However, one thing that you have to remember when you are dealing with services, particularly with consulting, as it sounds like that is what you are talking about.

The vendor only has so many hours in the day. Once that hour is gone, it is gone forever, you can't get it back.

So if you paid for an hour of their time, had it scheduled, and then canceled at the last minute, that is an hour of paid time that is lost to them. It's not a commodity that they can go ahead and sell to someone else because that time is gone.

Now most of *my* stuff I will always refund, although if someone jacks me around . . . that is the last time they will have an opportunity to do so.

However, when I organized an event, once an exhibitor signed up and was accepted, the fees were nonrefundable. Why? Because we only allowed X number of vendors per category and if we accepted them, it was very likely that we had turned away others.

Also, think about when you sign up for classes. You have to pay the same amount whether you attend or not. They aren't going to refund you because you said you wanted it, they committed to staffing the class and they have that expense whether you are there are not.

You may have had extenuating circumstances, but those are YOUR circumstances. It doesn't mean everyone else has to rearrange their lives because of what is going on in yours.

When it is so far outside of the clearly published terms for a refund as to be unreasonable to expect one to be issued.

I refund when I haven't been able to provide the service that I offered, which is literally never.