Would you refund a second refund request?

HELL NO . no money for that one.

That's just ridiculous! Maybe they bought it the second time so that they could save it to their hard drive before they got the refund! (via screenshots, etc.) -- I would try to ask them why they did this twice and bust their chops a little bit, but due to your 30 policy it can be a tough one.

It's the price of doing biz online!

Darn thieves.

Best,
Shane

Hi Daniel

If you're offering a refund, then if I was you, I'd grit my teeth and give it, then I'd try and ensure I blocked that person from ever buying from me again.

I agree with Shane, I'd def ask them why they bought again as well

Kim

I'd say unless your refund policy states what you said above that it only applies to the first order, then you need to issue the refund since you have a 30 day return policy. Let this person know that you will not sell them any additional products in the future. Can you not fulfill their order in the future or is it automated? I'd say to go ahead and add a clause to your refund policy so its clear in case this happens again!

Don't offer refunds. Go out of your way to make the point that you are both business people responsible for your own investments. This will scare away the faint of heart.

You will still get people who demand a refund and you will have to give it to them because of merchant agreements, but the frequency goes waaaaay down.

I wouldn't give him refund, it's his fault to buy a bad product (in his opinion, if he asked refund both times) twice.

I agree with Steve. Give the guy his money back and ban this dude from buying any more of your products. I have dealt with something similar before and customers like these can be real headaches.

I agree with Steve here - it may not even be an intentional duplication though.
I have actually bought the same product twice myself (about 2 weeks apart).
Got carried away by the apparent value and totally forgot I had a copy sitting in my "Downloads awaiting action" box!!

I hadn't asked for a refund though and this example smacks of either sharp practice or plain stupidity!
A friend of mine follows a simple maxim (and I'm now applying it too) - just refund and move on, getting worked up about it doesn't do you any good and probably would have no effect on either those in the "Sharp Practice" bracket or those who are just too stupid to know any better! Just treat it as part of the internet environment - and if your process allows for it then yes - BAN THEM!

John

he/she clearly knows exactly what's in your package before
they made their second purchase... What was their reason
for the second refund request?

Glenn

I had someone ask for a refund once because they already owned the product. They blamed me for writing good sales copy. Point being, the buyer may not remember buying your product the first time. If they ask for a refund again, then ban them from buying from you again if you have the capability.


Edit: I just recalled, my customer didn't ask for a refund, he asked for credit toward another product. Almost forgot I kept the money!

Oh...now that you tell more of the story, I can see this guy was trouble from the start. Some customers are more trouble than they are worth (monetarily speaking). Good luck with that one!

I think you should just refund his money and forget about him, like others have said.

Life's too short to stress out about one guy who may or may not be taking advantage of your policy. But in the end you should honor your policy.

Tell them there is a 30% restocking fee and that a refund is only applicable if returned unused in the original packaging .

I don't understand why you didn't ban him after the first refund considering the pre-sale occurrences.

I have the exact opposite problem of you Daniel. A customer keeps ordering the same product every few months and never asks for a refund.

Terry

If you put in your sales letter a refund guaranty then, Just refund, no questions ask, don't mind about the get 'n go.

As long as your product is properly branded doesn't matter if one in a million try to take advantage of your good will.

You have 999.999 other customers to take care.

A get 'n go fellow maybe in the future could become a fine and loyal customer.

I do agree with refund and ban approach..it seems like more logical and the "customers" will not have hard feelings regardless of their intentions.

Is this person really worth all this grief? You have a refund policy in place and you have to honor this refund regardless of this persons intentions. Don't let some idiot label you as not trustworthy and end up possibly damageing your reputation. Refund his money and carry on with business and avoid any confrontation by revamping your refund policy to prevent people like this from playing these games!!
Just my opinion... you did ask for it

Alton

IMHO, it's not worth having them bad mouth you publicly for a few dollars. It sucks, but you really should refund them and then blacklist them. Problem solved. Think of it as a fee you need to pay to get rid of them.

Refunds are a part of any business. I'd give the refund and wouldn't lose a minute's sleep over it.

Dude- don't even WAIT for the request...

Show this ignorant, dripping goat's ***** that you won't put up with this kind of nonsense. Refund him yourself, and ban him.

You ARE allowed to "Fire" your customers, you know...:p

Peace,

Gman

PS - For more on the "Goat" alliteration, see "The Talisman" by Stephen King/Peter Straub

There is your answer.

Sorry Glenn . . .

That dude is my retirement plan. Ha! Ha!

I gave a guy 3 refunds for the same product in one day. For a while there, he would pay and I would pay him back, then it he would pay again. I guess he had his finger on fully automatic. Anyhow, after 3 times, I told him the next one I would keep. He wasn't trying to cause trouble, he just wasn't sure of how to use the pay button on Paypal.

But, for trouble makers, I ban them with my DLGuard setup. For all my software I sell on Ebay, I have to send out a cd. I offer refunds, but I tell them to return the cd first. Sending back a cd is a lot of effort for some people, so many never send them back...or get the refund.

I think you're stuck as unfair as it seems. You do offer the refund, after all, and Judge Judy would hold your feet to the fire.

I would ask why he's doing this little dance, though. And I would do everything I could to deny further purchases by him.

As some earlier posters have confessed, I have also bought products more than once in error. Three times, in fact. I kept two of them because they were relatively small and it was my stupid mistake. I returned one because it was someone with resell rights who named the product differently. I'm still not sure if they were allowed to do that. I don't think it was PLR so perhaps not, but who knows?

Hi Daniel,

If he's entitled to the refund, then I suppose you're obligated to give it. But
you may want to consider beating his ass.

Just sayin'...

Daniel,

In business our name/reputation is what drives our sales. this fellow may ask for a refund but has not yet. if in fact he does here is what you do. you give him the refund that is what you said that is what you do.. then you change your policy to a no refund policy and you move on.

will it hurt sales on the contrary as I have learned from some of the best online they do not offer yet seem to excel in their sales after changing to a no refund policy. I offer a refund on some sites I run and no on others right now I am testing and so far sales are pretty good with the no and not so good with.

Remember this is business your name is more important then a few bucks no biggie he messes himself out of any other fantastic product you may bring out in the future. seo bazooka kicks @ss so if that is any indication he is the one missing out ban his ip address and move on.
cheers
-WD

Personally I don't think I would want to refund him. If he actually wants a refund then he should contact paypal or whoever.

All you need to do when he has contacted paypal or clickbank ( whichever ) is to show them prove that he has asked for a refund for the same product before and then decided to buy again only to ask for a refund.

I am having the same issue with a guy who thinks he is smart but does not know there are people smarted than him.

Don't refund him, make life difficult for him. Refunding him will only make him feel he is smart.

I wouldn't understand why anybody would do that. In addition, I don't understand why people offer a discount on an affiliate promotion. You could then just buy the product, get the discount from the affiliate then, ask for the refund and end up making money on the deal, and the kicker is, is the product is a downloadable thing, then the chances of them deleted the product is slim to none. But, anyway, I dont understant why anybody would offer two refunds for the same purchase.

First of all Pay pal will not push a refund on a digital product .

I know people that sell everything through digital download for that fact . They may be selling a physical product but they force the customer to get the order information through pdf .

It appears to pay pal that the customer bought an ebook.

Now saying all of that . Daniel you are a promising young future IM star if you stay on the right track . Do you want something as petty as pushing a button to refund tarnishing your reputation?

In the world of Blogs , forums and twitter , whether founded or not , your reputation can be destroyed in 500 words or less .

HeyDaniel. No i wont. Just because the refund period is over from the first time he bought it. Simple and easy... NO

As bad as it feels, I'd do it. They are not worth the time and hassle anyways.

Just refund, ban him from buying anything else from you and move on.

Daniel,

Why not take a complete different tactic with the guy. Before he can send you an email asking for a refund, email him and ask how he is getting along with the product this time. If he replies anything but with a positive answer, send him a second email informing him you are going ahead and giving him his refund immediately.

Then thank him for giving you a second try.

Be proactive, and put him behind you.

It's a pity that they don't give you a way to reinstate an old charge. If such a thing could happen, I would just reinstate the old charge and say SORRY, NO REFUNDS! After all, assuming he got it, remembers he did, etc... He bought it AGAIN because he needed and needs it.

But I have to ask WHY he wants a refund. I once did a chargeback because a company denied me access to the purchased product. If it was a monopoly, and I didn't have my pride, I would want to try AGAIN! I gave them 1 or 2 weeks to allow me access before I did the chargeback, in fact. IF it failed that time, I would AGAIN be entitled to a chargeback for the SAME reason. So SOMETIMES....

Steve

Put into your WSO , no second refund requests , period , end of story.

That should fix it.

And for that person, no refund, they are dodo birds. LOL

BayAreaSteve

Yes, just give the person the refund.

It's just good business and really doesn't cost you much. Besides, your offer says you will give the refund. No mention of qualifications to get it?

I don't give customers the option of refunding from me twice. I use DLGuard and when I get a refund, I ban the customer from purchasing from me again. I don't have any serial refunders and not interested in "converting" these a**holes to customers.

A refund perhaps less processing costs which might wipe out the refund. That's crazy.

Just give it to them.

This is business as usual in my eyes.

Would it be right if I went to Wal-Mart, bought an Ipod then returned it only to come back at a later date and purchase it again just to return it later in the day?

Sure the manager may think something shady is going on, but what can he do?

Ban me from Wal-Mart?

One could argue against my idea simply because we may be dealing with DIGITAL products than can easily be replicated for free, and I wholeheartedly agree that certain precautions should me made in this line of products.

But to me this scenario is business as usual, I tend not to be paranoid of such things, instead I focus on building good customer/subscribe relationships and bonds, thus my refund rate is very low because of this.

Hey Daniel, you're obviously a good man. About 3-4 months ago I had a woman order three different CB products of mine over a one week period. Then, all on the same day I got refund requests for every one of those purchases. I know she scammed me, but know what--I'm better off working on marketing, product development, or cooking a rib eye on the grill outside than losing sleep over some moron's quest to get products for free.

You're a better person than your customer. Sometimes you just have to put on your hip-waders and trek through the BS (as annoying as it may be). You have many more important things to do with your life guy. The world is waiting patiently for your next big idea--spend your time giving it to them and let the maggots feast on their own excreta out there.

My very best for your continued success!!! --Mike

I had a customer buy from me twice. When I asked them why they said they got a new computer and needed the ebook again.

It happens!

- Michael.

All I have to say, you must have one heck of a sales page.

If it is a download and does not cost you anything just give him the money and stop worrying about it.

That is why you are in a lot better position than he is. Smile and carry on.

I woudl think twice before doing this! How valuble is there custom?

Why would you ask for a second refund. This guy is taking you for a ride

How exactly can you ban someone from purchasing your product?

Ban by email? (can create another)
Ban by paypal email? (same as above)
Ban by IP (can switch IP)

I mean what is the technical means to make this happen?

Daniel,

How much are we talking about here?

Is it as little as $15 as perhaps mentioned by the guy?

Business is all about dealing with assholes firmly, but politely and getting them off your business lines, so that you can concentrate on the good guys.

Anything less than $100 and I wouldn't even waste more than the 20 seconds it takes to refund the transaction.

Sam

P.S. - For anyone who thinks they can have a policy of NO REFUNDS, then think again.

Check your local laws.

I know people who have been sued for tens of thousands of dollars all because they didn't abide by consumer laws regarding some piddley little transaction.

Get off your high horses and get in the real world. Otherwise, the ABC government agencies will force you to see the light.

Don't take it personally. It is a cost of doing business.

Sam

Almost every time someone asks ofr a refund you can pretty safely be sure they are a d-bag.

But, I always just send the refund anyway, for the following 2 reasons:

1. It get's them out of your hair!

2. If you try to reason with a d-bag, they will likely turn crazy on you and do something really weird and possibly harmful to your business.

So I say... "Go away! Here's your refund!"

It sucks this person did it twice. But still, send them their refund and tell them they are no longer welcome as a customer. Then you get to move on down the road and focus on what matters!

Good luck to you. I know the feeling. Sorry you have to go through this.

This is one of those peas under the mattress that you have deal with when you enter into this business. Refund and move on. Don't lose a lot of sleep over it. I am sure that we are not talking big money here, so why worry.

I think the right answer is to refund and block as many have said. My question is how do you block? Are you gonna block his IP Address? Or only block his email address? Or maybe block his name. I have blocked a few purchasers email address who I knew to be problem folks, but I realize how easy it is to get another email address and get back in to start the whole cycle again...

I'm relatively new to Warriors but not to running a business (I've been doing that in one form or the other for over a decade) . The fact that you have a 30 day refund policy does NOT automatically mean that everyone gets a refund. There are a whole lot of things that can void a return policy particularly if fraud is involved. I'd need to see your return policy.

However at first I thought he had already asked for a refund not that he was going to and it seems like you are having some dialogue about the product.

It IS possible that this person isn't really trying to scam you. In my time I have met some pretty schizophrenic customers. He may have tried it the first time then later thought that maybe there was something to it and now he's back but too daft to get it or its value yet again.

People think in the most craziest of ways even when thinking they are being honest.

I can't agree with the refund immediately even when its obvious scamming (and it has to be VERY obvious not just strongly suspected). I may honor the request but not without making them wait or jump through a few hoops. Automatic refunds for scammers is like immediate gratification and only encourages them to do it more. In reality you can't really ban a scammer. You can force him to use someone else accounts or names but you really can't block them entirely from buying. The only thing that stops a scammer from continuing to scam is legal action (terribly unlikely), not getting back his money or just finding it too much a pain in the neck to get it back.