Refunds

I guess... if you feel like being vindictive and think it's no big deal to jeopardize their account when you may not fully understand the situation on their side. A chargeback should really be your last resort, just after writing congress and taking hostages.

As has been mentioned: The seller decides their refund policy, if any. They are not required to offer a guarantee, and if they don't, don't ask us to do anything about it.

If no policy is stated, you should assume there are no refunds offered. (Note: I'm talking about how we handle things here, not what is required based on local laws. It's up to the seller to comply with those.)

If a seller fails to honor a posted refund policy, the most we can do is ban them until they honor it. We don't handle any of the money in a transaction between buyers and sellers, and we have no ability to force anything.

A few words to the wise...

Be adult about it. Set realistic expectations, and don't buy something casually, thinking, "I'll get a refund if this isn't something magical." That's a crappy way to treat a seller. It's also an irresponsible way to think about your own business.

If you buy that way, it's a sign of a bigger problem. One that pretty much guarantees you will never succeed at making money online.

Read the sales copy. Don't assume there's anything more to the product than what is stated. If you already know the basics of a topic, and there isn't something more advanced promised, don't buy it and then whine about it being "rehashed crap." If the product delivers what was promised, you have very little basis for asking for a refund.

If you feel a refund is appropriate, contact the seller through their recommended channel for customer service first. Be civil. Swearing, screaming, and making threats are not an effective way to get people to cooperate.

If they don't respond within 2-3 business days, ask for the refund in the sales thread. Be sure to mention that you already used their recommended channel. Remain civil.

If you get no response, you need to make a choice. Is it worth filing a dispute with Paypal, for example? Is there a plausible reason the seller might be slow in responding? Does this warrant pushing the matter?

If you decide to file a dispute with Paypal, and the seller tells you that they won't issue the refund until you close the dispute, do not close the dispute.

It's uncommon, but we've had a few people who pulled that. Once the dispute was closed, they simply stopped communicating with the customer, and eventually had to be banned for failure to honor their posted policies. Doesn't get you your money back.

If they don't respond to a Paypal dispute within 3 business days, escalate to a claim.

Just be aware that Paypal will side with the seller in most cases involving digital goods or service offers.

Basically, shop smart and don't bet money you can't afford to lose.

And to the sellers: Don't test us on this. The mods don't care how much money you spend on advertising. Ain't our money, and it ain't relevant to the rules. This is not the issue to play around with.

Don't put a "100% Satisfaction Guaranteed" graphic on your buy button and leave out a written guarantee and think that gives you an out. If we see that button we will treat it as a 60-day, no questions asked guarantee if you use Paypal, and whatever the maximum is with whatever other payment processor you might choose.

That phrase has very clear meanings to the potential customer. Don't try to weasel around it. If you don't want to offer a guarantee, just don't use that phrase. Easy enough.

If you post a refund policy, including "There are no refunds," it must be the same size as the predominant text in the ad. Putting stuff in small, grey fonts at the bottom isn't going to work in your favor.

If someone asks for a refund and you swear at them and call them a moron, don't ask us to delete the post when they quote you on it. That is part of the customer experience and, assuming you actually said it, a legitimate thing for them to comment on.

Sorry, guys, but that had to be said.

If someone asks for a refund in the thread, we will not delete that post until after the refund has been sent (if one is owed), and we won't delete it at all if it includes a real review. ("This sucks and you're an idiot" is not a review.)

Asking for a refund does NOT mean the person can't post their review of the product. If it did, that would leave a simple way to game the system and make it look like everything was sunshine and puppies.

If you tell us someone didn't buy, in an attempt to get a negative post deleted, and we get proof they did buy... you can expect a ban.

That dog won't hunt.

Also, you are required to have at least one channel for communicating with customers outside this forum. It MUST be mentioned either in the original ad, or in the email they get when they order. Since emails get lost often enough, it's probably good to post it in the ad, too.

Keep in mind that the forum could be down, the customer may not have enough posts to send a PM, etc.

Skype, by itself, is not sufficient as a sole support system unless you state that specifically in the ad. People should not have to install special software to communicate with you about issues.

Back to the customers: You get, as a rule, ONE post to review the product. You may edit that if things change, and you may add an additional post in very unusual circumstances. You may NOT continue on, post after post, with a threadjacking rant. If you try and are reported, all but the first post on the product will be deleted, and you may receive a ban for the abuse.

We don't care if that first post is positive or negative, short or long, but it must be focused on the product or service. Personally bashing the seller isn't allowed. That's not what you were buying.

The sales sections are just that. They are NOT discussion sections. You do not have any "right to free speech" in someone else's paid ad, beyond the right of posting a review. Sellers agree to that much when they buy the ad space.


Paul

Rod,

I may just start editing this stuff into individual posts on my WF blog, and let people point to those when they're relevant. I don't use that for anything commercial anyway, so it shouldn't be a conflict of interest.


Paul