Can you handle customers who try to cheat you?

Customers are gods. But not all of them, not always.

“I own a business that ships a variety of products all over the US & Canada. Recently a customer purchased quantity 5 bottles of the same essential liquid widgets. The day they came in stock we shipped out immediately. Several days after delivery we got an email stating that she only received 3 of the 5 bottles and asking when the other 2 would be shipped. I packed this order myself I know she did receive 5 bottles. They were packaged together by the manufacturer and my receipt from that day shows a quantity of 5 received by them…”

Does this woe of a retailer selling his goods online sound familiar to you?

While online retail and e commerce is increasing manifolds, dishonest customers out to make a quick buck by pulling a fast one on you is unfortunate fallout one just has to deal with.

The numerous grouses and complaints against the Big Billion sale this month on Flipkart put into focus how vocal and unforgiving customers can be when it comes to buying online. A huge uproar followed the regular “out of stock” issue on the site that day, others complained about their orders getting missed out or being charged more than the offer price.

What this uproar does not bring to forth is the other side to this story; the side that shows how customers can actually be the villains.

So what exactly are the tricks dishonest customers use?

Missing Items– A cursory look through forums for online sellers and buyers would bring out this most common complaint from sellers.They shipped the order themselves, checked everything themselves, have documents proving the same, yet the customer alleges his order was missing. The result, customer demands a refund.

Damaged Goods– A customer sends in a complaint of having received a broken item- this after the customer signed and accepted the package at the time of delivery. Obviously, the customer demands a refund.

Dissatisfied– Many customers misuse the trial period/refund window on major ecommerce stores to actually use the product they order and then return it saying they “didn’t like it as much” or “it wasn’t the same as in the picture” or other such random comments.

Apart from these common excuses, the creative dishonest customer has an arsenal of reasons to buy a product and get his money back.

Sample this, the father of a friend of mine, ordered a Bluetooth adapter from Flipkart– a product that he chose to buy from a retailer on the site owing to the lower price. Having received the delivery, he chose to write to the retailer asking for a refund three days after saying the product was not as good looking as in the picture on the site. Two weeks and few angry calls later, he was a proud owner of a Bluetooth adaptor that worked perfectly AND a shopping voucher worth two thousand rupees as a compensation for his “ordeal”.

What choices do you have?

As a retailer, selling goods to a faceless customer sitting miles away from you, your choices are very limited.

This retailer on eBay for instance was faced with a possible consumer court case and was arm twisted into refunding the purchase a customer made on the site.

Like a kidnapper holding you to ransom, customers have you by the throat with their demands at times.

Refund is the most dreaded one of them. Giving back the money is a tricky thing to agree to, since not only are you giving away your product for free, you are also creating a dangerous precedence for other customers to follow.

An angry customer is not a good situation for your reputation and business. Remember, customers have the power of social media at their fingertips and lose no time in screaming “injustice” from roof tops.

This is a fact the customer knows and understands far too well. Milking this to the best effect, the customer makes his next best demand, a Gift voucher. Not only do you have to refund, you also might have to add in a few free purchases the next time the customer comes to you.

Civil consumer court cases are another huge threat that a retailer faces- refunding the money is always easier and cheaper than getting into a legal tussle with a customer bent of fleecing you.

Faced with either of the situations, where do you look for help? Can the site you are selling your goods on be of any help?

The eStore is silent bystander.

More often than not, the estore / marketplace you sell your goods on is just a silent spectator to your predicament.

Flipkart, SnapDeal, Jabong, leading online retail marketplaces put the onus of checking the veracity of goods sold and the delivered products on the seller and buyer. They would put the grieving customer in touch with the seller, but then wash their hands off.

Few like eBay have a policy that is heavily biased against the seller and skewed to please the customer (however unjustified the demand might be). For obvious reasons as well. They can go to the extent of blacklisting you from selling on their store or sometimes even forcing you to give out extra freebies to get the matter sorted.

What do you do then?

Ecommerce is a tough business. Getting tough in the business is sometimes the only option.

• Judge each complaint and customer on a case by case basis– never ever have a blanket policy towards addressing customer complaints. This could backfire and alienate your prospective loyal honest customers as well. Instead, assess each complaint on its own merit and then take a call.

• Ensure your delivery process is foolproof– choose reputed and trusted partners for delivery and packaging. Keep the documentation accurate and handy, ensure a quality check at as many points as possible in the process and keep the customer aware of these checks.

• Spell out legal obligations well before a purchase- formulate a policy on refunds and cash back window periods, and advertise this clearly at the time of purchase. The cloudier your policy on this front are, the easier it is for the customer to take advantage of you.

• Be ready to ignore/fight it out – Sometimes, it is wise to take a stand and not give in to the customer’s unjustified demands. There is no benefit in giving in everytime and appearing weak and easy to ply is there? A strong rebuttal based on solid facts that is later well advertised to other customers will go a long way in deterring possible customers looking to make a quick buck by fleecing you.

The world of ecommerce is an inherently tricky mine field. The entire business is built on trust between the seller and the buyer. Any of the two sides breaking this trust can only harm the entire business. While you stay true to your values, one can only hope at the end of the day that the good customers outnumber the ones that aren’t.