PO confirms delivery. Customer says otherwise.

[tappel]

I use the US Postal Service's delivery confirmation for domestic packages.I have a customer who is claiming he never received his order, despite the fact that the USPS confirms delivery, and he is demanding a refund ASAP.

I suppose I have no choice but to issue a refund, as my customer satisfaction (after 6 months) is perfect. I guess it could've been lost or stolen after delivery. I just get skeptical; this guy went straight to my credit card processor to demand a refund. I never heard from him directly. Oh well.......


Tom

[WayneK]

I would send a replacement. What does your policy say?

[tappel]

I don't have a policy regarding such claims. I guess now is the time to develop one. If he wants a refund, he'll get it. I'll offer him a replacement and see how that flies.

Thanks,
Tom

[dank]

Have you checked to see if USPS provides any sort of delivery guarantee along with delivery confirmation? I know it's different from insurance on the package, but isn't the whole point of delivery confirmation to prove that the package got to who you shipped it to? Either the guy is right and USPS didn't do their job, or he's a lying sack of dung. Either way, it shouldn't be you who's responsible. There needs to be a way of taking up issues like this between your CC processor and USPS... You shouldn't even be involved in the mess at that point. Leave it to the people that don't care about you to fight it out...

Dan

[tappel]

The USPS does offer "signature required"service, but that's an option that I won't use for day-to-day orders.

Interestingly enough, this particular customer has yet to reply to my emails or phone calls (he requested a refund directly from my CC processor; he made no attempt to contact me). I'm wondering if he thought the CC processor would just issue him a refund right off the bat - no questions asked. I emailed/phoned him with delivery confirmation info and he has yet to respond.

Maybe I'm making more out of this than it deserves; I just think it was curious that he was so adamant about getting a refund from the credit card processor while making no attempt to contact the website that sold him the goods.

Tom

[Rich]

The USPS does offer "signature required"service, but that's an option that I won't use for day-to-day orders.
You will need a signature in order to have any chance of fighting and winning the chargeback dispute. In addition, you will need the following:

(1) The signature must be the person who placed the order (billing address).

(2) You used AVS to confirm the billing address at the time of the order.

(3) You shipped to the billing address.

With these three, you will (most of the time) win your chargeback dispute. Without all of these, you will simply need to "write it off."

Maybe I'm making more out of this than it deserves; I just think it was curious that he was so adamant about getting a refund from the credit card processor while making no attempt to contact the website that sold him the goods.
This is not unusual. By itself, it does not indicate fraudulent activity.

I suppose I have no choice but to issue a refund, as my customer satisfaction (after 6 months) is perfect.
Be careful how you handle this. I would advise you call your merchant bank and discuss this with their "chargeback department."

If you have received a "retrieval" or request for confirmation prior to a chargeback then you DO NOT want to issue a refund or you might find that both the refund AND the chargeback get processed. Also, if the customer does contact you, DO NOT reship the merchandise until you have talked to your bank. If you are not careful here you could be out TWO batches of product and still get a chargeback. You want to make sure YOUR bank has reversed the chargeback first and that it "sticks" before you take corrective action.

Again, your bank that manages your merchant account should be "in the loop" to resolve this type of customer complaint.

[Terra]

I have a customer who is claiming he never received his order, despite the fact that the USPS confirms delivery
Hmmm, I must have missed the news about AOL buying out the USPS!

Their new motto: "When you absolutely positively really didn't need to have it anyhow!"

:P

--
Terra
--thinks he should crawl out from under his rock more often--
FutureQuest

[tappel]

Sigh.......

The guy provided the wrong shipping address (he inverted 2 digits in his 4 digit address).

Not surprisingly, he is an AOL user.

[Nancjo]

I am kinda late on the reply to this subject but I think what happend to us may be of some use to someone here.

I too, had a delivery confirmation from USPS that a customer said they never received the package.

I went to my local USPS and talk to the postmaster there. She informed me that I can fill out a claim in turn I send it to the person who said they did not receive the package and a tracking would be done. I informed the customer, that the USPS is a federal agency and falsifying any information could get them into trouble. (Not sure is they could get in real trouble for lying or not) but I never heard from them and to this day they have not attempted any type of reversal.

Just a trick to try if you have the problem again. Not really a trick since there is a form that can be filled out and both parties have to sign it.

Nancy