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  • My first sucky customer in a long, long time...

    I really don't deal with customers very often anymore, but I have dabbled in selling my recently used textbooks through half.com and Amazon. I think I've sold 4-5, so it isn't like I'm a power seller or anything. I just want to pass my books on to someone for a decent price and cut into the publisher's profits.

    Anyhow, I just sold a book on Amazon for the first time. My class was over on Sunday evening and I put the book up the same day. Within minutes, I had made a sale. Amazon sends me an e-mail telling me that I have to ship it within 2 days of the sale. I went to the post office after work today and sent it on its way. When I got home, I sent the buyer a message to let her know that it was being shipped.

    I just checked my email, and I got this gem from her:

    the website said it would be shipped within 2 days of order, however the shipping estimate is March 11th. How do I cancel this order?
    Now, I don't know why Amazon said she would get the book on the 11th. We live within 90 miles of each other and I'm going to guess that it will be their in a couple of days. I politely told her that Amazon said I would ship the book within 2 days of the order and not that she would get the book in 2 days, especially since she placed the order on Sunday and only paid for standard shipping.

    I'm awaiting her reply, but I'll be damned if I'm going to refund her the money especially when I've already shipped the order. My guess is that she attends the same University as I do and her new class started yesterday.

  • #2
    I've never ordered anything from Amazon, but is it possible that the message she got said it should be SHIPPED by the 11th, not that she would RECEIVE it by then, and she's just reading it wrong?

    It's very possible for even the largest of websites to make mistakes, but it's even more possible for people to misinterpret the information they've been given.

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    • #3
      I've had customers lately who don't seem to understand that there is a shipping cutoff. Yes, we do ship the part overnight, as long as it's in stock and you order before 6PM. If you order before 7PM, it's still possible it will go out, but I won't guarantee it. And I have NO control over what FedEx does.

      Sounds like you're right though - she probably assumed she'd have the book within 2 days for a class that already started. She should have it within the week though, so hopefully she won't be too big a brat about it.
      "In the end I was the mean girl/or somebody's in between girl"~Neko Case

      “You don't need many words if you already know what you're talking about.” ~William Stafford

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      • #4
        Quoth myswtghst View Post
        Sounds like you're right though - she probably assumed she'd have the book within 2 days for a class that already started. She should have it within the week though, so hopefully she won't be too big a brat about it.
        She also had the choice of getting expedited shipping and she just selected standard shipping. I'm guessing that the book will be there by tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.

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        • #5
          I've noticed that Amazon tends to estimate later dates for shipment. Most of the stuff I order from them arrives early. But that's a little bizarre.
          "Even arms dealers need groceries." ~ Ziva David, NCIS

          Tony: "Everyone's counting on you, just do what you do best."
          Abby: "Dance?" ~ NCIS

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          • #6
            If she's that close to where it was shipped from, even with standard shipping it should only take a few days. UPS Ground around here can even be basically overnight when you ship within a 50 mile or so radius.
            "In the end I was the mean girl/or somebody's in between girl"~Neko Case

            “You don't need many words if you already know what you're talking about.” ~William Stafford

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            • #7
              I buy stuff through Amazon all the time. I figure I'll get my stuff when i get my stuff. Shipping dates are NOT carved in stone.

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              • #8
                Yeah, some people are just too impatient to be making purchases over the internet.

                My old boss used to buy a lot of stuff on eBay and sometimes he (or more often my semi-clueless manager) would want me to follow up on something that I had only paid for a week prior and was being shipped ground. I don't even start to think about the possibility of worrying until it's been over two weeks after payment (always PayPal, always backed by a credit card).

                ^-.-^
                Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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                • #9
                  Quoth AdminAssistant View Post
                  I've noticed that Amazon tends to estimate later dates for shipment. Most of the stuff I order from them arrives early. But that's a little bizarre.
                  One part time job I had was for a UPS shipping place - I would NEVER tell the customer the actual estimated delivery date unless it was some sort of guaranteed service, like next or second-day air. I'd usually pad the delivery esimate a day or two so I wouldn't have to deal with the perceived 'guarantee' on a ground-service shipment (there is no actual guarantee, but if you tell a customer X number of days, you can just be they'll be raising Cain if it isn't delivered by then). I suspect Amazon is doing something similar.

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                  • #10
                    That reminds me of a recent debacle I had shipping a textbook on Amazon recently.

                    The order came in around the end of January and was shipped by USPS Media Mail. Now, of course, Media Mail tends to take a bit longer, but the buyer didn't want to pay for expedited.

                    Fast-forward a couple weeks later and I get an e-mail from the buyer mentioning that she hasn't received the book yet. I do some calculations of business days since shipping it and tell her that it should be there by the end of the week at the latest and to e-mail me again if it's not there by then.

                    Two weeks after that, I haven't heard anything from her and assume she's received the book. And then I find the book returned on my porch with "No Such Number" on it. I check the order to make sure I didn't screw up the address. Nope. So I e-mail her to let her know that I received the book back with the message on it and wanted to see if she wanted a refund (since it's a college textbook and I figured that at this point, she may not need it) or if she wanted me to resend it.

                    I end up getting an e-mail back from not her, but her mother.

                    "Oh, my daughter got confused and put the wrong address numbers on her Amazon account."

                    Her mother gave me a Fed Ex account number and I had the book out to them the next day.

                    I shudder to think if this girl has made multiple purchases on Amazon, all being returned for "No Such Number"...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      People who don't know their own address should not be making purchases online.

                      ^-.-^
                      Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        You are def. in the right.

                        But it brought back memories of buying a book from Amazon for school, paying the extra for expedited shipping, and then it doesn't show up till a week after classes started, and I had to buy another copy of the book from the school bookstore.

                        I was less than thrilled.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth draftermatt View Post
                          You are def. in the right.

                          But it brought back memories of buying a book from Amazon for school, paying the extra for expedited shipping, and then it doesn't show up till a week after classes started, and I had to buy another copy of the book from the school bookstore.

                          I was less than thrilled.
                          A lot of people don't pay attention to shipping information supplied, and sometimes the information supplied doesn't mean what either the supplier or receiver think it does.

                          There are millions of unhappy (and generally stupid) eBay buyers who can't figure out that when an item is shipped is not the same as when it is delivered. Buyers all over the world can't figure out that shipping takes time dependent on the method and that even then, it sometimes takes a whole lot longer through no fault of the seller. (UPS once routed an overnight container that was to go from southern to northern California through Ireland! our customer was pissed, but thankfully not at us)

                          Then there are those who pay for expedited shipping, but don't notice that while it will be shipped via a more expensive method, it still won't be shipped any sooner. Or who pay for expedited processing which makes the order ship out quicker but doesn't usually pay for a faster shipping method.

                          ^-.-^
                          Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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