input on wether or not I should give a refund

I sold an adult pair of Indian Star Tortoise to a customer.  They are in perfect health. Nothign was asked about if their scutes were even, or if the striations all lined up exactly. I took pictures of every animal available, even took more of certain animals this customer wanted to see, and the customer even changed his mind to the female he received.  I guaranteed live healthy arrival as according to my terms.  They arrived perfect and healthy.  Now the person has decided he does not like a couple os scutes on the animal as they are to close to each other.  and the other females he says one has the same thing, and the other has her striation on her back do not look like they are perfectly straight in line.  Now he wants a full refund and wants to send the animals back to me.  I am a little pissed here as I sold the animals represented the best I could, told him everthing I could about them, (I did not even see the scutes he was talking about) and took as many pics of them as I could get that were clear, and now I am getting stuck holding the bag.  Any help would be appreciated.

I don't know (at this point) if my opinion is going to mean much...but...I will ALWAYS stick up for my FRIENDS!! (hint, hint&#33<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

Rob...I really don't think you owe him anything! You sent him many pics....he picked the two he wanted....they were delivered in perfect health...and NOW he decides (for reasons of his own) that he doesn't want them....sorry...that's not how it works!

Did the pictures accurately depict the animals? If they did, you owe him nothing. If they did not show the areas of the shell that he was concerned about. Refund the money. Why not post them here so we can see what they looked like?
Ross Buskard

Neils correct. You don't owe him anything and when you purchase an item or service and it's represented correctly then that's the end of the deal.

Now if you want to work with the customer. Charge him a 15% restocking fee (it's not really a restocking fee as that sounds weird when your dealing with an animal, but rather covers your time in dealing with the customer, shipping, etc). This would allow the customer to recoup some of his investment (keeping him happy) and allow you to recoup some of your investment (keeping you sane &nbsp;<img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''> ). Again, this is not required of you but could smooth over what can become a bad situation and make everyone happy.

Rob, here's what I would do. &nbsp;Take the animals back (they pay shipping) and give them an 70-80% refund. &nbsp;Keep 20-30% as a animal rental fee. &nbsp;Because that's basically what they did. &nbsp;Ordered animals kept them for awhile and then decided they didn't want them anymore. &nbsp;This way they get some of their money back, and, most importantly, the animals get back into hands were they will be cared for properly.

Thanks everyone for your input. I can't stand when I do everythign I can to represent an animal and then they change their minds for what ever reason. &nbsp;Damn I wish I could do the same thing when I order animals from my suppliers. &nbsp;Keep them a week and then say " I have decided I do not want these animals, please kindly refund my money" &nbsp;I am about to put into my "terms" "all live animal sales are final. No refunds except under special ocasions which I deem special." I just don't know. &nbsp;But thanks again everyone.

Rob,

Since you did not have a terms page at the time of sale, you are somewhat bound up. You sent him pictures of the animals, so he could clearly see for himself what condition they were in BEFORe purchase. However, from a strictly business poin of view the guy is bad P.R. , regardless if he is at fault. if you had given him a terms page prior to sale, or made it available for him to read, I would tell you to ask him to politely go on about his life, that you wouldnt consider a refund because you HAD clearly shown him what they looked like.
&nbsp; &nbsp; But with no terms page, I would say refund his money in full, despite the fact that you KNOW you did your utmost to prevent buyers remorse here. And that is exactly what we are talking about, simply buyers remorse, nothing more.
Refund the money, repost the animals with a disclaimer and a terms page(policy)

P.S.

Doesnt stuff like this just frazzle your nerves?


&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Take care,


&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Fred

personally, i wouldn't take them back. spam_you have no idea what they have been exposed to. spam_they could have contracted diseases while in his care and that could spread to the rest of your collection or it could lay dormant until you resold them and then it wipes out your new customers collection. spam_you did the very best you could to represent these animals properly. spam_i think your customer is going to have to get over the "buyers remorse" and just deal with it. spam_at BEST, i would offer to help the customer to find exactly what it is they are looking for and that's it. spam_you can't be held responsible for their flightiness when it comes to decisions about animals.
just my .02,

It has been said all too often:

No dealer can please EVERY customer, EVERY time.

Rob,

I believe you did everything you could to satisfy this customer. I believe you accurately represented your animals to the best of your ability. If scutes and striations were truly &nbsp;as critical to the customer as he/she is now reporting to you, then the customer never should have retained possession for any amount of time. They should have informed you of dissatisfaction immediately upon arrival. As a businessman Rob, to offer the refund would in essence compromise yourself. An animal &nbsp;is not just a simple piece of merchandise. And in my humble opinion, scutes and striations are not a viable reason for return. Show me anywhere in nature where any markings are 100% lined up and perfect. I say no refund. By accepting the animal and maintaing possession, the customer finalized the sale.

I know that several valid opinions have been presented, but here is another option for you to try to resolve the issue. &nbsp;You might ask the buyer what he thinks those animals are worth as they are now in his possession, and then refund fifty percent of the difference between what he paid and what he thinks they're worth. &nbsp;

This way, you both bear some of the responsibility. &nbsp;Him because he did not ask the specific questions about aspects of the animals he finds important, and you simply because you don't want to have a walking bad PR billboard out there. &nbsp;I would not, however, offer him the refund until he responded to how much he thought they were worth so that he just doesn't say $0 and try to get half back!

This saves him the cost of reshipping. &nbsp;It saves you the risk of bringing the animals back into your collection (and the headache of reselling them). &nbsp;And it saves the animals the stress of shipment once more.

Just my $.02 worth. &nbsp;What do you think?