short lots and silly refunds--what do you do?

alltrightbricks

I was short one $0.044 part on a $12 order. What do you do about 4 cents seriously. If the transaction was face to face the buyer would probably just laugh and say to forget it. Normally I refund double the amount if I am missing an item. But a $0.09 refund seems ridiculous. I ended up refunding all 6 that the buyer ordered (will ship the 5), but that is still only a $0.26 refund. It still seems silly--so does a coupon. Sending them an email is a waste of their time. Forgetting about it makes you a thief.
On Bricklink it was easy, a $0.09 credit and a note with the invoice.
So what are you doing as a seller, when you oversell on penny items. Maybe there is better way to do this?
Less silly?

Katie

bluedragon

I apologize, issue a % discount coupon for the next order and let the buyer pick one of the following:

1. cancel order
2. refund amount
3. issue coupon

2 and 3 are usually processed with a higher value than the missing piece(s). 1 is only chosen when the part was the real target of the order.

Hoddie

It depends on the situation. I had an order just recently where there were two issues. One was a part I simply couldn't find, and the other was a part I didn't include in the package for some reason. I just left it sat in the picking tray. In this case it was a reasonably large order so I was happy to take a hit. I sent off the part I had and issued a refund of the postage to enable the customer to secure the missing part from elsewhere.

iluvmyelement

I write the customer and give them the option of a percent off coupon for a future order or a refund plus extra for the inconvenience (extra depends on the size of the order.....might be an extra .10 for a small order but up to their shipping charges for a larger one). I try to put myself in their shoes - what would I expect if I was shorted a piece?

Markyd7

If I can't find the part I offer a refund or store credit, but also send a % discount.
But you can't use credit and a % discount at the same time as one of my customers found out.
If I have the part in a similar colour I sometimes send that but still offer refund/store credit.

If I've forgotten to send a part, sent the wrong colour or sent the wrong part. I offer refund etc or to send with free postage but ask if there's anything else they want to order so they can take advantage of free postage. As long as it doesn't increase my postage costs. I ask them to request a quote if they want to do this. (Of the 3 of 4 people I've offered this to only 1 just asked for the part to be sent, the others ordered more)