Before you buy something, make sure you understand the refund policy! For example, does the store refund products no matter what or only if there’s something wrong with them? Is there a restocking fee? Is there anything else you need to know if you regret your purchase?

This guy shares how one of his customers wanted a full refund for a product he purchased, but the store policies wouldn’t allow it.

Let’s see how the story plays out.

Refund Refusal, by customer

Many years ago the shop I worked in had a strict policy. A restocking fee on all returns unless the product was actually faulty.

Usually people understood when we explained we can’t sell an opened product as new, so if it simply wasn’t to their liking we would offer a partial refund.

This is where it gets bad!

Not all though. Not this one dude.

On the first visit the customer asks about a product, we discuss it in detail and I answer every question he has.

Customer: “If it doesn’t work can I return it?”

Me: “If it’s faulty, certainly. If it’s not faulty there is a restocking fee of x” (with a receipt, upto 12 months, etc etc)

UH OH…

Customer buys whatever it was.

Second visit, customer wants to return the product.

Me: “Ok, can I ask why you need to return it?”

Customer: “It doesn’t do what I want it to”

Me: “Oh how so?”

Customer: “I need it to do XYZ and it doesn’t do that”

They were willing to return some part of the amount.

Me: “Ok no problem, we can refund you but as it’s not faulty it will be a partial refund”

Customer: “Why partial?”

Me: “Because it’s not faulty. We can’t resell this product with an opened box and broken seal as a new item. As there’s nothing wrong with it we can allow you to return it but not for full price”

Customer: “That’s not fair! Why should I have to pay for something I don’t want?”

Me: “You’re returning it open and used. It’s now a second hand item. We won’t be able to charge full price on it for the next customer. If you decided you don’t want this anymore as a courtesy we will accept it back, minus any costs we will incur”

The customer just wasn’t letting it go!

Customer: “Well I don’t agree with that!”

Me: “I was the one who sold this to you just yesterday. I remember our conversation including when I explained the restocking fee on non faulty items. So you did indeed agree to this”

Customer: “I never said that!”

Me: “I’m not saying you spoke the words “I agree to the terms of sale” out loud. I’m saying I explained to you what the terms of sale where, and then you purchased the item, and those two things happened IN THAT ORDER. With that knowledge you could have decided not to purchase the item, but you did. So it was an agreement to the terms of the sale”

They took the wrong product!

Customer: “No it wasn’t!”

Me: “You said it isn’t faulty. We said we would offer a partial refund if it was returned non faulty. And here we are, offering you a partial refund exactly as we discussed BEFORE you went ahead with the sale”

Customer: “Well it is faulty!”

Me: “How so?”

Customer: “It doesn’t do XYZ!”

That’s INSANE!

Me: “Correct, it doesn’t. It wasn’t designed to. You asked a number of questions about it yesterday and I answered all of them at length, XYZ was never mentioned. So it’s not faulty if it does everything it was designed to do”

Customer: “But I can’t make use of it!”

Me: “And as a curtesy we can offer a partial refund”

Customer: “That’s not good enough!”

Me: “Ok”

The sweet end!

Customer: “…what do you mean ok?”

Me: “I personally answered every question you asked about this item, including the one you had about refunds. You were fully aware of the terms of sale and you made the choice to buy it. It is now YOUR item, it belongs to you. We are offering a partial refund on a non faulty item and you have said that offer is not good enough. There is no obligation on your part to accept our offer. This too is your choice”

Customer: “Well what do you expect me to do?!”

Me: “I.. I’m not sure what you mean. I don’t have any expectations of you. You can choose to accept our offer of a partial refund, or not. That is for you to decide”

We never saw that one again.

GEEZ! That sounds frustrating!

The customer clearly messed up.

Let’s find out what people on Reddit think about this one.

This user thinks this dialogue is fun!

That’s right! This user loves this story!

This user shares a similar experience.

This user knows what this story reminds them of.

This user knows that certain questions must always be asked!

The employee did a great job defending the store policies.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.