Non-Refundable Deposits

[Mel&Keith]

I want to get everyone's opinions on this situation.

Last year someone inquired about a gecko. He wanted us to hold it for him but didn't have PayPal. I very specifically told him that we could only except a US Postal Money Orders and he mailed a MO from a super market or something. I mailed the money order back to him. He said it was ok, he'd just send it back with another money order. :main_huh: I told him that we wouldn't accept that type of money order and I didn't hear back from him.

One month later he asked if we were going to NARBC I told him we were not.

Three weeks ago he emailed to say that he had PayPal and wanted a gecko. He sent $10 and when I explained that I needed 20% to hold the gecko he told me to keep it and sent the rest of the deposit a week later. After that he sent another payment of $25. Today was the 14th day (after the second deposit payment) so I sent an invoice for the balance. He emailed back to say that he couldn't buy it because of a family emergency.

Would you keep the $26 deposit and refund the $25 partial payment? Keep the $51 in deposit and partial payment? Or would you refund all of it?

 

[Alusdra]

I'm a bit torn. On the one hand, this guy has caused you all sorts of extra work with the confusing sending of money, so I'd be tempted to keep it for your trouble. On the other hand, he seems like a complete flake, and I would be very tempted to cut all ties and send him everything back. That way he can't hold anything over you saying you owe him a gecko because if he's this scattered about a deposit, I wouldn't trust him with my animals at all.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

My terms are similar. I will refund the deposit on a case-by-case situation. I usually will not refund it if the customer is being a jerk.

 

[Retribution Reptiles]

Honestly i would just send the money back in hopes that maybe showing the professionalism to be understanding it would advance in a future sale. But that's just how i would roll in that situation. Like Marcia said it's all about the case by case basis.

 

[ajveachster]

Tough call. I guess I would stick with the original terms posted since it seems like the guy has issues. At least then you are able to say you are following what you said you would do even though he wanted to try to do things differently.

 

[LizMarie]

If it were me (obviously I'm not a business person) but I would stick to my terms. Non-Refundable 20% and gecko held for 14days because honestly if he wanted a leo I think he would have purchased one already. He contacted you last year and couldn't follow directions, then 5months into this year pops up again. And he basically canceled the order, he didn't say something like can we figure something out or can I use this money for another leo in the future, can I pay half to hold him because I have a "family emergency", etc. He just cut it off at that.

In the end I would send back the partial payment and keep the "Non-Refundable Deposit" because I really don't have sympathy for anyone when I'm dealing with money, lol But before doing that I would email him and check to see if he really wants to canceled the order and tell him what I was doing so he was fully aware.

 

[JordanAng420]

I would keep the deposit, and refund the rest. That way, everybody wins (in a sense). You're sticking to your policy, and giving this person the benefit of the doubt at the same time.

 

[snared99]

I agree with marcia, it is a case to case decision. If someone is being a jerk and really causing you alot of extra work and then at the end jumps on the deal, refund is lost. People have to realize this is work for us breeders, and if this only happened once in a blue moon it wouldnt be a big deal. But i have seen this personally over and over again in my time as a gecko breeder.

 

[Mel&Keith]

Thanks guys. I refunded his payment but not the deposit (as per our terms). I tried to explain that it takes a lot of time and energy on the seller's part to work with buyers and that it's frustrating when a buyer can't meet terms for any reason. Also that it sounds like it might not be the best time for him to get a gecko anyway. Hopefully he gets the message.

LizMarie, all he said is that he couldn't get it because he had to pay for a plane ticket to fly home for a family emergency and that if it was still for sale in a month he would get it. This was only after I invoiced him. Then he emailed again to ask how much of his deposit he could get back.

 

[nevinm]

My terms are similar. I will refund the deposit on a case-by-case situation. I usually will not refund it if the customer is being a jerk.

thats what i say:main_thumbsup:

 

[Bellalee]

I woulda done the same thing, you write the terms for a reason..

 

[Mel&Keith]

He just emailed so say that he didn't get the refund. :main_rolleyes:

I copied and pasted the transaction details from PayPal showing that the refund was complete and told him to call PayPal.

 

[malt_geckos]

We had someone give us all but $20 for a gecko. It took him over 3 months to pay $70 for the gecko. $20 left and he wanted his money back. I said no because we were feeding the gecko, housing it, handling/cleaning. And on top of that, he would say he sent us money, then it would never get here. And so I told him it was in our terms. He was ok with it but seriously? Only $20 left dude. It's not that big of a deal. lol.

 

[goReptiles]

I try to stick with the terms as best as possible, as it's not fair to stick with them in some cases and not others. Makes things hard to draw a line as to when to follow through and when not to.

I will admit though, that there has been on instance where I've been willing to give everything back because the guy was being overly impatient with the weather. I even told the guy before paying that the temps were too cold to ship right away and that we'd have to wait and watch the weather; he agreed and paid. But, as soon as payment was sent, he expected shipment anyway. We battled for months over the weather and shipping. The only times it was every safe by weather was on a Thursday, which is a day I will not ship for obvious reasons. He flipped out. But the first chance I got to ship, those geckos were on their way to him bc he refused the money when I opted to return it. Then he claimed he had to do mouth-to-mouth on one... But never sent any more updates on the gecko.

 

[Extreme-Geckos]

I feel you did the correct thing, refund anything over the 20% and let the customer use the deposit you kept as a credit for any future purchase.