A conversation with a bad customer.

Every have a bad customer? Well, here is one my wife had to deal with ( bless her!) To lay a little ground work, the customer got the seat two days after we shipped it not more than four days after his order.

Customer " Hi I just received the toilet seat and there is a crack in the wood. Could you exchange it for the same moose seat but one without a crack? I am looking at a few others of yours also.

Customer ( a few hours later)"Hi I bought this one and the other moose one. Are all of you toilet seats the same color as the lid? The moose one was a yellow oak lid and then a darker seat. IT us hard to tell from the pics.

My wife" Yes it is possible for you to return the seat for a refund or an exchange, If it was damaged in shipping, let us know.

Customer" It looks to me like it is just split oak I do not think it was ups. Tell me how to exchange this for the exact same seat?

My Wife" Our address is on the packing slip, just include it in the box saying you wish to exchange it for the same design.

Customer "Ok are you going to give me a refund on my shipping since this was not my mistake? Also, I was sent my horse toilet seat and it looks great. The color of the seat and the color of the lid are the same. If you can fix this seat and give me a good one I will leave two good feedbacks.

Customer( a few hours later )"is there a way to get this seat without the varnish so I can add alittle more color to it?

Customer(Again, a few moments later.Before we could respond)"I called ups and they said since the package has been opened that they do not just return it for free. They said you need to send me a call tag that you order from them. Please let me know what can be done I should not have to pay to get a better product. The seat was split and the seat and lid are not even close to the same color. The other one I got was good though.

My wife(If you are interested in returning an item, please read our return policy located here: http://stores.ebay.com/Great-Lakes-Toilet-Seats/Policies.html As stated in our item listings and in our return policy, return shipping is paid by the buyer. By purchasing an item, the buyer indicates agreement and compliance with these policies. You have indicated that your toilet seat was split. All of our toilet seats are carefully inspected before being packed; we do not ship broken seats. Thus it would seem that your item has suffered shipping damage; if a shipping claim should be filed, please let us know. The lids and seats of our toilet seats are stained the same shade. Seats receive a one-step stain and sealant coat; lids receive stain, then are painted, then receive a sealant coat. A two step process on the lid is necessary so that stain does not discolor the painting. Occasionally lids may appear lighter than seats, but this difference merely serves to highlight the artwork and should not be considered a flaw. Thank you again for your purchase. We look forward to processing your return or exchange upon receipt of your toilet seat.

Customer" Ok I will send it back and you can just refund me my money! I should have known you were lying to me when you said oh ups will take care of it! But that is fine. When I send it back you will refund me my money or I will file a disputes with paypal and give you a negative! The way you handled this is VERY unprofessional! And this product was a piece of sh.. You should not have sent me such a piece of junk. I will be sure to make everyone I know through ebay that they should not buy from you ever!!! I will send it back to you Monday. I expect a refund immediately! I will buy from someone else on ebay. I was planning to buy 2 other seats from you tooo. Oh well your loss!!

Customer"this was one of the seats I was going to buy too bad. By the way that moose toilet seat was split and there was varnish down in the crack that did not happen through ups and delivery. Ahole

Ok Got a little nasty at the end But he did file a paypal dispute before we could even respond. He also left negative feedback claiming much of the same as above. The evolution of the stain slowly getting worse is a testimonial that he simply did not want to pay the $7.50 to ship it back to us. In the end, he WILL pay the $7.50 and we will get the seat back and give him a full refund, just as our policy clearly states. It's unfortunate that he had to go nuclear and end up having to do what he was suppose to in the end. We gave him free shipping to begin with, and the option to return it no questions asked within 14 days of receiving it. Here is a picture of the very seat he is complaining about. We took pictures of it for our Etsy listing on the rock background (so it could add character.) My wife answered his email promptly and I thought very professionally. She warned me of this type of customer right away. The red flags?

-Suggests that they are going to order more seats( they never do)

-Suggest that the want to leave positive feedback (Thus hinting that they could leave negative.)

-And the evolution from a crack problem, to a stain problem to a shipping problem. Note! he ordered a second seat after this one and he was satisfied with the stain. Buyers these days ( especially on Ebay) expect free shipping both ways. Do you offer free shipping both ways? To be fair, If there is damage during shipping, We file the claim and send them a replacement seat or hinge right away! then we wait for UPS to process the claim. But for a return of the entire seat for any exchange or refund. The buyer has to pay to ship it back to us. Does this not seem fair?