Dealing with “problem” orders.

[Ray]

I have read a lot of posts about order issues throughout many forums, so - having been an orchid-related buyer for almost 50 years and a vendor for 27, and a professional purchasing manager for a while - I thought I’d share some order-handling guidance. This may sound like common sense, but you’d be surprised how often some thing is missed.

First and foremost, pay with a credit card. It offers your protections that may come into play. PayPal is a reasonable second choice.

Second, understand the vendor’s policies on damage and replacement. Some are great (like me!), others, not so much. Caveat emptor! There are vendors who require you to pay return shipping of damaged goods, and I simply do not do business with them.

Have the package shipped to a secure, protected address - work, school, etc., indoors (especially in winter), out of sunlight and where it’s not obvious to “porch pirates”.

Immediately upon receipt of the package, inspect it for external damage and to see if it looks like it has been opened and retapped. If so photograph it before opening.

Open it and inspect the plants and/or supplies. Note any damage, breakage, losses, pests on plants, etc., and try to assess how it may have happened. Again, photograph any issues. With broken supplies it’s pretty obvious the packing was insufficient, but with plants, the condition could have been prime when they left the vendor, but damage can happen in-transit (poor packing), gotten too cold (no heat packs - always ask for them if shipping in cold weather), or they could be cooked if the package is left sitting in direct sunshine.

If there is an issue, do not immediately think the vendor was trying to rip you off. Assigning motives in a vacuum does not put you in a mindset to reasonably address the issue.

Contact the vendor, clearly state the facts of the issue (“When I unpacked it, the jar was broken” or “there is a mealy bug infestation”, not “Wow! Your packing was horrible, you lousy SOB!”), and request a remedy. Replacements at no charge (including shipping) or a refund are in order. Be reasonable and don’t become the “bad guy” - a bent leaf, blasted bud, or one broken jar in a shipment of two does not qualify for a full replacement or refund.

The vendor didn’t want there to be any issues any more than you, so most will make it right, but if they start “hemming and hawing” - or worse - tell them you intend to file a dispute with your credit card issuer. When you order something and pay them to ship it to you, the vendor is responsible to get it to you, as you ordered it. Not the wrong thing, not damaged or infested, and as they are the ones paying the carrier, it is their responsibility to choose one and prepare the package appropriately to ensure the shipment makes it to you intact.

If they still refuse to respond reasonably - or don’t respond at all - contact the card issuer and file the dispute, carefully sharing the same, objective facts. The charge will immediately be put on hold, meaning you don’t owe it and won’t incur interest charges on the full amount until it is resolved. (The last time I had an issue that required going this route, Capital One called the vendor with me on the line. The agent did all of the talking, asked for confirmation of the corrective action, then asked my acceptance. One minute and it was resolved.)

If that gets you nowhere, rest assured that you won’t pay for anything, and keep what you received (unless they pay for the return) and the vendor will incur a chargeback fee from the card issuer. Feel free to share the experience with others (not here!), again, facts only, and think twice about ordering from them again.

[Dusty Ol' Man]

Will someone please make this a sticky?

[DirtyCoconuts]

all great tips...

being polite is huge...just because you are "right" does not give license to be a jerk

[Ray]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

...just because you are "right" does not give license to be a jerk

I have never let correctness get in my way….

[DirtyCoconuts]

[realoldbeachbum]

Great advice, Ray. One thing I do that you did not mention, is taking an upclose picture of the plant, the packing receipt, and the damaged packaging (if the case), and immediately send these pics to the vendor via email.

So far, I have had 100% refunds, although in a few cases I have had to send the email twice.

[JScott]

I myself hate confrontation and for a long time, that prevented me from trying to address any issues with things I had ordered. Finally when I decided to to this one time, I found that the vendor was polite and more than happy to make it right, and I have since discovered that most vendors are the same in that respect (although a quick search here will bring some notorious offenders to your attention), but mostly I wanted to emphasize how helpful credit card companies can be when you can't get a response from the vendor.

i recently ordered something that I needed very quickly. I found a place that offered overnight shipping. Now, this was Friday evening, so i knew it would not go out until Saturday, so I should receive it sunday, because both UPS and FedEx offer overnight delivery even on weekends (for a premium, and the price I was paying for overnight delivery on this item was quite high indeed).

Sunday came and went and I never got the item. I emailed them, told them to go ahead and just cancel the order. There was a phone number, but I couldn't figure out how to speak to a person, although I really did give it my best shot. On Monday I sent another email asking to cancel the order, tried calling again and again failed to reach a human. Then later on Monday, I got an email saying my item had shipped! Hooray! And they even charged me 170-something dollars for overnight shipping!

I just want to.pause here to make sure that we understand that I wanted overnight shipping not because the item was perishable or anything like that; I just needed it quickly.

Anyway, I did some more calling and emailing and couldn't get a response, so I called the phone number on the back of my credit card. I explained the situation, told them my problem was not whether I get the item, it was that I paid an excessive amount for overnight shipping on an item which could have gone out Saturday, but did not go out until Monday. Anyway, long story short, the credit card company charged back the charge.

I never heard from either of them, so I don't know how it was resolved, but they charged back the entire amount, not just the shipping. The item arrived anyway, and I tried to contact the company and tell them that I would still be happy to pay for the item, or return it at their expense, but I never heard back from them.

The point of that long story is just to show you how eager credit card companies can be to make sure you are happy, and how helpful they can be in disputes. Never be afraid to call the credit card company when a resolution directly with the vendor cannot be achieved. In a world where it seems like most companies don't care about you in the slightest, credit card companies do care about you, or at least do a fair impersonation of caring about you.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by realoldbeachbum

Great advice, Ray. One thing I do that you did not mention, is taking an upclose picture of the plant, the packing receipt, and the damaged packaging (if the case), and immediately send these pics to the vendor via email.

So far, I have had 100% refunds, although in a few cases I have had to send the email twice.

Good point and thanks. Post modified to include that.

[My Green Pets]

Thanks for the solid recommendations, Ray. We all struggle with our thoughts and emotions at times, and they can get us into trouble. One cannot assume that people will behave as emotionally mature, reasonable adults. Great advice.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by MarlaPool

Delivery order, you can mark it as "problematic" and enter a comment describing why this order should be paid attention to.

Context, please?