How Do You Deal with Unreasonable Refund Requests?
Max
7 replies
It's incredibly frustrating. You work hard to create a product that genuinely helps people, only to have customers come back and ask for refunds after they’ve fully benefited from it. My team and I established a clear non-refundable policy from the outset to prevent this exact situation. Yet, here we are, dealing with requests that completely disregard the terms they agreed to.
When I get these requests, my initial reaction is to ignore them. But I worry that some might file a credit dispute, which could lead to even bigger losses. How do you handle situations like this?
Replies
André J@sentry_co
Just refund it. At least then they are not unhappy. Unhappy customers lead to bad reviews etc. Esp the vocal ones.
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It's painful, but in my experience the best thing to do is give the refund. It disarms an unhappy customer and leaves the door open for them to return as a customer in the future.
Also agree with the other comments here that unhappy customers can risk bad reviews and vocal, negative publicity.
Elon Jump
I stop responding to their messages. You have to dominate to win.
Are you getting a lot of refund requests even with the 7-day trial?! Majority of human psyche will be quick to complain than to praise; can see it being harsh and difficult about refunds, because then the word spreads negatively.
Maybe, promote refunds only granted by filling out a feedback form created to gather information to hopefully improve? On your product’s pricing page the terms of payments/refunds is crystal clear; possibly rather than full refunds (which is beyond ridiculous for any business, after goods are used) shift to some sort of prorated refunds?
Depends on the situation. If it's a one-off unreasonable request, I'd prob issue the refund to avoid negative reviews/social posts. But if you're getting a pattern of unreasonable refunds, maybe reconsider your refund policy, product docs/marketing, or customer screening to avoid serial refunders. Don't want it cutting too much into your margins!
Give the refund to avoid bad reviews, but make sure your refund policy is clear upfront to minimize unreasonable requests. Consider offering store credit instead of cash for sketchy or abusive requests.
Yeah refunds can suck but better to just eat the cost than risk bad reviews and unhappy customers IMO. Esp the really loud, annoying ones who you know would blow it up. Not worth the headache!