The case of the "Traveling Sweater"

We know sometimes that the Post Office may not be "our friend".  Packages don't get delivered in a timely manner or even delivered at all for that matter or maybe your  package was used to play football with during their lunch hour.  These can be some stress points that you have no control over.

Case in point, we shipped a nice sweater to a buyer in Australia, after about 2 weeks she called to say she noticed on the tracking that it had this message " Does not meet customs requirements - Return to Sender" what ???????  So instead of going into "stress mode" we emailed her right away and told her we would be checking this out.  Thinking maybe because my title on the package read. 

Tan Zebra Beaded Cardigan Sweater

and they thought we were sending a sweater made of Zebra.  I don't know but something was strange.  So the next day we started doing some searching, calling USPS, going to the post office personally trying to see what was going on.

Meantime we are in constant communication with our buyer who REALLY, REALLY wanted that sweater.  In fact here is one of her emails to us.

Thanks Alan and Sherry....I really love the sweater, I saw this one in a shop about 3-4 years ago, but when I went to buy it, it was already sold!!! Yes well I think the people who work in Post Offices in Australia are either dumb or have a commonsense problem, I don`t know which one would apply, however I think you should probably leave the word wooden out as well, as we can`t bring wood into Australia, and the wooden beads, could raise their alarm bells also, we don`t want to import any wooden zebras, maybe it would just be safer to put black and tan sweater...hopefully they won`t have an issue with that!!! and thank you again I will be looking forward to receiving it!!!

The only way we could get any of our questions about what was going on with the tracking and report it, was to be on their automated system on the phone and hold for hours.  (Don't ever complain about your wait time with eBay CS)

Sweater sold on August 28,  now on Sept. 23 and we get a message that the sweater is now in customs in Australia.  Seems someone did not know the difference between where Canada and Australia were located.  It went to Canada first then on to Australia.  September 29 a month later she received her sweater.  Oh my gosh!!

So we now have the "Traveling Sweater" and the funny thing it is going to Texas next week with her.  So in a month it went from California to Canada to Australia and now to Texas.  Those Zebras were movin` fast.

So funny, but I guess my lesson here is, why stress there is always a way to make Lemonade out of Lemons AND a new friend.  That is our goal with each item we sell, we want a new friend so we will do whatever we can to make that happen.

Here she is finally able to wear her sweater, thanks Robyn you are the best.

We preached it, now we test it!

Just another great day at the ole' Lemonade Stand.  Life is funny sometimes, Alan and I just finished doing a video on customer service for eBay toting the wonderful things you can do to make a customer happy and wouldn't you know it we get this email that same night that tells us a "Request" is open in the Resolution Center:

I had the item out under lights in my little store and noticed that it's actually been broken and repaired, hence the chip you mention. It was the most expensive set I purchased that day and it's the only one not as described. I can return or would negotiate less. Happy to provide photo. JOY

Get that pitcher out and the water, lemons and sugar, because this is going to make great lemonade.  (Now first of all I did ask her if I could share this and she gave me permission to do that, that is why I left her name in there because it plays a part of our dealing with her.

Question first, what would you do in a case like this????  Well some would surmise that she was just trying to get her item cheaper because she has a store which she seems to sell collectibles in, or you might say "I checked that before I sent it out and it was not broken. Maybe she dropped it and then is wanting me to give her a discount.  I mean why did she offer to negotiate???

Let me first tell you that my reaction was give her a refund and make her day. 

A similar situation happened to me,  I just had bought a cute Mexican Tonala Folk Art piece because I know they sell.  As I was cleaning it up and washing it out all of a sudden I see this crack inside.  Did not see anything on the outside though.

The crack on the inside

So I really missed that when I was buying it, but I thought I can either list it and show the crack on the inside because after all it is not showing on the outside.  Instead I decided to just use it myself.  So for breakfast the next morning I made pancakes with some homemade blueberry syrup.

And this is what I saw when I put the syrup in the pitcher. The syrup had stained the now very visable crack on the outside.

The reason why I brought this up is because it was totally possible that something so small on an item could be easily missed.   And obviously I MISSED it on the shaker.  So right away we sent her a message and refund.  Then I was proactive and sent a second email. 

Hi Joy, I know Alan already answered you and did the refund. Since I am the one who found these and did the picture, I just want to apologize for missing the issue on these. Thank you so much contacting us. I certainly would not want you to go to the trouble of taking a picture if you said so then I take your word for it. Your eyes are probably younger them mine so you saw it more easily :) Please come back and visit us again.
Sherry

And she responded with this message:

Thank you so much! I only meant for you to offer me a partial refund for the item. I didn't notice the break myself until I looked closely. I know you didn't do it on purpose. All the best, Joy

Joy, with a name like joyousone for an email, who could resist to not give you joy :0) It is no problem we felt we needed to bless someone today and tag your it. Hope you can still use them or bless someone else with them. If there is a flaw then I would only consider giving a refund I would never expect you to pay even a little for the item. So be blessed and have a blessed day
Sherry 

Our greatest purpose each day is to see who we can help make their day.  My question is do you think we will get a defect for this.  NO we will not, but that was not our only purpose it was to make her happy.  So when you set out to make someone else happy, you can be happy also and avoid those "dreaded" defects.

.  

The infamous but "flawed" Salt & Pepper Shakers

I know that summer is ending and the time for lemonade may be past, BUT is it really??

Seems like there are so many that are stressing today about their challenges selling on eBay.  Either it is a perceived problem or a real problem. 

Whichever it is, we want you to bring those lemons to "The Lemonade Stand" so we make them into lemonade.  Lemons are sometimes very sour or tart and make you pucker your face, but by adding some water to dilute the juice and add some sugar it now becomes easier to enjoy.

Lets take a lemon we just had to deal with to show you what we are talking about.

It was late Sunday night and we were just relaxing and enjoying our favorite Food Network shows when the phone rang.  I did not recognize the number so I did not answer it.  BUT they left an voice mail, and if someone leaves an voice mail I will for sure check it right away.

Seems like one of our customers we shipped a sweater to in Australia was checking her tracking on the package and she noticed this message. This package did not meet Custom requirements return to sender.  WHAT a sweater did not meet the requirements. So doing some more research we realized that the title of the sweater was

Vintage Design Options Black White Tan Zebra Beaded Cardigan Sweater 

Guess the custom peeps thought we were sending a sweater made of Zebra. LOL.  So what is the lesson here, do not ever use an animal name in your labels on the packages going to a international location.  All is well and something very valuable we learned here. Plus she gave us some more info to put in our hat.  Here is what she wrote back to us.

Thanks Alan and Sherry....I really love the sweater, I saw this one in a shop about 3-4 years ago, but when I went to buy it, it was already sold!!! Yes well I think the people who work in Post Offices in Australia are either dumb or have a commonsense problem, I don`t know which one would apply, however I think you should probably leave the word wooden out as well, as we can`t bring wood into Australia, and the wooden beads, could raise their alarm bells also, we don`t want to import any wooden zebras, maybe it would just be safer to put black and tan sweater...hopefully they won`t have an issue with that!!! and thank you again I will be looking forward to receiving it!!!

The main point here is we could have stressed or we could have been pro-active and looked for a solution.  It always pays to make Lemonade out of those lemons. :)