Going the Extra TEN Miles

Yesterday I had an interesting email from a close friend. She's an antiques dealer who sells regularly on the Internet through a well-known non-auction webstore site.

She'd sold several items to a customer and shipped them. One of the items was a matted and framed picture, which she placed in it's own separate box and marked in very big letters on this box "PICTURE ENCLOSED". All the items to this customer were shipped in one large box.

The customer received the package, and emailed the dealer, asking when she'd be receiving the picture. The dealer emailed back explaining that the
picture was with the other items in the large box, and explained in detail how she'd packaged the picture in it's own box marked "PICTURE ENCLOSED."

Apparently, the customer has tossed out that box. The picture was gone forever.

The dealer thought about it a bit, and decided to refund the customer's money for that picture. She certainly wasn't obligated to do so; this was a mistake made by the customer, who admitted she was probably more responsible than the dealer for this mistake. (I'm not even going to address that statement . . . )

The dealer had done a good job of packaging, including clearly marking the internal packaging. She'd gotten the entire purchase there safely and in good condition. Her decision to refund the customer's purchase price on this lost picture was something few dealers would have done, since it presented lost income. Not just money lost from the dealer's original investment in that picture - since she refunded the entire price, she also lost the profit that thrown-away picture represented.

It wasn't an expensive item. Still, most dealers would have just told the customer that they did something really dumb, and sorry, but it was your responsibility to not throw away your purchases. But my dealer friend recognized that honest mistakes happen, and was sympathetic enough to commiserate with the customer and return her money.

My dealer friend asked me two questions. First, what would happen if the thrown-out purchase had been worth a much larger sum? And second, what would I have done in the same situation?

I told her my opinion, for the two cents it was worth. I would have done what she had done, and chalked it up to the "Customers Doing Goofy Things" file. Had it been a purchase worth a lot more money, I would have handled it differently. I would given her my condolences, and would have tactfully and politely explained that I was sorry for her loss but that I could not be responsible for a customer throwing away an item that I'd carefully marked and safely delivered. And, no, I would not have refunded her purchase price on an expensive item.

However, my dealer friend had gone the extra TEN miles for this customer (a new customer, I should mention). By doing so, she had forever has impressed upon that customer that she was buying from a VERY reputable Internet dealer who understood human error happens occasionally. My dealer friend had responded in a very kind and decent way.

That refund cost the dealer some money, yet made a very big impression. Shortly thereafter, that same customer purchased two more items. She's probably a customer-for-life, and - if she's a really, really nice person - she'll tell her friends and family this story.

If you would like to know more about this dealer and see what kinds of things she sells, go to her website.

Meet my good friend Dexter. I am so proud of her, and am honored to share a wonderful friendship with her. She is truly a gem.