Being in the retail line for so many years, I dare say that I have seen almost all sorts of customers. But for online retailing, I am still a 4 year old toddler. Still learning and some are 'near-death' lessons, like what happened to my
Nigeria 'customer' last week.
5 days before the above incident, I received an sms from an annoymous.
The person wanted to buy earring hooks from me.
Yet, every other day this person changes the order.
(I am reading her messages as I type this down.)
From 3 packs of Rodium Earring Hooks
to
5 packs of Rodium Earring Hooks and 1 packet of Copper Earring Hooks
to
3 packs of Rodium Earring Hooks and 1 packet of Copper Earring Hooks
to
5 packs of Rodium Earring Hooks
To me, it is perfectly fine to change order, but the way the messages were put across made me feel really uneasy.
Then this person, who still refused to let me know who I am talking to, name was kept a secret, insisted on sending me cash by post.
I hate going into any argument with my customers.
I do not want to have an incident of mail-lost-with-cash-in-it kind of quarrel.
So I rejected.
I insisted on bank transfer.
This person started to convince me that it is ok to mail out cash and started to tell me how many times this had been done.
I am sorry.
You want to buy my things, you follow my rules.
So I told the person, without bank transfer, deal is off.
Then no reply for a long time.
By the way, did I mention enough that these messages were sent over a period of days?
So I thought the deal was off.
Somehow I felt relieved.
When a customer behaves in this way, I foresee more problems will follow.
I was wrong.
The message came again and said,
"I'll try bank transfer, okay?"
Good!
At least there is a proof that you have transfered and if there are any discrepancies, I can always look for the bank.
So I ask the person, whom till now still refused to tell me the name,
"What is the mailing address?"
Totally ignored that question.
*shake head + eyes rolled*
I was thinking, if this goes on it would be a great deal! ~ receive money without any goods needed to be delivered. *wink*
Then this person kept asking me for my full name and my bank account number every day and said, I will transfer the money on this day or that day. But it never happened.
And asked me for my full name and bank account number AGAIN on another day and said would do the transfer again. But did not.
And asked AGAIN on another day!
*faint*
The whole conversation started on 10th August and money only came in on 22nd August.
Yes, we had been having this ding-dong messaging business for 12 days!
How amazing?!
Well, over the past 12 days of messaging with this unknown person, oh yes,
even after payment was made, this person still have not revealed the name nor the mailing address even though I have been asking for it a number of times over the past 12 days.
Instead of giving me the name and the mailing address, this person told me to
take a photo of the envelope to PROVE that I have sent.
I'm sorry, I laughed a little.
How can a photo proof that I have sent?!
A video sounds more like it, isn't?
Anyway I wanted to reply,
"How do you expect me to send something without giving me your name and your mailing address?"
But I didn't.
Instead, I replied,
"I am still waiting for you to give me the mailing address and person's name."
Did the person reply?
Finally yes, after a long while.
So now, its the photo-taking part.
I do not want her
(yes! at least now I know I had been talking to a girl) to come back to me and start saying,
"you just took a photo of the envelope, but it did not proof that you have mailed."
I just want the seemingly endless messaging to stop!
I'm sorry, I think my patience was really tested having to answer repeatedly on questions which have been asked before. Even the price of the items, she had to ask so many times to confirm. *sigh*
Ok, maybe I am just a bad bad bad person.
So I thought long and hard,
'How to take a photo that is closest to proofing I have mailed the items.'
So I did more than just taking a photo of the envelope.
Here's what I took:
Oh well, unless I am really that terrible to pull the envelope back out after the photo shoot.
Of cos
I did not!
What I want to put across over here is, if you cannot even have simple trust in the person you are dealing with in any trade, its ..... *sigh*