During many year’s working experiences,I seldom had conflict with any of my customers,except recently.

Actually I want to share a not so positive case,and the lesson I have learnt from this case.

In May,customer G bought 100pcs rolling machine from us through one of the B2B platforms,the total amount is a few hundred dollars,shipping cost included.And he requested to deliver to door by sea.So in July,he finally received the goods.

Firstly he asked me size for the rolling paper,then he complained to me the machine is not functional. Coincidentally before that,we took down the advertisement for the same product,due to ads adjustment reason.

So he thought the reason we took down the product was, I lied about the quality of the product and I tried to scam him.Without give me chance to explain,he reported the case to B2B platform for money refund.

Of course I didn’t agree with that,because it’s a very mature product sold on the market for many years already,usually our workshop produce large quantity for one batch,and the quality is consistent.Also we pay thousands of dollars per year for the membership fee,it makes no sense we want to scam him for a few hundred dollars.

So the case upgraded to arbitration,both of us needed provide evidence and wait for mediator from the platform for final judgement.It spent both of us about 1 week duration time,to provide evidence back and forth about 3 rounds.

Vedio from customer G just proved he was not experienced with how to use the new machine,every time he had savage operation to use the machine.He didn’t check the paper instruction inside the machine.And the vedio operations sent by us,which we record by ourselves, was to prove a rookie can master how to use the machine in 1-2 minute,and practice makes perfect.

By end of the week,I had phone conversation with the mediator,usually they maintain interests for the customer more,but this time both of us agreed our machine had no problem,while if the case is still on,it will influence the credit of our company on the platform.

The mediator can also close the case,but later the customer can still ask refund from the credit card company.In that situation,even we didn’t have fault in the case,we would lose goods and money and time.That was the worst result.

So after second thought I compromised and suggested maybe we can compensate part amount to the customer to close the case,as compensate for his emotional values,also I didn’t want to waste time argue anymore.

Finally,though the customer didn’t accept the partial compensation result,and still said many words about the platform,such as I will close my account and never use the platform again etc.,but the case was closed.

After that,I had some reflections for this case.

  • Firstly we have to admit,we will face with bullies in our life,just try not to be upset about what they say.Be resilient,emotionally strong and mentally tough.Think about universal love for all humanity!
  • Maybe the customer is professional scammer,maybe he has some mental issues.But I can still say more nice words to comfort him,instead of ignore his feeling.Because nice words are really like magnet.Try to stand in his shoes,be more patient,to understand him more.Then maybe by very small chance,he will not apply for refund.He will listen to my explanation and try to operate the machine according to our instruction.After all,every one is looking for win-win cooperation correct?

And “nice words are really like magnet” will be my principle,for no matter VIP customers or individual customers,I will keep that in mind all the time.