It Was Apt To Happen

It was apt to happen...no matter how much I would despise it; no matter how I prepared for the eventuality, it would happen. Sooner or later, I was going to get a complaint because of a shipment damaged in transit. Well, that time is now. It has finally happened, and as I think about it, I am kind of glad.

Glad you ask, but why?! Are you nuts? NO. I' m not crazy or anything, but I recognize that as a business owner, the best way for me to learn, is by trial and error. Although I don't like to make errors (and who does?), I know that each mistake I make is a chance to learn, so that I can do better in the future. I feel as though I am being stretched: building these business muscles into an even stronger resolve. The key here is to learn from the mistakes, and not make them again. Well I hope that I never make this one EVER again.

I know this is a business, and that I kind of remove myself from it to an extent: but I still feel an emotional attachment. And because I do, when something goes awry, I tend to take it personally. Perhaps that is a good thing. Perhaps by having that personal attachment, I am better able to "empathize" how my customers must feel when something like this does go wrong.

So lets rewind, and start from the (almost) beginning. I had been selling a whole lot of items form one of my clients: 24 items in all. Well one of these items was a portable Singer Sewing Machine, in a wooden case. After listing it on my site, as well as on ebay: I was able to get a buyer. The buyer was out in California, and I would be shipping the item via the slowest method: Parcel Post. This is what the customer paid for, so this is how it was shipped. Because of the size and weight, I was lazy in not getting an accurate weight (including the packing materials) before listing it: so I just guessed. Unfortunately, I mis-guessed, so I actually undercharged the customer by almost $5. So I guess that was my first mistake.

Second mistake: I didn't actually pack the item until the day I was ready to ship it. So you might ask: why was that a mistake? Because I felt "rushed" to get this item packed, and to the post office. When you get rushed, you may take shortcuts; and perhaps not do as good of a job as you should. So perhaps that is part of my problem. Although I still believer that I had packed it well: it wasn't good enough. What I didn't account for was the size/weight of the item.

Because this item was large, odd-shaped and somewhat heavy (over 30 lbs), I didn't really account for the movement of the item within the shipping container. If I would have it to do all over again, I would have done a few things differently.

• I would have used tape &/or plastic wrap to secure small and movable pieces in place.
• I would have wrapped the entire unit (sewing machine) in bubble wrap.
• I would have double boxed the item, for an even more secure shipment

One of the problems that I face in my business is having the appropriate boxes on hand for shipping items. I try, whenever possible, to recycle good sturdy boxes, to save myself time and money. I have received some free Priority Boxes through ebay (with the ebay logo on it). Unfortunately, I almost never have had the chance to use them. Either the items I'm selling are too big or too small; or the customer has chosen another shipping method (such as Parcel Post). This ends up meaning that I have to go out and buy a new box for the shipment, if I don't have a box of adequate size.

I try to estimate my costs before hand; but sometimes I just get it wrong. But not to fret: I now have a better system in which I hope to be able to avoid most, if not all of the problems I have experienced here. In reading The Official ebay Bible, written by Jim "Griff" Griffith, Dean of eBay Education, and published by Gothem Books: I have created my new plan for listing and shipping all items. My plan, a 10-step process, outlines what I need to do for each item I want to sell, and in order of doing it. Without going into great detail, after I have found my item, researched it, photographed it, edited the photographs, and written up the ad: I now will be packing and weighing the item. This will come BEFORE I actually list it.

What I hope this will do is it will allow me to know exactly what the shipping size and weight is going to be before I actually ship it. It will also allow me (hopefully) not to be so much in a hurry. As I will know the size and weight, and I will know exactly what it will cost me to ship it, including the packaging materials: I will be able to get a better, more accurate shipping cost to the customer. This way, I should hopefully not be faced with taking a loss because of the shipping/handling charges.

In getting back to the story: the customer wrote me, and seemed very upset about the whole deal. She felt that she was being ripped off, and that the packaging was sub par for the item being shipped. She had requested a full refund of all monies paid, and this included the shipping charges. I wrote to her, after some careful consideration, and let her know that we have a process that we had to follow. I would be filing a claim with the postal service, and that per my company policy; we don't refund the shipping charges.

However, later that same evening (or actually early in the next morning), I had an epiphany of how I should proceed. I decided, for the sake of all, I would just refund the entire amount, including the shipping charges. I would file the form, which I found online, and hope that the government would refund the purchase price to either the buyer or me. After I came up with this new plan, I had written a long letter back to the customer outlining the plan.

So this brings things up to date. I will be going to the post office in a little while, and filing the claim. I will send the shipping costs to the customer as of this weekend when I get more funds. After all, I have already paid the seller, and don't wish to bother him about this. When I get the money from the claim, I will forward the rest to the customer post haste. I am also waiting for some additional pictures of the "damaged" items, so that I can keep accurate records about this whole transaction, as well as a reminder of the entire event.

Lastly, I am considering having the customer shipped the damaged item back to me, so that I can attempt to get it repaired, and possible resold. I am not sure about this, as I think my customer may take offense to this. I will have to give this some careful consideration before I proceed.