How to Deal with such a Buyer???

[clarry100]

We have a listing (on our other store ID) that is for 5x pairs of hair clips.

The listing is very clear that these are a pack of 5 pairs at random.

The pictures show a range of possible clips that may be contained in a pack.

The description states that we are unable to provide any choice of style and colour due to the many variations.

Now we have a buyer who ordered and paid straight away and then sent a message asking for specific clips and colours in the pack despite what the listing says. She has asked us to send her a picture of the pack she will get before we mail it out. And says she doesn't want them to be too "girly". How can you have hair clips that are NOT girly?

We are unable to satisfy her request as these are pre-packaged for us and you get what you get in the pack.

I have sent her a message explaining what the listing description actually says but have not received a response as yet.

I am loathe to mail out anything as It feels like whatever we send will be no good to her and will attract a NEG.

So in my message I suggested that she might consider cancelling the transaction.

Any thoughts on how to handle this kind of situation?

[davewil1964]

Don't offer multi-variant listings for things you can't deliver?

Seriously, you are only letting yourself in for bad buyer experiences (negs) if you show 'representative' pictures and can't comply with a buyer requesting specific choices from those pics.

If I saw something like that I would not assume, without asking, if I had a choice, but I doubt the average buyer has the same mindset. Remembering that the average buyer doesn't seem to actually get to the point of reading descriptions. Especially if they are using a phone, where the description, T&Cs, etc require an effort to view.

[clarry100]

Yeah I hear what ya sayin' Dave.

We actually spoke about that between ourselves this evening. That when this lot has finished to discontinue this item line.

We've sold quite a few packs and got good POS back from every buyer so far.

But now have just struck this one buyer. The tone of her message suggests that indeed she did read the deecsription as there is some tacit acknowledgement in there that there is no choice.

The listing is not a multi-variant listing. It's just a single item BIN listing for a pack of 5 random pairs of clips.

[thecatspjs]

Random supply of product offered is fraught with potential to go very, very wrong as far as buyer satisfaction.

I think you may have escaped lightly and been fortunate that the fickle buyers out there have mostly been true to their fickleness and not purchased.  

Edit - Agree with Jen's post below

[jensmanchester-australia]

Ring the buyer and offer the option of cancelling the sale if they are not happy to accept what is offered in the listing - it is often much easier to sort out issues like this over the phone.

[digital*ghost]

I don't know what the title of your listing is, but I think "Random Mixed" should be the first two on a listing like that (if they aren't already), as then the first impression is that there is no choice. (At least to me).

Whenever something requires a buyer's response, I will provide a deadline for them to get back to me to confirm their choice, stating that I will take X action if I can't confirm by that deadline, and in this instance, I would do / send this:

"Regretfully, I am not able to meet your request on this item as they are pre-packaged with random designs, and we are unable to open the packages to mix and match specific patterns for our customers. I am sending through an image showing a selection of the packages we have in stock, and I hope you find one that meets your requirements [I've done this before, where I just sent 3 images, numbered on the image itself, and the buyer got back to me with the number they wanted]. If none of the mixes suit, you're welcome to let us know and we will refund your payment and cancel the transaction. To avoid the possibility of sending items that you may not be happy with, please note that if I am not able to confirm your choice by XX/XX, a refund will be automatically processed. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to let me know. 

Kind Regards,

etc.

Feel free to use any or all of that, if it helps. 

Edit: And the phone option, too - could be much simpler. 😄

[springyzone]

There's an easier way out of this rather than just awaiting a reply that may not come.

Pick up 3 random packets.

Photograph them. Attach them to an email and explain that you are unable to break packages & they are random selections as per the listing, but here are 3 packages, which would she prefer, A, B or C?

Explain that you would like her to let you know within 48 hours as otherwise you will have to select one and post it.

Random packs can be a bit fraught. I wouldn't have thought hair clips would be such a big deal but I once bought 5 doilies, the ad said they would be random choice from a selection of 60 (which was photographed as a whole and with some individual ones, all showing embroidery. Then mine came and 4 out of the 5 were very plain ones, not like the photos at all. I gave her positive as after all, it did say random, but these days I would give neutral as the photos were misleading. So you need to be careful but if your photos are pretty representative of what people actually are likely to get, then it should be okay, you would think.