OMG Aquatics Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 How many sellers here offer free shipping? I notice many sellers offer free shipping and when an item is returned, they actually deduct the actual shipping and handling price from refund. Let's use purewaterclub as an example http://www.purewaterclub.com/catalog/shipping.php " Actual S&H will be deducted from item prices to reflect freight(include free shipping item)." How is that free shipping if your going to charge us for it when we return an item? When you offer free shipping and order gets returned, you are NOT allowed to charge the buyer for actual shipping and handling price. That would no longer be free shipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Still waiting for them to return my call for sending the wrong balls! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 How many sellers here offer free shipping? I notice many sellers offer free shipping and when an item is returned, they actually deduct the actual shipping and handling price from refund. Let's use purewaterclub as an example http://www.purewaterclub.com/catalog/shipping.php " Actual S&H will be deducted from item prices to reflect freight(include free shipping item)." How is that free shipping if your going to charge us for it when we return an item? When you offer free shipping and order gets returned, you are NOT allowed to charge the buyer for actual shipping and handling price. That would no longer be free shipping. Not sure I agree with you totally. Free shipping is from them to you for the sale. If you return the item, it's no longer a sale. I think most places charge you for shipping one way if you return the item, not both. So in fact you got free shipping to receive the product, just not to return it. If they don't advertise free shipping on returns, I think it's fair game....but.....I think it also depends on the reason for the return. If you are returning it because it's a terrrible product which has had mulitple problems, I think shipping should be covered by the seller but if you're returning it because you changed your mind, then why should the seller be out more money for your mistake. Sorry if this isn't the reply you were lookig for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 But the thing is, "free" = no charge. So how do you charge your customer something that wasn't charged during purchase? This mistake is made by many sellers. Let's say you sell a product. seller one lists $4.99 for product + $4.99 S&H while seller two list $9.99 for product + Free Shipping. If I made a purchase from seller one and returned it, it is correct to not refund the $4.99 S&H If I made a purchase from seller two and returned it, you MUST not charge me for S&H because you can't charge me for something that has no value. Hence the word "free". This is what differs you from sellers who offer free shipping and the ones who don't. Most sellers add the shipping fee into the product price and offer free shipping so we all know "free" shipping doesn't really exist but if order is returned, you will have to refund actual S&H with restocking fee applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Not sure I agree with you totally. Free shipping is from them to you for the sale. If you return the item, it's no longer a sale. I think most places charge you for shipping one way if you return the item, not both. So in fact you got free shipping to receive the product, just not to return it. If they don't advertise free shipping on returns, I think it's fair game....but.....I think it also depends on the reason for the return. If you are returning it because it's a terrrible product which has had mulitple problems, I think shipping should be covered by the seller but if you're returning it because you changed your mind, then why should the seller be out more money for your mistake. Sorry if this isn't the reply you were lookig for. After reading this again, I think you got me wrong. Read the post above. Should be more clear. Not talking about seller paying for return shipping. As you can read from purewaterclub, if you return an item that was shipping free shipping, they will deduct the actual shipping and handling for the so called "free shipping" from your refund. You CANNOT deduct something that has no value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 After reading this again, I think you got me wrong. Read the post above. Should be more clear. Not talking about seller paying for return shipping. As you can read from purewaterclub, if you return an item that was shipping free shipping, they will deduct the actual shipping and handling for the so called "free shipping" from your refund. You CANNOT deduct something that has no value. So are they deducting the "free" shipping in lieu of charging you for return shipping? If so, then I don't see a problem. If they are charging for return shipping and the original shipping that's a different story. Sorry if you believe they can't charge you for something that has no value but they can, well they can until the courts say they can't. I think there are plenty of businesses that do this and until they change the laws, they will continue on doing it. My wife ordered some stuff once and they mailed it to the wrong address so it was returned. We got our refund minus the "free shipping" and a restocking fee. I think it totalled $20 and it sucks but it's not worth the stress it would cause me to recover the funds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Many businesses do that but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. It's wrong which is why I call it a common mistake. I would expect a refund of $4.99 - restocking fee from seller one. I would expect a refund of $9.99 - restocking fee from seller two. If your going to charge actual S&H for free shipping order when returned, DON'T OFFER FREE SHIPPING. That's called FALSE ADVERTISEMENT. People who offer free shipping tend to get an increase in sales. It's as simple as that. I find that many businesses/sellers don't understand "the cost of doing business". Most think they only earn and never lose anything. That is totally not true. There will always be losses. "It's the cost of doing business" < Famous line from Amazon. If there were no losses, everyone be business owners by now. Most people who don't offer free shipping and show a shipping price, their ad says shipping fee not refundable. So free shipping is $0. You are deducting $0. If you deduct more than $0, it's not free. Then don't offer free shipping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 A mistake....no, misleading.....yes. They know exactly what they're doing and while not ethical, probably totally legal. You took the quote from their document did you not? If so, it's not false advertising. Free shipping is offered and provided with a sale but with the terms and conditions outlined in their document. I am totally with you on the ethical stand point but as long as they can do it legally, or no one does anything about it, they will. I put down a deposit once on a new condo which the salesperson said was totally refundable without any clauses. I decided on another building and filled out the paperwork and waited for the refund I was promised. Time went by and after numerous calls they finally said they weren't returning my $1500 deposit. There was a clause in the fine print that it was at the developers descretion for refunds. My real estate agent filled with small claims court and we had a pre-meeting with a judge before an actual court date and his comment to me was "don't get a lawyer, you won't need one" and his comment to the developer was "give him his money back" and that was that. I wonder how many peoples deposits they kept because they wouldn't go through the paperwork my real estate agent did. My point, some people will take what they can if you don't stop them. Sorry for the ramble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Well actually. I don't know many companies that do this but many eBay and Amazon sellers do this. Free shipping actually puts your listing up higher vs the ones that don't. I totally agree with you that if no one does anything about it, they will keep doing it. In most cases, people can get their money back but didn't know or not sure how to handle the issue. When I was selling on Amazon, all my items offered free shipping and when an item is returned, I deducted actual shipping price from order. After Amazon got contacted about this, I was informed that this is wrong and I should not offer free shipping. So I continued to offer free shipping because my sales increased roughly 10-15% and when I got returns as buyer remorse, I took it as "cost of doing business" and did full refund unless restocking fee was stated. countryboy12484 and h4n 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merth Posted November 22, 2014 Report Share Posted November 22, 2014 It is common and perfectly legal. Unethical maybe. Most of the time there is a disclaimer attached which is what makes it legal. The ones that get me the most are the sellers in particular with live fish that offer a DOA policy but the policy only covers the cost of the fish. So if your order comes DOA you have the option of a refund minus shipping costs or resend and pay the shipping costs again. It boggles my mind that if the seller was to actually package the fish properly it would never be an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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