"Great. Hi John
I’m one of the sales people at going going gone and I’d just like to inform people of the full story. Firstly, I’d like to say to everyone that our store policy is on display on the front counter of our shop. The policy clearly states the following, “Going Going Gone will not issue a refund simply because a product is unsuitable. Please consider your purchase carefully and ask any of our staff for advice as to how suitable the product will be for your requirement.”
Dougal, the staff member who served John does not recall him asking him any questions in regards to how suitable this umbrella is for his purpose. As far as he, and the video surveillance can recall John came into the shop, looked at the umbrellas, Dougal approached him, asked if he required some assistance, John informed Dougal that he had to call his partner which he then proceeded to do. John then told Dougal he would like to purchase the umbrella, and he happily served John.
John, I’d like to make it clear to you that it is not our responsibility to find out exactly what every customer is intending to do with the products they buy from our store. It is the customer’s responsibility to ask these questions and to do their research.
John then sent us the following email:
Hi,
Just a note to let you know that I have begun writing about my
experience with you online.
You can find my first posting at www.docoloco.com.
I think it is absolutely unacceptable for a specialty store like yours
to sell goods and not provide a refund when the product is clearly not
fit for purpose. I had not even taken the umbrella I bought from you
out of the car! You don’t have a product that IS fit for purpose. If
you’d had something suitable I’d have ordered it on the spot. No
refund! are you kidding me?
If you reconsider your position let me know. Otherwise I’ll just keep
that word of mouth rolling. I’m a very chatty fella.
Regards,
Johnny Cussen.
Hopefully in the future John you will be more aware of your responsibilities as a consumer. And in answer to your email, we are not going to reconsider your position. No one forced you to buy an umbrella from our store, so if we didn’t have a product to suit your application, why did you buy something?
Kind regards,
Steve
update 12/11/07
Just letting everyone know that John’s wife came in to the shop today. She came into the shop and began to browse around. A staff member approached her (not knowing she was John’s parnter) and she requested some help with the umbrellas. This time however, unlike John, she asked the appropriate questions and the staff member that helped her suggested that the umbrella would be inappropriate for her purpose. She then let the staff member known who she was and asked to speak with the owner. She argued the following points:
- That it was Going Going Gone’s responsibility to ask every customer what they intend to do with products they purchase from our store.
- We should some how control people from impulse buying
- The money they had spent on the umbrella was money they didn’t have
- Our store policy was not clealy displayed. ( There are two on the counter, at least 5 copies displayed in various places around the store and a copy on our website http://www.goinggoinggone.com.au )
The owner had to tell John’s wife at least 5 times to control the tone and volume of her voice. She was verbally aggressive, and had trouble particapating in a reasonable discussion. The matter was resolved with a $49 handling fee being charged and the remaining $750 being refunded to his partner’s card. John, in the past when people have bought products that have been not suitable for their use they have been refunded the full amount. It was particularly hard to do this in your situation after the way both you and your parnter went about dealing with the situation.
Kind regards,
Going Going Gone staff" - Steve de Visser
