[meteorite-list] Dealer Refunds

From: John Gwilliam <jkg_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:22:43 2004
Message-ID: <4.2.0.58.20030627203809.009d5100_at_mail.theriver.com>

Steve and List,
The correct diagnosis for this "return syndrome" is called "buyers
remorse." We've all had it at one point in our lives and it can take some
folks a lot of years to cure themselves of impulse buying. Some guys take
a look at their paycheck and start looking around for something to spend it
on. Only after they've spent the money do they remember they've got a
table full of bills to pay. Poor decision making is NOT a legitimate
reason to expect a refund.

Does anyone want to buy a bag full of Gold Basins for what I paid for them
five years ago? I'd love to get $3.00 per gram for them ugly buggers right
now.

Live and Learn,

John Gwilliam

At 10:59 PM 6/27/03 -0400, MeteorHntr_at_aol.com wrote:
>Hello List,
>
>I have an ethical question I would like to get some feedback on.
>
>I just got a request from a customer that I give him a refund for a
>specimen he purchased a month or so ago from me that he wants to return
>now. His request was not based on the fact that the specimen was damaged
>or otherwise in a different condition than described when it was sold to him.
>
>The request he felt was justified because he thinks the specimen is now
>not worth as much as he paid for it bach then. He seems to think he can
>get the same thing for a lower price elsewhere. So I assume he wants the
>refund to go buy the other cheaper specimen to replace the one he wants to
>give back to me.
>
>While I do guarantee authenticity and that the specimens are as described
>on all my specimens I sell, I do not have a Walmart style lowest price
>guarantee, that the person cannot find a similar specimen somewhere else
>in the present or in the future for a lower price. If someone bought
>something and didn't like it for whatever reason and wanted to return it
>promptly for a refund, that would be one thing but this is another.
>
>I find this refund request unreasonable and bordering on unethical. A
>similar but opposite request would be if I would contact buyers a month
>after I sold them a specimen and demanded that they let me buy back a
>specimen I sold them a month earlier because new information tells me that
>I sold it to them too cheap and that if I had it back at the price I sold
>it, I could turn around and sell it to someone for an even higher
>price. That request would be absurd.
>
>As I recall, there is just one dealer that offers a written lifetime
>guarantee to buy back any specimens at the customers purchase
>prices. However, one would expect that having a stated guarantee such as
>that would help such a dealer to generate more than enough extra sales to
>cover the losses when a meteorite genuinely drops in value and a few
>people decide to take that dealer up on his offer. But without offering
>that incentive to make all the extra sales along the way, a dealer could
>go bankrupt giving refunds on demand for price fluctuation reasons.
>
>I guess my question is, how would some of the other dealers respond to
>such a request? Has anyone had such a request nade if them? And for
>collectors out there, do you feel making such a request (and expecting it
>to be fulfilled) is reasonable? Would a direct purchase be different from
>an ebay purchase?
>
>Steve Arnold
Received on Fri 27 Jun 2003 11:49:57 PM PDT