A MOMster Life

They say that when it's February, it is the month of "hearts". The time when people show their affection and gratitude to their partners. The time to celebrate love.

As what a few of my friends know, I've started my own online shop last year, 2014.

There was no official date as this only started out as a plain hobby of online buying and selling.

I've been very kind and considerate to customers because all online sellers I've been dealing with also treated me the same.

They could even remember my name and what I ordered from them and it makes my heart smile knowing these people actually take every customer seriously.

And that very fulfilling feeling of knowing my customers love, not only my items, but also my service is another plus of why I would treat my customer so generously.

But then again, not everyone is nice and not everyone loves to read!

Here are some customers whom I find difficult to deal with and how I actually deal with them.


Customers who don't read.

All details - from item code, size, price, availability down to the meetup schedules and shipping fee - are already posted but then they would still ask "How much?"
Oh, come'on! I have provided every detail and have put a lot of effort on every word and then these customers don't even read them.

Source: Google images

HOW I DEAL: Even if I do get annoyed at times, I will still answer their questions with matching smiling emoticons. And when getting irritated gets the better of me, I would simply answer with "It's stated on the description, dear. (:". Yes. With matching smiling emoticons.


Customers who keep on changing meetup location/schedule.

There are customers who agrees to meet in this one place and then later on says they prefer another place and then later on change the date and then realized they are not available on that date so they would change the place again and waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

HOW I DEAL: I've already set preferred location meetups and days so I'd just tell my customer to choose one from those. And with emphasis tell them that I do not cater all special meetup requests. If they can't choose from any of those, it's either we resort to shipment or the customer just has to find another seller.


Customers who think sellers are desperate for money.

If there's one top misconception about sellers, it is thinking that sellers are broke and poor and are in desperate need of money. I have encountered one customer who demanded for a special meetup, and I had to politely tell her I cannot grant the said request. She then told me, "Why not!? How much is your SMU fee? I can pay you."

Source: Google images

HOW I DEAL: I wanted to tell her she could just shove her money down her throat and that I am earning more in an hour at the office than the item she wanted to buy. But since we sellers have to always keep our cool (even if we are actually losing it), I just told her that I had other priorities such as work and family. And well, it's better I no longer have to comment to the customer about her being able to pay me an additional fee for the SMU. Pfft.


Customers who cancels the order on follow-ups.

I give considerations to customers who cancels orders. I mean, there might be an emergency and anything. But there are customers who loves to reserve items and then says they'll get their orders on the next week. By next week, when I follow up, they'll just say "Oh, I'll cancel my order."
Oh wow. You could have told me sooner when you know you're already cancelling.

Source: Google images

HOW I DEAL: As irritating as it may seem, I just have to move on and thank the customer (for nothing, actually). Oh well.


Customers who buy now and pay later. (idea added by Ishoppe)

There are big retailers who offer this kind of service. And even if the idea is quite tempting, we all know that most of these would require a customer to use their credit cards. So that means the customer would pay on a later date but with a chance of paying it with a higher amount.
Now, my online shop is just a small personal business so most of my direct customers would be my friends. And well.. knowing that we're always gonna see each other anyway, tend to just buy the items now and pay later (like a week or two) - without swiping any credit card! That leaves me with no more items for other potential buyers and no profit yet. Quite inconvenient for the budget.



HOW I DEAL: If it's just an item or two, I make considerations and actually just give in to their request. If it's like half a dozen or more, I would politely ask if they could at least give 25% - 50% of the payment. If it's someone I don't know personally, I would never let them get the item without the payment.


These are just some of the customers I find hard to deal with and uhm.. "unfavorable".

How about you?

Are you also a seller who has to deal with these kinds of people?
What kind of customers do you find unfavorable?
How do you deal with them?

Leave your message on the comments section and might as well get featured on the next blog posts.

Godspeed!