The complaint that comes back weeks later

Decide the fault first, then the money. A maker's defect goes back to the company, spoiled goods are your responsibility, and ordinary wear is nobody's. Say your time limit out loud at the counter before you ever need it, and settle the case the same day rather than letting it sit.

The shoes that tore in the third week

A customer comes in holding a pair of shoes and a face he has been practising on the way. He bought them from you twenty-four days ago. The stitching on one side has come apart. He wants his money back.

You remember the sale. You also remember that he has worn them every day since, because you have seen him in them.

Three things are true at once, and that is what makes this hard. The shoes probably were badly stitched. He has also had most of a month of use out of them. And he is standing in your shop in front of two other customers who are now listening to how you handle it.

Whatever you decide, decide it in about ninety seconds, because the longer this stands at the counter the worse it gets for you. A complaint settled quickly costs money. A complaint argued about slowly costs money and reputation, and the reputation part is the expensive half.

What actually arrives with the complaint

He is holding one thing but bringing three, and separating them is most of the work.

He is holding one thing and bringing three

1. 1The claim: something was wrong with the goodsIt may be true, partly true or a story. You often cannot know, and you often do not need to.
2. 2The ask: money, a replacement, a repair or a creditThese cost you very different amounts, and he usually accepts whichever you offer first.
3. 3The audience: two customers and a whole bazaarA shopkeeper who is right and visibly hard loses more than the goods were worth.

The claim. Something was wrong with the goods. This may be completely true, partly true, or a story. You cannot always know, and you often do not need to.

The ask. Money back, a replacement, a repair, or a reduction on his khata. These cost you wildly different amounts and he will usually accept whichever you offer first, so the order in which you offer matters more than almost anything else here.

The audience. Other customers, and a bazaar that will hear a version of this by evening. This is why a shopkeeper who is technically right and visibly hard often loses more than the goods were worth.

Deal with the ask, not the claim. Arguing about whether the shoes were faulty is a fight you cannot win and do not need. Deciding what you are willing to give is entirely in your hands.

Fault first, money second

There are only four kinds of late complaint, and each has an obvious owner.

Four kinds of late complaint, four owners

Whose fault it isWhat you do

Stitching, a seal, a machine that stoppedWhose fault it isThe company that made itWhat you doSend it, stay involved, give a date

Food past its date, a damp packetWhose fault it isThe shop, with no argumentWhat you doReplace it and check the rest of that stock

A month of daily use on cheap goodsWhose fault it isNobodyWhat you doGive a little or nothing, stay friendly

Used for something it was never meant forWhose fault it isThe buyerWhat you doSay it once, gently, offer the repair route

The maker's defect. Stitching that came apart, a machine that stopped, a pack that was sealed wrong. This is the company's, and your job is to send it there properly: find the slip, keep the packaging if it exists, and tell the customer what you are doing and roughly how long it takes. Passing it on is not fobbing him off, as long as you stay involved. The shops that lose customers here are the ones that say "not my problem" and turn away.

Goods that spoiled. Food past its date, a packet that had been sitting damp at the back, a bottle that had gone. This one is yours and there is no argument to be had. Replace it, apologise, and then go and look at the rest of that stock, because something on your shelf is quietly ageing and the next complaint is already forming.

Ordinary use. Slippers worn every day for a month, a cheap tool used on the wrong job, a battery that has done its work. Nobody is at fault. This is the case where you give a little, or nothing, and stay friendly.

Misuse. The thing was used for something it was never meant for. Say so once, gently, and offer nothing except the repair route if one exists.

Naming which of the four it is, in your own head, before you speak, keeps you out of an argument about honesty. You are not deciding whether he is truthful. You are deciding which of four boxes the item is in.

Say the shoes were Rs 2,600

Say the shoes sold for Rs 2,600 and cost you Rs 1,950

A repair at the cobbler down the streetRs 150

A replacement pair off your own shelfRs 1,950

Rs 600 credit against his next purchaseRs 450

The full amount handed back in cashRs 2,600

Offer in this order and stop where he agreesRepair first, refund last

An example, not real shoes. Most people want the problem fixed rather than the money back, so the first two answers close most cases.

Look at what each answer actually costs, because shopkeepers routinely pick the most expensive one under pressure and the cheapest one when they are annoyed, and neither has anything to do with the case in front of them.

The full refund costs you the whole margin plus the goods. The replacement costs you only what you paid for the item, which on most shop goods is a great deal less than the customer imagines he is receiving. A repair costs almost nothing and is often what he actually wanted. A part credit against his next purchase costs you the least of all and keeps him coming back, which is the point.

So the order to offer in is: repair, replacement, part credit, refund. Start at the top and stop at the first one he accepts. Most people accept the first or second, because most people want the problem fixed rather than the money back.

The refund is the last option and it should stay last, not because customers do not deserve it, but because once your bazaar learns that a month-old complaint gets cash at your counter, you will get a great many month-old complaints.

Say the limit out loud, before you need it

The reason this situation is painful is almost never the item. It is that no rule existed, so the rule is being invented in front of an audience by two people who disagree.

Fix that the same way you fix every other version of this problem: decide the rule when nobody is upset, and say it at the time of sale.

Something simple, in one sentence, at the moment the money changes hands. "If there is any problem with it, bring it back within a week with the slip." Seven days for ordinary goods, and whatever the company gives for anything with a guarantee. That is a normal thing to say, it takes two seconds, and it does two jobs. It sets the boundary, and it tells an honest customer that you stand behind what you sell, which is the better half of the sentence.

Then put the same words on the slip you give him. It does not need to be formal. A line at the bottom of a bill, printed once, does the whole job for the rest of the year, and it settles the conversation before it starts because he is holding it in his hand.

A note on being strict about it: do not be. The limit exists so that you have a place to stand, not so you can send a regular away over three days. Say the limit, then decide the case on its facts. That is the difference between a shop with a rule and a shop with a wall.

The answers, in the order to use them

The ninety seconds that settle it

• Say one sentence that shows you heard the complaint
• Decide which of the four boxes the item is in
• Offer the repair, then the replacement, then a credit
• Name the day he should come back, and add a few
• If the answer is no, say it in one line with no lecture
• Write the outcome on the entry the same day

Say the thing that shows him you heard the complaint before you say anything about what you will do. It takes one sentence and it changes the temperature completely.

Then offer, in order, and be specific about what happens next and when. Vagueness is what turns a complaint into a second visit. "Leave it with me and come Thursday" is an answer. "I will see what can be done" is not.

If it is going back to the company, tell him the honest waiting period, and add a few days to whatever you think it will be. A customer told two weeks and served in ten days is happy. A customer told a week and served in ten days will tell people you kept his money.

And if the answer is genuinely no, say it in one short sentence, without a lecture, and offer the smallest thing you can afford as a gesture. A man who leaves with nothing tells the story. A man who leaves with a small thing usually does not.

Write it on the same entry

The last part is the one that saves you the second time, and there is almost always a second time.

Whatever you settle, it goes on the record against that sale, on the day it happens. What the complaint was, what you gave, and that the matter was closed. If it was a credit sale, the adjustment goes on his khata as a dated entry rather than as a quiet reduction of the old one. A balance that shrinks with no explanation is the seed of the next argument, and it is exactly how a shop ends up in a dispute about what was paid six months later. If he is bringing the goods back rather than complaining about them, that is a slightly different job and the returns on a credit sale belong on the khata in their own way.

In Wasoolo an entry carries a note and a date, so a replacement given in the third week reads as a replacement rather than as a payment nobody can account for. It also means that when the same customer arrives with a fourth complaint in six months, you can see the first three, which is a conversation worth having calmly and impossible to have from memory.

That last point is worth more than the goods. Almost every shop has one or two customers who complain far more than everybody else, and almost no shopkeeper knows who they are, because each case feels reasonable on its own. The record is what turns three reasonable cases into one pattern, and knowing the pattern is what lets you stay generous with the people who never ask, which is most of keeping the customers worth keeping.

He has no slip and no packaging. Do I have to do anything?

You do not have to, and it is often worth doing something small anyway if you remember the sale. Ask him to bring the slip next time and say it kindly.

The item is under the company's guarantee but he wants me to pay him now.

Explain that the company replaces it and that you will send it. Offer to lend or hold something in the meantime if you can. Paying out of your own pocket for a maker's fault trains everybody to come to you.

How long should my own limit be?

Seven days is the usual answer for ordinary goods, longer for anything with a guarantee card. Whatever you pick, say it at the sale and put it on the slip.

He complains about something almost every month. What now?

Look at the record before you speak, then have one calm conversation about the pattern. Do not accuse. Say what you see and ask him what he thinks is happening.

Should I put a "no return" line on my bills?

Better to write what you do offer than what you refuse. "Any problem, bring it back within seven days with this slip" reads as confidence, and it draws the line just as clearly.

The complaint is about a rate, not the goods.

Then it is a different problem and it belongs with the pricing conversation, not this one. Show the entry, show the date, and settle it on the record rather than on memory.