At Black Cat PC we are lucky to have quite a low return rate. However, over the years we have had all sorts of products sent back in a range of conditions. Most customers are decent and return the items with care but others couldn't give a damn, or they return their old product back and still try and get a REFUND!
P.S: The comments at the bottom of the page make for good reading too!
Case 1 - I promise this isn't my old broken one (Or is it)
This lovely person had only had their brand new Dell 65w USB-C charger for just under a week and then decided to start a return. The reason was "No longer needed" so the return was approved, and a few days later and this is what arrived!
Well, this customer was taking the biscuit. The adapter came back slung a box completely trashed. The adapter clearly had more than a few days use and was falling apart. They had attempted to tape it back together to no avail. And to top it off they included a note saying please refund!
Obviously, this was not our adapter. The part number wasn't even the same as the part sent. So we refused the refund!
Case 2 - I've oiled your battery, broken it, and given you a free yellow rag
It was a warm summer morning and we were sitting in the office doing worky things.....Probably. When DPD delivered a return. We opened the box and what did we see a dirty yellow rag! Time to fetch the gloves! Within the rag was a battery. The battery looked like it had been lathered in oil and kicked about a bit, damaging the tabs and case.
I then looked on the system to see that he'd only had it a week. It must be his one. Of course, it's his old one. The part number didn't match. No refund! Plenty of arguments with the customer!
Case 3 - Lucky it didn't go BOOM at Christmas!
This customer didn't return an item as such but did send a battery to us for recycling. Our website states this is allowed, correct disposal of batteries is very important. However, the battery must be sent to us via courier in a dangerous goods labelled foam-lined box we sent the new battery to the customer in.
Instead, this resourceful individual decided to ignore all the instructions and send it in an envelope with Royal Mail!
Unfortunately, It gets worse. They didn't have a big enough envelope so this is what they did:
Yes, that's right! they folded the battery in half like a book. The envelope also had water damage (Lithium-Ion and water DOES NOT MIX WELL). But the Christmas tape was a beautiful touch to an otherwise dangerous parcel. The first thing we did was check the battery had no charge. Luckily it had very little. We never did get a response from the customer!
Case 4 - It wasn't me - It must have been DPD
Now we move on to a "wrong part ordered" return from Europe. The customer contacted us after receiving the EXPENSIVE battery stating he ordered the wrong part. We asked the customer to ensure it was well packed in its original box and sent him the return label. A few days later we received the return. We knew already it was going to be bad as DPD had re-bagged the package. Here we go AGAIN!
The box looked like it had been thrashed to within an inch of its like by the hulk on a bad day. That poor battery, did it survive...… No, of course not! The damage to the battery casing and cable meant we couldn't sell it again! long story short the customer blamed DPD. DPD blamed the customer and they all lived happily ever after. Except for us, we still had to refund the customer at a big loss.
Feel free to share your comments and stories below!