Delivering Orders As-Is

[webtelly]

Perhaps you have had this order: The order that will not respond to your requests for clarification. The customer leaves a rambling note about something that they have in mind that makes no sense whatsoever. You immediately send a note requesting more information, and wait. And wait. Then you send another message some time later and closer to the time of delivery. Nothing. Why send a cancellation request when you have not heard anything? There is nothing wrong with delivering the order with a note that says, “I have not heard anything back from you despite repeated requests. I am delivering this order as-is. Please feel free to submit an order modification.” This way, you have done everything to catch the buyer’s attention. You have given them every chance. You have avoided a cancellation. I see nothing wrong with this. What are your thoughts?

[crevlm]

I agree to an extent. I really hate the unclear directions, and better yet the names with no clear pronunciation (voice over artist) it depends on my gig delivery times at the time. If I have 24 hours, I typically will deliver in my best ability right away. But If it’s a few days, I’ll try to hold out until the last minute.

[mgjohn78]

The fact that you made this posts asking for our opinions kinda indicates that you might have some doubts of the ethics behind the policy.



Personally most of the time i pick the alternative that allows me to sleep instead of lying awake questioning the decisions i made during the day!

In the described scenarios i won’t work on an order unless i understand what the client wants and thus i wouldn’t have anything to deliver, if there is no response when the timer reaches the minimum time i need to complete the order i cancell!

[webtelly]

All good points. As far as ethics, I explained thoroughly that I do wait a fair amount of time, and I do make repeated attempts to get clarification. I am only talking about unsolicited orders that come out of the blue with no prior discussion. So, I will sleep just fine. It’s an abandoned order. I am not here to chase people down and give their money back or cancel at the cost of my reputation. The one good point that I do like is that the buyer may give a negative review. This is definitely something to ponder. I guess it comes down to a gamble, cancellation consequences vs. review. I’ll take my chances.

[mgjohn78]

Reply to @webtelly: Not too many consequences for cancellations unless this is something that happens really often. Basically all there is to it is you don’t put any work in to it and you don’t get paid.

Doing the work without knowing what the client wants you could end up with no money alot of wasted time or a bad review and a damaged reputation.



Guess what it comes down too is if you’re ok with your way and the risks that come with it dont bother you, then thats the right way for you while cancelling is the right way for me.

[webtelly]

Reply to @mgjohn78: I always put a note to feel free and submit an order modification if need be. This gives them an out. Plus, once the delivered job expires, can they actually leave a review? Doesn’t that ability go away at some point?

[mgjohn78]

Reply to @webtelly: Yeah think its 30 days (not 100% sure as things keep changing) , after that reviews can’t be added or edited!

[landongrace]

I would do that early on, but I wouldn’t do it now. It was a bigger deal back when cancellations counted against us. I did have someone come back after 9 months with the info for the gig ready to proceed and I had to honor an old rate. I delivered with the note like you suggested. “Thanks for your order, I do not have a script and I can’t complete your order. Send me a script and I can continue to work on your project.” I should have just cancelled the order. I would have got the new rate on the new order. 🙂

[webtelly]

Reply to @landongrace: Excellent advice. Thank you.

[webtelly]

Reply to @mgjohn78: Thank you.

[webtelly]

Reply to @mgjohn78: Well, you were right. The one example of my delivering the order and hoping for it to expire before the customer “woke up” definitely came back to bite me. In the 2-star review, my only negative review out of 120, the customer states, “I could not get my materials together to submit.” So, he gives me a bad review Unbelievable. So, in the future, I will follow your advice and just cancel these abandoned orders. Thank you.

[david388]

Hi @webtelly!



Sorry to hear about this bad experience. I would just say that I’ve learned that it is always always always better to cancel, provide a refund, and give up the profits from a sale than to go through the pain of a difficult customer. The amount of grief that you can end up having to deal with is almost never worth whatever the original sale was!



On the bright side, at least you can put this whole experience behind you and move forward with some newfound knowledge.



Feel free to reach out if you never need advice!

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