Conversion fees for international sales

[MachineCode]

Just a heads-up for you if you're selling your PureBasic apps... you may want to put a disclaimer in your sales pitch that currency conversion fees may be charged by your bank or financial institution for the sale. Just had a buyer complain to me that an extra fee was charged by his bank and he wants ME to reimburse him for it! I politely educated him on the facts of international sales and conversion procedures, but he still insists. Customers like that can end up being more trouble than they're worth! I am still refusing to reimburse as it ruins a company's reputation if you bend over at every complaint.

[IdeasVacuum]

....having disgruntled customers will not do your business any good. If you explain the situation to your customer and yet still reimburse them, then you have someone that's marketing your product for free, telling everyone they know what a decent company you are - A small price to pay for a good reputation.

[MachineCode]

I was following advice given on a site that said: "Don't work with jackasses. I've had people come to me and make *demands* of my time, effort, and intellect. At that point, I politely end the conversation. Haven't regretted that yet."

This person seems to be one of these demanding customers, who will make hassles for me in future. If they're going to complain about their bank's fees, what next will they complain to me about? And even if they don't complain, and they tell everyone "this company is great, they even absorb the conversion fees!" then financially that's going to cost me too when their friends start asking for the same treatment.

That's how I feel right now; that I'm being taken advantage of. Maybe I'm way off base? Has anyone experienced this before?

[Trond]

If the payment mechanism permits doing a chargeback that also refunds the bank fee, offer it.

So you give him two options:
1. Hand product back and receive a full refund.
2. Keep product and don't receive any refund.

[Zach]

Any parting words to this fellow should include, "If you are unhappy with your bank charging a conversion fee, perhaps you should take it up with your bank".

[IdeasVacuum]

this company is great, they even absorb the conversion fees

What your customer would be saying would be based on your explanation, and that would ensure that they understood it was their bank's responsibility and not yours. You would of course cover future transactions with any customer by making the situation clear on your on-line store/invoice etc. There shouldn't be many people out there that don't understand these things I know, I have not had a complaint of that ilk myself - but never underestimate the human ability of being dim. In the engineering industry we try to design things to be foolproof, but the ingenuity of the fools to do something unexpected usually wins!

If the payment mechanism permits doing a charge back that also refunds the bank fee, offer it.

A Bank refunding their fee is a very rare thing! More likely they want to charge another fee for facilitating the refund transaction, and of course the customer cannot 'shop around' for the best conversion rate either, so the Bank will always charge more than the current average rate.

At the end of the day, if you are in business, you need customers - a reputation for being customer friendly is a valuable asset, you take the rough with the smooth to gain that reputation.

[MachineCode]

Based on these comments, I have sent an email to the customer and said: "Mr X (name removed), after careful consideration we have decided to accept your request for a refund of your bank's currency conversion fee. Please advise your bank details to allow this to occur, or alternatively, a PayPal account to which we can make the payment. We would also like to stress that this is not a normal business practice of Y (our company name removed) as conversion fees are charged by your bank, not us. We hope the matter is now resolved to your complete satisfaction." He better reply with a big damn thank you!

[IdeasVacuum]

...he better had!

The customer concerned will either be totally innocent (i.e. lacks understanding of transactions and bank fees), or one of those that takes pride in getting the best value for their money but actually realised all along that they had forgotten about their bank's fees. From now on, they will hopefully be sending their contacts to your site to place orders.

[Paul]

Some people will find anything to complain about so they can get their money back and at the same time they now have a functioning copy of your software.

Best to have a no refund policy after a license has been granted.

[IdeasVacuum]

Best to have a no refund policy after a license has been granted

I agree with that (only applicable if there has been a free trial period), so long as it's made clear at the time of purchase, re-iterated in the License Agreement and all possible costs to the customer are mentioned (such as those Bank fees which are beyond your control).

Of course, it's wise to use your judgement for individual cases no matter what. 'The Customer is King' and 'The Customer is always right' - of course the customer is not always right but if you can run your business with a strong allegiance to these ideals then you will gain a good reputation.

http://www.cfigroup.com/resources/white ... 4QodqQcWAw

[IdeasVacuum]

This site has potential for the future:

http://www.currencyfair.com/our-story.jsp