Lady Shivesa

I think one thing you have to keep in mind is that you can't please everyone. It sounds like you're trying your very hardest to make sure every customer is satisifed (and that's great - I have a lot of respect for you, just from what posts I've read of yours on the forum so far), but in the end, there's always going to be at least one person who cannot see from your point of view. People are irrational, flawed and, essentially, human. You can't please them all, so don't kill yourself trying to.

The easiest and possibly best solution to me sounds like just cutting out backorders all together for international customers.

Anyways, it looks like you've got a million opinions here, so I don't want to add too much to them. Just wanted to cheer you on and say keep up the good work and don't let this get ya down!

neeng

[quote=Favorite Fabrics]Is there a way to identify the international customers up front, so they can't add the backordered items to the cart?
Or upon checkout, let them know that you can't accept backorders from international customers, but if they (tick a box), you can email them when it arrives so that they can order.

Gwyn

I think a good policy might be to not charge shipping on the backordered fabric provided it is only 1-2 pieces. Any more than that, I would work with the customer and send each shipment as a different sale, but give 1 package free shipping.

Favorite Fabrics

Just my take on it... but there really *is* no such thing as free shipping.

The Post Office, UPS, FedEx, DHL... nobody will carry our packages away and deliver them somewhere for free.

So in reality... any company that ships for free is building that cost into their prices.

Rann

I just read this on Jojo's Quilt shop site and it makes sense to me:
We allow Backorders on all Quilt Shoppe Quality Items
We will notify you if any items are on backorder. We will happily re-order any product on our website for you. If the Manufacturer no longer has the product in stock, you will be promptly notified and allowed to exchange product or receive a full refund.

**We will hold your entire order until your item(s) arrive, to save you shipping charges. Please notify us immediately if you would like any currently stocked items to ship (extra shipping charges apply). All backorders generally ship within 2 weeks.

Her web addy is: http://www.jojosgiftshoppe.com/

dollycathy

as an international customer I do understand your dilemma and mine as import charges are very expensive, firstly I would like to say that most of the sites in the united kingdom let you know how much fabric is left in stock before you order if there is not enough stock then you cannot place an order this automatically solves the problem, I will either then choose something different or place the rest of the order later and pay twice. As a business owner I know the temptation is to try and bend over backwards to please the customer but you will just tie yourself in knots trying to do this set your policy and stick to it email them and is they don’t reply then it tough you did your best you can’t please all the people all the time, and if your site is set up so that the customer can see how much stock is left then they have been made aware and it is then there choice if they want to wait and pay twice

charmpacksplus

I'm a one person shop so I have to keep it simple for now... no international orders, no backorders. If I ever decide to expand, of course I will ship internationally, but still would not allow backorders. I might have "Out of Stock" on the description page, no "add to cart" button, but one that says "please notify me when this item becomes available." That way they will know right away that this order will not include that item and they may look for another item just to fill up a box to save on shipping.

Also, I try to delete any items that are out of stock ASAP if I know I'm not reordering it. That way the customer won't spend time drooling over it then find out it's all gone. If I am reordering an item, I may move it back to the "coming soon" category until I receive it.

eleu16

I agree

eleu16

[quote=Favorite Fabrics]We do contact our customers... but sometimes they don't reply. I posted the question here because, to try to get a reading on what most people think would be sensible, to formulate a reasonable plan for what to do when the customer does not reply back to us.

It's not a perfect world. Sometimes we e-mail, and the customer does not receive it (and we do not know this).

Sometimes the customer replies, and we don't receive their e-mail (and they do not know).
You really spend a lot of time and thoughts how to satisfy c

In our shopping cart, it does show the ETA for all backordered fabrics. So the customer should be aware of the stock status even before they decide to submit their order.

'Course... we can't *force* them to read what's on their screen... but that's a whole other issue! :?[/

eleu16

[quote=Favorite Fabrics]We do contact our customers... but sometimes they don't reply. I posted the question here because, to try to get a reading on what most people think would be sensible, to formulate a reasonable plan for what to do when the customer does not reply back to us.

It's not a perfect world. Sometimes we e-mail, and the customer does not receive it (and we do not know this).

Sometimes the customer replies, and we don't receive their e-mail (and they do not know

In our shopping cart, it does show the ETA for all backordered fabrics. So the customer should be aware of the stock status even before they decide to submit their order.

'Course... we can't *force* them to read what's on their screen... but that's a whole other issue! :