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10 Comments

Refunds or No Refunds?

Hi Indiehackers,

We run a small SaaS startup in the field of investment research. One of our features is on-demand research. Users can ask to do certain research work and add it to the platform. The quotas are mentioned on the site and so is the no refund policy.

However, today, we got our first refund request. The user expects the research to already be present on the platform and doesn't want to wait. Our no-refund policy is already listed on the site and we also mention that research takes a few days. But the user is being unreasonable and insists on a refund.

I'm wondering how to go on about this? Issue a refund and live to fight another day, or should we be concerned about Chargebacks in spite of mentioning the no refund policy? It just sucks that we've to incur a 6% payment gateway fee in spite of working hard, doing everything right and by the book.

Thank you!

  1. 2

    It's tough because you've listed your policy but I think it's not worth it to fight this person, similar to what @sotak has said, the less time you spend on this, the better and it will also let you sleep better at night.

    1. 1

      That's very true, @nafetswirth. Took a sigh of relief after refunding him and slept peacefully.

      We'll adopt this policy and start refunding dissatisfied customers going forward.

      Thanks for taking the time out,

      Regards,
      Piy

  2. 1

    Refund.

    He feels betrayed and the blame will be with you, and word might spread you are not able to communicate your service clearly, and worse!

    After all, it's the web.

    1. 1

      Always funny to get complaints by people that don't read before they buy but it's just the reality we face and have to deal with, assuming we're not talking white 2px font on white background with some ********.

      Maybe @Piy you can investigate if there's something you can do to make this more clear, it might save you time and energy in the long run.

      1. 1

        Right, @nafetswirth.

        The first we did after this incident was, to make UX prompts and marketing grammar more prominent.

        This will be our approach going forward. But I suspect the guy made the purchase impulsively, only to realize we're not in the industry he thought we were.

        Thank you for the advice!

        Regards,

        Piy

        1. 1

          Sounds like a good approach and yeah it's likely that they didn't read but at the end of the day a lot of people will do that and the more you can point towards it being mentioned multiple times in clearly visible font etc.
          the more people might be willing to put it on themselves instead of you hence cutting you some slack and waiting the couple days instead of feeling betrayed/cheated etc so it's still a good investment in the future I'd say.

    2. 1

      That makes sense @OpenlyLateDeveloper.

      Thank you!

      Piy

  3. 1

    Hi Piy,
    Refund. Unless you have delivered everything and they have clearly benefited from your service. It is not worth the hassle to fight these and hopefully there will be just few of them a year.

    It is also easy for them to call you out, and do everything to shame you if you don't want to refund them, however in right you might be (no-refund policy in place, etc.). Bad publicity like this is not great and not worth it. Refund and move on. You have already spent too much time on this. :)

    But still, check why this has happened, whether this is something you should look into, so those who will be signing up later won't go through the same issues (if there are any).

    Just out of curiosity, why 6%, sounds quite expensive?

    1. 2

      Thank you, @sotak. I appreciate the advice.

      Ended up refunding the amount to the customer. Now, in retrospect, I understand it's the right move. So much less pressure to keep him happy.

      And yes, that payment gateway is Fastspring. They handle all the international taxation and charge 5.9% + 0.95c per transaction.

      Regards,
      Piy

      1. 1

        You are welcome, great it took some pressure off.

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