The Business of Software

Recently this customer ordered my software and started to use it. But after a few days later he ask me for a refund because he say my software doesn't do some things he wanted. I told him i dont do refunds after 10 day, but he did a chargeback so im force to pay him back.

My question is how can i punish him for this. Im thinking about building new module in my software, so next time if someone buys it then wants to do refund/chargeback, it formats the customer hard disk.

Has anyone else tried this? Can i have suggestions/recommendation for similar ways to handle customer chargeback?

LOL, I'm hoping this is trolling.

I suggest that your program sends back the customers IP address to you on first use and also take a picture of them if they have a WebCam. Then you can send around the heavies to sort him out. I do that all the time.

I hope it's trolling too, but based on some of the anti-social behavior that is occasionally seen around here, I'm not sure.

Let the guy go -- it's no big deal.  If you format his hard disk he'll either sue you, or seek revenge on you (which you'd arguably deserve if you purposely destroy his computer).

How about building a key-logger and sendkeys into your application? You can then get his passwords and credit card numbers, then purchase many copies of your top competitor's products and chargeback against those. Oh and send an email "accidentally" to his wife arranging a rendez vous with his <s>girl</s>boyfriend.

I seriously hope you're trolling because what you are suggesting is something that could be constituted as a criminal offence. Just make sure their key is blocked so they can't use the app any more.

How much are you selling your product? Is it worth the hassle and ill-will it will create? Maybe instead of punishing him for what he has done, ask him exactly what the problem is and maybe find a fix for it.

"I told him i dont do refunds after 10 day"

Really?  Hmmm.  I'll be it's B2C too.  Well your "policy" breaks some state and certain federal laws in the jurisdiction I'm in I think you've got the question back to front.  Please supply your email address and product to this forum so we can send the customer information on how he can punish you.

Find out where he lives and take out a hit on him.

It's the only way people will learn.

How about putting a remote access server (a lot of open source code) in your program? So in this case your program can search his computer for money/quicken files and transfer them back to your server.

One of the reason not to buy any software from an one-man operation.

Go to his house and tickle him until he wets himself.

Troll or not, this is a reminder that some people simply shouldn't be in business!

+2 farmboy

Why  not just reformat if they don't buy in 10 days? sounds like a good way to drum up sales...

Why wouldn't you just refund the guy?

 * If he has a genuine refund reason, he is happy and you have gained goodwill.
 * If he has figured out how to run your app without licensing, you've gained a user who might feel guilty enough next time to buy it.

Refunds should be officially limited to N days but you probably should always give a refund even if the request comes in afterwards. After all, if a large group of freeloaders catch on, you can always change this unofficial policy.

I can certainly understand the desire to wipe the drive of a pirate but not a customer who changed their mind.

If there's something about your product that makes chargebacks a problem then consider online activation such as every 5th run it needs to check the license hasn't been revoked. Better, check on registration then check again 60 days later, ie after any and all reasonable refund period.

10 days is shorter than most trial periods, most merchants offer 30 day refunds, some 60, so when someone who truly purchased (not a stolen card) and then requests a refund within 11 days, be reasonable and give it to them.

You've also discovered the hard way that you don't really have much choice if credit card rather than paypal or something.

Tip - if the customer uses the word "chargeback", play nice.



A.

I think the OP is a troll, so I'll try to add some value to this thread. When something unexpected happens in your business, you have a chance to make a memorable statement about your company. Good or bad.

People do business everyday. You give them money, they give you a happy meal. They give you money, you give them Widgetcool. It's normal. It's boring. It's unremarkable. Then something abnormal happens. A refund request, an overcharge, an oversight. This break in the mundane, and how the business reacts can leave a lasting impression, even if the customer has been doing business with that company for years. It just sticks out. You decide what you want your impression to be and handle the situation accordingly.

I'll end with this story:

I recently went to a large home improvement store to get some items to remodel a bathroom. We exchanged money for the goods and were in the car on our way home. This is when we realized, something wasn't quite right with the transaction. It turns out, the cashier failed to properly checkout the light fixture we bought, thus we we not charged for it. So, we turn around, park, go back into the store, wait in line and try the transaction again. The result. Nothing. Another boring, normal transaction. Only this time, it actually costed me money. No "thank you". No 10% discount. Not even a smile or laugh about the problem. I had the item for free, so a discount wouldn't have really mattered. What did matter was how they handled it. The store decided not to use this opportunity to capture and retain a customer. And so, in the future, I'll just go to whichever home improvement store is closer.

Write to the customer and tell tehm about your sick child who you are using your mISV to pay the treatment for, and how the extra charges incurred by the chargeback has extended the pain of your child, blah blah blah...

Just make them feel guilty as hell. Mention karma for bonus points. Let their conscience punish them.

LOL WUT?

@Randy - you forget that most people that work there couldn't give a carp about you, your business or anyone else.  It's the way of the world.

"No "thank you". No 10% discount. Not even a smile or laugh about the problem."


Did you *ask* for a discount? Seems to me this would have been a perfect opportunity to do so. The low-rung cashiers aren't going to go out of their way to give you special treatment without a nudge or a poke in that direction.

Alexander? Is that you again??

I imagine for some purposes you could ask for
payment a month in advance, which should time
out the customer's ability to chargeback.

thanks for every great ideas anyone. there are many idea here that i like, but best one is i think the using customer webcam to take picture and using it to black mail them. This is better than formatting but it will still punish them ;).

Ps im not in the US so im not scared from law ;-)

Not to thread-jack, but I wasn't looking for a discount. I wasn't looking for special treatment. I had the item for free, if I wanted. It's not about the money. It is about how a company responds to a situation that doesn't happen everyday. Do they leverage it for more sales, or do they blow it.

I do agree, the cashier's don't care, but it's because they are in a corporate environment that trains and encourages them not to care. Since they don't care, I don't care to make them my first choice for doing future business. That was my original point. The troll, and any other business owners can choose to leverage a situation to build their business or not. Their choice. But, ready or not, these situations come up.

jesus randy

let me get this.  you are pissed off because the cashier didn't jump up and down and praise your honesty for returning a piece of accidentally stolen merchandise.  whoo whee.

Hey Lenny,

Thank you for your feedback. I will strive to make sure my point is more clearly stated in future posts. With time and practice, I am confident that I can reduce the amount of thought required to understand the true meaning and purpose of what I write. Thanks again.

Hi Alexander, nice to see you again.

Concerning your customer, you have basically 2 options:

a) Have your app phone home periodically and check if the serial number has been tagged as stolen or deactivated and if yes, return to demo mode.

b) Shoot him.

I recommend you go b.

Sleep with his wife.

Object Hater: "I imagine for some purposes you could ask for
payment a month in advance, which should time
out the customer's ability to chargeback."

The customer as enemy?  ISTM a good way to make enemies.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko