The product you just bought on Amazon can kill you. 11 million Americans experienced consumer product injuries in 2020. Beds and pillows resulted in more than 800,000 injuries alone.
As a company leader, you need to be attentive to damaged products. Don’t sweep customer complaints under the rug because the consequences could be severe. You can deal with the situation and keep your customer happy.
What is damaged products insurance, and why should you offer it? Who should you go to after business products get damaged? How should you pay your customer back?
Answer these questions and you can know what to do after a damaged product. Here is your quick guide.
Offer Insurance
Insurance can put your customers at ease and help them recover their expenses. Many businesses include insurance in their small print. When a customer pays for service fees, they automatically pay for insurance.
You can do this, or you can have your insurance as a separate product. Make sure you explain what your insurance will cover. You can cover the cost of a product damaged during shipping, but you don’t have to cover the cost of a stolen product.
Contact the Shipping Service
As soon as you hear about damaged products in shipping, you should assess the situation. It can be emotionally difficult to handle customer complaints, so you shouldn’t talk to the customer yet. You should contact the shipping service and see what is going on.
You should get clear details on how the product got broken. An employee may have dropped it on the ground, or a truck may have collided with a wall. You should understand the steps your shipper will take to prevent the damage from happening again.
Yet you should take responsibility for the damage. You are the one who hired the shipping service. You can connect the customer with the shipper, but it’s on you to make up for the product.
Consider a Refund
Your first instinct may be to give your customer a refund. Most customers are happy to receive their money back and move on with their day.
Yet offering a refund to every customer can create significant deductions. You may spend thousands of dollars a year on paying your customers back.
You may want to offer your customer a partial refund and a free product. You can also send them a replacement for the product they ordered.
You may want to ask the customer to send the damaged product back. You can use the defective product to change your designs so your items cannot break in the same way.
Deal With Damaged Products
You will get complaints about damaged products eventually. You can calm your customers down by offering insurance that compensates them for damaged products.
You can prevent further damage from occurring by contacting your shipper. Launch an investigation about what happened and take steps to improve your shipping operations.
Think about a good way to compensate your customer. You can pay them back, but a cost-effective alternative is to send them another product or a replacement.
You can offer the best business products when you know the best business practices. Read more business guides by following our coverage.
