How would you handle this situation? Ship or wait?

[gilby]

Not sure that posting "what I would do" is such a good idea as it give all the crooks online a look into your methods.

However I don't believe a fraudster is going to wait that long.
Most of these people just want the cash, so how easy is it to convert your product into cash at a pawn shop?
Is your product something that is targeted by these people?

After you elimimate the professionals then is this a person that wants your product, but can't/won't pay?

One of your problems is having too much empathy for your customer.
This is a business after all.
Would the big boys send out.. No they wouldn't, because they have policies in place that don't rely on emotion.
Does this cause resentment from the customer, sure. But hey its their card thats the problem not yours. Why not have the son pay for it with his card?

I think you will fine however because it probably is a genuine situation.
Maybe you need to make some policies that cover these situations in advance, without the emotion of the moment.
Then you can just say "I would like to help you, But its company policy that....." and not feel too guilty.

Good luck

[rayw1679]

Why not have him wire the money to your bank? You could check it the next day and make sure the funds are there. Some banks charge a fee for wire transfer -- $10, usually -- some don't. The fee should be less than the discount amount on a credit card.

I wouldn't ship, particularly to an alternate address. We've had several situations that "didn't feel right," and when we pressed the customer for more details, we never heard from them again.

When the alternate address is within the same area, such as when someone wants the product sent to their business, it makes sense. We've had people from New York want product sent to Florida. These are the ones who never respond.

Are there crooks out there? Just last week, one of my credit cards was charged about $3,000 in online purchases. Citibank says the merchants will eat it, so I'm in the clear. However, the merchants are out the money

Sorry, our "trust" threshold has been violated too many times.

If you've already shipped, I hope you don't get burned.

[s_mack]

Thanks for the input everyone! For some reason, I never got a notification from the forum saying anyone had responded (seems to happen a lot here) so I didn't realize any of you had posted.

So an update - it went fine. His cheque showed up and cleared without incident. I very much appreciate your words of caution and comfort - gives me something to think about for next time for sure.

he actually included a thank you card with the payment expressing his appreciation for me doing it despite the irregularities. In his words:

We come from a different time, you and I, when doing business was simple and a man's word meant something.

:) I think he presumed I'm as old as he and that I remember "the good ol days". Hardly... just lucky enough to not have gotten burned by the bad new days I suppose.

Thanks again everyone.

- Steven

[rayw1679]

Thanks for letting us know how it turned out. I'm glad you didn't lose your money. (I, also, am not being notified of posts, but I think I hadn't turned it on in the "options.")