Do not buy anything with intention to return. Money back guarantee is to serve customers better

Sairam friends,

On Friday 5th sep 2014, I was co-coordinating to shoot a video testimonial in the U.S for one of the product in my organization. I gave some Video Making tips to the guy in U.S and asked him to send some footage for me to edit and test on Monday. He basically only had an iPhone to make these videos and am not OK with the quality. I really wonder how no body is even trying to help him with a HD Camcorder for better quality.

I went to another guy and was speaking casually about it. He told me “Ask him to get the Gadget and return it after 30 days to 90 days. They will return the money completely. I bought a …………when I was in U.S, used it and returned it back.”

I was blinking why he gives me such suggestion but I wasn’t surprised.

I know so many people do this when they go abroad. Simply purchasing something with the intention to return. Money back guarantee was created to bring trust in the customer about the seller or the product’s quality. You are most welcome to return the product if you find any fault in it or at least if you are going to go for an exchange – Like going in for a better product with the same seller.

If you buy any product or service especially with the intention to return, it certainly is wrong.

My experience consulting individuals to launch their eCommerce website:

A writer never expresses anything without experiencing it in reality. Every word I write in StarSai has got to do something with what I realized doing some work in the past. In the beginning of 2014, I was actively helping few individuals in the U.S, U.K and Australia to do digital marketing for their eCommerce websites.

I never did consulting with big companies but I have worked with few who wanted to earn their living selling products online. Sometimes, I had tears in my eyes thinking how innocently these Entrepreneurs launched their site trusting they will have big sales online. I always tell them to keep such eCommerce business as hobby as it works for some and not all. Secondly, I request them to have a full time job to make sure they have an monthly income.

Gradually, I stopped doing such consulting since I had other work to do.

Lesson from my experience:

People do business to earn better income. They expect a lot from it and dream big initially. When they realize that its not an easy business, they have a lesson. Many people fail and few are successful but everyone gets a lesson. The experience of launching a business. We must appreciate it because we din’t try to be an Entrepreneur. That’s it. Same thing applies to a local store owner.

They really strive hard and when ever someone buys their product/service there by bringing them a profit, they are happy about it. When you return the product and ignore the service after using it, they get disappointed.

OK. I know your justification. You are only purchasing from Big chain stores which are corporates making Millions of dollars. You can justify that one customer purchasing a product purposely with intention to return won’t hurt them much.

Think this way.

1. Do you know how many scientist’s and researchers sacrificed their personal life to work on these technology and make the world a better place?

2. Can you do one single day of the work done by the laborer who assembled the parts in the manufacturing unit.

3. Can you replace the Pilot or the Truck driver who took these items from one part of the world to another?

4. Can you replace the hard work of the person doing a job for hourly wage in the store?

5. OK. You bought from an eCommerce site. So its OK to return purposely. Is that what you think?

Read this BBC  story to know what it takes to Pack and Ship your products – Amazon workers face ‘increased risk of mental illness’

(Disclaimer – I myself promote Amazon in few pages and above problem is universal to  several other work like stress caused in Manufacturing, Shipping and even in Management etc. I just want to let you know so many people really work hard to collect, pack and ship your product even if you order from an eCommerce website.)

Now lets think how spiritually you are not right when you do this.

1. You are giving your Money to someone, using their product/service, returning it and taking your Money back.

Its a Karma. A Bad Karma. What if it comes back to you in some other way?

What if you do a business someday in your life and someone cheats you like this?

What if a friend whom you trusted cheats you?

2. You don’t respect hard work of people.

Yes. You really don’t because to Manufacture the product or offer a service, someone’s skill has been used and you smartly made use of it and gave it back. You are supposed to pay all the people involved in the process above.

The worse proud talk I listen from few guys is “I bought this phone in contract and came back to India without paying for it.”

This possession will never do any good to you.

Now. What if it repeats in some other form in your life?

What if you really work hard in your Career and doesn’t get the appreciation or promotion you deserve?

What if someone else got credit for your hardwork?

You may think that I am associating things which are unrelated to each other. Trust me. This is how the “Law of Karma” works.

Its not done by God or Saints.

Its simply “What you Sow. You reap”.

You do good to others. Good will come to you.

I myself have done some mistakes in past and very lately I realized that it has added to my bad karma and I try to do good deeds.

My personal experience of having an advantage by not returning to the Store:

It was sometime in 2007, when I built my Editing system at home. A good P.C for approximately 90,000 Rs.  I spent a lot for this system and bought a ordinary U.P.S. I fixed it with my system and it was not of much use. I could not get power backup even for a minute.

I went for another U.P.S worth 12,000 Rs. and bought it. I requested the shop keeper if I can return the previously bought U.P.S and he agreed to it. While packing it to return, I dropped it down the floor though it was not showing any cracks outside. I continued to pack it.

Something stopped me and made me ask “What if this UPS I dropped down is sold to another customer and he experiences any problem?”

I called up the shop keeper and told him that I shall keep the U.P.S with myself and decided not to return. I just kept this ordinary UPS in my attic.

3 years later when the high end UPS gave me some problem, I took the ordinary UPS to see if it works. To my surprise, it worked well and I continued to use it for few days.

Now let me clarify this

1. I did not gave out the ordinary UPS just because I dropped it down and don’t want to lie the shop keeper that its returned as it is.

2. It came to my help as a backup when my high end UPS did not function well.

So I did had advantaged on not returning what I bought.

Now a days, people just buy and sell things as they wish. Sai has proved that even non-living things has a soul in it. We all know Saibaba used to keep a brick in Dwarakamai and when it broke, he told that his end is nearing.

Similarly, You must give value to what ever we buy and return it only for honest reasons.

Let us try our best to be honest and give respect to hundreds of professionals involved in researching, manufacturing, managing, marketing, packing and shipping every single product.

Let us do good karma by bringing profits to people who sell.

You are most welcome to give back to the seller. Just do not misuse it.

Let us use Money back guarantee offers honestly.

Sometimes, I wonder whats the use in writing such articles

If you are wondering, remember Sai was a customer too.

Sai used to go to the village market to buy things when he wanted to cook for his devotees.

Sai baba used to buy cloths from people who roam from village to village carrying cloth in the basket on their head. Baba will initially make them get irritated by asking for very utterly low price. Later Sai will pay a better price to the surprise of the seller.

How fortunate are these people who sold to Baba and earned profits from Baba?

Read my previous article..

Shirdi Sai Baba’s way of Shopping

Note – My intention is not to hurt anyone. I simply express my opinion based on the past experiences. Only Saibaba know why he makes me write on such issues. Irrespective of all that I mentioned in this article, If you genuinely did not like what you bought and if the quality is not good, please return them immediately.

Venkat

Little Servant of Shirdi Saibaba.

I am including this article in Humanity section as I found other section doesn’t suit this. I don’t know how to organize what I write in StarSai properly..he he…