99. Baking it Down - Refund Chaos

🥤 Refund Chaos Twin2 (Corrie) is weirdly obsessed with TikTok drama - and not just any TikTok drama - no, specifically Tumbler TikTok drama - you know, the cups? Yeah - that Tumbler. So imagine my surprise when Business Insider posts an article about the very Tumbler drama she's been popcorning about since last week. 😳It's regarding all the good stuff - refunds, screenshots, screenshots of screenshots, Etsy reviews, mudsliggin' retorts - you know, the internet drama that gets you under a warm blanket for hours as you play judge-jury-executioner via your pocket computer. So I said - let's make a list of ways we can stay outta Business Insider articles and learn through other's experiences. Now - bless all the parties in this convoluted tail of chalice-themed cheap entertainment - I'm not pickin' sides. But grab a glass and let's work through this. Pictured: Big Debrah (from Business Insider > from TikTok)📑 1. Have it in your policies.Let the policy be the bad guy - it's you and the customer against the big bad small print. Consider everything you'll need to cover your butt (and in this case, your bottle). Refunds, response times, really-close-but-not-perfect color matching? Yeah - that stuff. And that way - when things go left, you can point at the right policy and see if you can work from there. At the beginning of this 🥤 Tumbler tumble, it seemed like the policies weren't clear on refunds when the shop made a boo-boo leaving things up to interpretation - ya know, like who pays return shipping, repairing damaged merchandise, etc.🥶 2. Give it a minute - cool off!To date - no one has died by not receiving an immediate reply to a cookie complaint. It's easy to get emotional when all we see is blood, sweat, and tears of work being complained about - so give yourself a break. In the 🥤 #tumblergate drama, the responses were goin' up faster than Corrie could place an Amazon order! No time to think out a response that makes you look good and the other party feel good. C-o-o-l o-f-f.🤬 3. Keep it private and professional.Stay outta the limelight on handling sticky issues. This isn't the time to get the courage to go Live on Instagram. Keep it private and professional - and a great way to do this is to imagine your response being read in a court of law. If it raises a judge's eyebrow - you probably need to take it back to the drawing board.Things escalated here faster than goin' to the second floor at Tysons Mall when there's a clearance sale at Nordy. Blaming, accusing, and cursin' that would make your Gramma call up your Momma and have a few words herself - that's where this went - and unfortunately, lead to doxxing the buyer's address (revealing identifiable information). Yikes! 👈 4. Take accountability.Last I checked, none of us were perfect (except Phoebe-Woebe-Lemon-Squeeze 😺), so don't have shame in accepting your part in a problem. It's okay! Accountability allows the other side to also take some accountability as well. Taking zero accountability leaves the other party fighting 100% accountability. There's a world in which you can be at-fault 40% and that doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you a human. In this version of 🥤 Tumbler-terror 5000, the original party points the blame back at the buyer - accusing the buyer of setting up the entire rouse to frame-blame the seller. Well - what else does the buyer have to do other than defend themselves?? Escalation nation! 🤗 5. Work towards a mutual resolution.