Customer Wants Change On Order

[CLC]

We designers all receive emails from customers asking us to make changes to an order they have placed. I reply to their email telling them to cancel the order and place it again with the correct text and explained how to get hold of Zazzle customer support, but many customers don't always check for responses, they just assume their problem has been taken care of because they sent an email with instructions, so this new order will be wrong and cancelled after delivery, a loss for me as well as Zazzle. Wondering if Zazzle could throw up a "prompt" when a customer initiates an email to designers explaining that designers do not work for Zazzle and cannot make changes to an existing order, but to contact them with design questions BEFORE purchase, similar to what happens when you use the world glitter, lace or metallic....thank you.

[Cat]

I'd like to give this post about a million thumbs up. Customers seem to universally assume that I am the one making and shipping the products, and frequently ask for changes after the fact. I even had one customer last week who wanted me to re-direct the QR code after she'd already received the printed invites! (I'm wondering how she thinks QR codes work, but whatever.)

I've done everything I can think of on my end to head off this problem.

I've customized the messages that are sent to customers when they put something in their cart to read as follows: Thanks so much! Please Note: Print orders can't be modified once placed, and will print exactly as they appear in your cart, so please check for errors before placing your order.

And to try to drive home the point, this is my thanks for your order message: Congratulations! Your order is now complete and has been sent to Zazzle's shop for processing/printing & shipping. For help, please choose "Customer Care" below. Thanks for choosing my design!

I also include this info-graphic as one of my media images... but I can only do that for products that have a cover, so since it's going to take me the rest of my life to create more than 15K covers, it's only a small portion of products that get them, and who knows how many customers actually read it (even just the headers) or understand what it means. I'm guessing not many.

Judging by the fact that I still get around one request per week for changes after the fact, I think there's a LONG way to go in terms of educating customers as to how POD works. I would welcome any and all changes that might address this issue!

[DancingPelican]

I had a customer last night send me a chat message asking me to place an order for her. She indicated she had a refund coupon that was expiring at midnight, so I needed to place her order right away. She told me what she wanted to purchase and provided her phone number and email address to me. I responded to her chat message explaining that, as a designer/creator, I do not place customer orders or have any access to customer orders and that I do not produce the physical products. I sent her instructions on how to add the item to her cart and complete her purchase.  I never heard back from her and did not see the sale appear on my earnings report this morning, so I assume she lost her coupon code and did not make the purchase on her own. Since it was a Sunday night, I did not refer her to Zazzle Customer Care as they do not work weekends and her coupon was about to expire within a couple of hours.  I do not make it a practice to contact customers by phone, and usually not by email either unless it is a customer with a large order, lots of customization, etc. I prefer to stay within the chat function for customer communication when possible.

[Cat]

@DancingPelican I get that sort of thing pretty regularly - not that specific situation, but people who want me to contact them by phone or email to coordinate something about their order. That's a hard NO for me.

Perhaps I'm simply paranoid, but you just don't know who these people are or if their story is legit. I could easily see that being part of some sort of elaborate scam, and even if it isn't, I'd much rather miss out on a few sales than get enmeshed with a customer on that level.

At any rate, I think it would be great if Zazzle could come up with something like the OP suggested to help people understand how POD works. It wouldn't stop the scammers, but it would help educate legitimate customers about how to navigate the system.

[Marcia]

Once someone asked me to make a custom version of a mug I already had. Since it was something that I figured I could resell & wouldn't take all that long, I did it. He had a customer service issue & CALLED ME!!! I asked him where he got my number & he said he googled me! (I also have a graphic design website with my phone number but it's certainly not listed on Zazzle.) I was horrified. And it ended up he cancelled the order a day later.

[Marcia]

@Cat Yes, you can add your infographic to a product that does not have a cover photo you made. After you add it, you just need to go back into "product merchandising" & change the view to one of Zazzle's versions & that one will show 1st.

[Cat]

@Marcia Ooooo! Thanks for the tip! I didn't realize I could add something to media without it becoming the cover used in searches etc. Super helpful!

And in terms of the person who Googled you and called you. Yikes! That would totally freak me out! 

[Mark]

Hey all,

Thank you for your feedback and suggestions here. I will happily pass all of this along to the team.

[CreativeLeahG]

I don't stress about these, I use the automated reply in many cases, and in others remind them I just create templates and can't do any of the things requested. Re the request I email or phone them I simply say no, all communications go through Zazzle. I don't feel under obligation to fulfill any of their requests as there is also the live designer option though I usually tweak items or create items upon request understanding I may never hear from them again so only do things I feel are worth the time and can be sold to a general audience. I also have the message system to remind them of who to contact re issues etc and the cover images to the same effect. Customer are prompted already when we reply. Whether they see it in a timely fashion or respond is on them.

[Cat]

Just to add a follow up whine - I got another one of these requests this morning, somebody asking me to make a change on an order that's already been placed. I sent her my standard "you need to cancel & redo it" response, but I don't think she's seen it as she never replied and the original order hasn't been cancelled.

I mean, I know I'm not responsible for her faulty assumptions about how the system works, but it's clear that this is a common misunderstanding and it's causing needless headaches for both customers and designers.

Maybe there could be some sort of statement included in the order confirmation email letting people know that changes can't be made after the fact?

[CLC]

....and what a needless loss of product and profit for the marketplace, when just a simple tag line could save literally millions of dollars in sales per year....