Welcome, dear reader, to the wonderful world of returns. A place where it’s rarely boring, where scarred packages arrive and where we sometimes become so bewildered that we have to treat ourselves to a pastry to ease the suffering. Because let’s face it: handling returns is nobody’s hobby here at the company. And yet, dear customer, secretly we want to make you suffer along with us.
Maybe you recognize yourself in something, maybe not. Maybe you don’t realize that behind a webshop there are just people working. Real, breathing people with feelings and a slight aversion to packages that look like they have made the journey from Italy to the Netherlands by foot. And you may not be aware that Horend Goed is a family business, where we treat our items with love. Anyway, today we take you through one of our most memorable return moments. Grab a cup of coffee, you’re going to need this.
The walking package
Today was another day. We received a return ticket in a shipping package that looked like it had walked the miles from Italy itself. No joke. A battered, half crumpled and here and there torn package was placed on our incoming mail table by DHL (this time the guilty party in this story). And yes, that is when alarm bells immediately go off with us.
We used to be so curious that we would open these packages right away. Just, purely for the thrill and excitement. But that has given us a mental blow all too often. So these days we bravely leave it until the end of the day, when we process our returns (yes yes yes, so if you are reading this and impatiently waiting for us … end of the day!).
First, we assess the package on the outside. Does it look like the Italian walker? Check. Then a picture is taken, because you never know. Next, we carefully cut the tape loose (fortunately no miles of duct tape this time). And there, in the battered package, lies loose a Roger Select. Just like that, with no protection, no love, no packaging of any kind. This nearly €900 item was returned to us like an old rag.
When packaging love disappears
What never ceases to amaze us is how a customer sends such an expensive device on the way out neatly packed, insured and with all due care. But as soon as it has to be returned? Then suddenly it is worth nothing and can just be thrown into a half-broken box. As if it were an old sock that just happened to be lying around somewhere.
Just between us, dear reader: did you know that the sender is always responsible? Yes, that means that this Italian is officially responsible for the mistreatment of this Roger Select. But let’s face it, our Italian customers would rather not hear, see or read that. So who gets to accept this violence? Right.
Laugh and cry with us
This blog is just the beginning. We are going to take you more often into the wonderful world of returns. Maybe we’ll make you laugh, maybe we’ll make you cry, but hopefully we’ll also make you realize a little that a webshop is not a magical place where products simply disappear and reappear without effort. People work here, with a heart for the job, and a slight allergy to returns that give us sleepless nights.
Next time we might take you through an email exchange that made us laugh so hard we almost couldn’t breathe. Or a return shipment that turned out not to be ours at all (yes, it really does happen). Until then, dear reader. And remember: when you send something back, give us a little love, too. After all, we do it together! 😉
