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Without going into too many specifics, I'd like some advice if possible:
In general terms, what would you do if, at the request of a new online customer, you had agreed to accept payment for a bear on layaway, the customer pays 50% of the purchase price as agreed at the outset (albeit a little late), then out of the blue, the customer's supposed husband emails from his wife's email account when the balance becomes due a month later (your initial sale had nothing to do with the husband and this email contact is as a result of several email reminders and a snail mail invoice addressed to your customer at her home address requesting payment of the overdue balance) stating there has been a change in his wife's personal circumstances. He doesn't ask for further time for her to pay her bill, instead he asks for his wife's 50% deposit to be refunded. Her bear is still in your possession, due to be posted to yoru customer as agreed, when the balance payment is completed.
Oh and as a seller, your trading terms clearly state deposits paid to reserve a bear are non-refundable. Needless to say, the bear has been withdrawn from sale and marked as 'sold' when the deposit has been paid.
Initially, you bear the Data Protection Act firmly in mind and email the husband back to advise him that you can not deal with him regarding his wife's purchase agreement.
You are now aware that it is very unlikely you will receive your balance payment.
If anyone has any idea of the legalities of such a situation, I'd love to hear them! I'd also be very interested to hear bear sellers' moral interpretations of such a situation. Thanks!
DoodlebearsOh dear Paula, this is always an awkward situation to find oneself in. It happened to me and I just contacted the buyer by email stating the terms of the deposit and making sure that they realised that they had gone into the agreement of the terms of sale when they made the 50% deposit. If you say that the bear is held on a non refundable deposit then this is exactley what it shoud be. Good luck Paula and I just know your bear will sell again, I'm sorry to hear this happened to you.
Hugs, Jane. :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
Strange BearsHi Paula
I can only go by AUstralia but under our Trade Practices Act - layby law. It is at the discretion of the seller if any refund is made available as long as the fact of no-refund is stated in writing to the seller at the time of "purchase" So if the terms and conditions are put in writing and they go ahead you are fine to keep the deposit and if fact can add a charge for the paperwork needed to be done for cancelling the sale. In Australia we have a guidleines on how much deposit to ask and a sliding scale of "suggested" refund given times and amounts....which most reasonable sellers follow. Most lay-bys are 3 months only and if you give longer than that to pay you can pretty much keep what has been paid.
When I had my shop I did make and effort to refund some money of possible depending on circunstances but that was more a goodwill thing as I knew most people only cancelled due to circumstances and rarely due to changing their minds. Bears are usually a luxury purchase and therefore it is due to unexpected expenses if they cancelled.
I wonder if the wife if a bit of a shopaholic or something.......have you dealt with her before?
Hope all that makes sense but I would try and find out more before getting too upset .......the husband may just be embarrassed.......some women do seem to go a bit mad buying over the internet......way beyond their means to pay.
bearhugs
I agree with Jane,
Sorry - but your terms were stated quite clearly and this person cannot ask for their deposit back. Fortunately, you still have the bear so you are not really down on the transaction as he will find another home. If you want to sweeten the pill a little a little, I suppose you could offer to credit her deposit against another bear at some point in the future?
This kind of thing really does make me cross and I am sorry if your customer is having some trouble that makes it impossible to pay you what she owes - BUT you are not her personal banker and she can't just dip in and take her money out again when she feels like it.
Paula, you are tact personified and I am sure you will find a gracious way to state your case. Good luck - and let us know how it turns out.
Hugs,
Chrisx
Laurie Lou BearsIt is a tough one Paula.You know that you are not likely to receive the rest of the money but you run a business and although people do have changes in circumstances if you give in to one non paying customer other people might expect you to do the same.If it were me I think I would say as a goodwill gesture I would refund the deposit minus a small amount for the cost of readvertising the bear.You could also say that they would receive the deposit back only when the bear has been resold and paid for which in your case wouldn't be very long and hopefully this would act as a deterrent.They would more than likely agree to this as it would be their only way of getting their money back even if they have to wait for it!!!
Laurie :hug:
I am probably swimming against the tide here.
I would probably suggest that I will hang onto the deposit until such time as the bear is re-sold to another collector and when they pay then you can refund [i]part [/i]of the deposit as a gesture of goodwill in unforseen circumstances. I'd only hold onto about 10% because if you get paid for the bear by someone else you aren't out of pocket but deserve some recompense due to hassle. I shouldn't deal with the husband however since it's non of his business in all honesty, unless the lady is under 18 she presumably has a mind of her own.
I know we all have terms and conditions but I have had similar things happen and at the end of the day if you think you can easily resell the bear then I just think it's not meant to be and has cost nothing more than annoyance. I stopped doing orders a good while back because I can't do the order treadmill thing..but the one thing that leaves me scratching my head is when I say to someone that I'll offer them ..say..the next white bear I do , but it could be 6 months away ..and I offer one to them and THEN they ask for layaway... I am a bit bewildered. If it was me, knowing a bear is likely to appear in 6 months.. I'd save up for it.
Oh well good luck with whatever you decide, Paula....
Laurie..why didn't I read your post before I replied ?!! :crackup:
Matilda Huggington-bearePaula the fact that the 'husband' has taken over this transaction spells dodgy to me. I don't trust him.
IF you decide to refund any of the deposit make sure it is by check/money order only and made out in her name, posted to her.
What ever you decide make it in snail mail writing with your intentions. Ignore him completely.
All the best. 
Waggle BearsPaula, I'm with Jane. You accepted the deposit in good faith of the customer paying the balance as agreed and your policy is up front about it being non-refundable. You've also taken this bear off the market for probably a month or more. I see lay-away as a courtesy offered by the seller as a way for buyers to get a bear they really want but can buy outright, and not a courtesy of the customer so she can think about it a while.
I'm wondering if the wife just changed her mind or the bear was too expensive and she got her husband to write as a husband may be percieved more intimidating.
I hope you work it out to your satisfaction and let us know.
In any case, if she's a new customer and you've come to this situation, I would guess that it is very unlikely she'll be a future customer...either because your bears are out of her price range or from shear embarrassment to approach you again.
Thanks for the advice girls ... very informative and helpful!
This particular bear was in stock, so it wasn't a 'make to order' situation, it was a straightforward pay half now and the balance in one month's time. If I'm absolutely honest (which I always am!) my gut instinct told me something was amiss with this (new) customer right at the beginning when she asked to buy the bear and then didn't send the deposit straightaway, putting it down to 'computer troubles'. The deposit arrived eventually, but warning bells jangled a little at that point. When I sent the invoice for the balancing payment a month later, I had a sinking feeling when it was ignored and so were the reminders, which is why I put a copy in the post to her ... there's nothing quite like having a bill land in your physical lap after all, is there? Without going into detail, I now think I am being spun quite a fancy yarn by the supposed 'husband' ... I have been on the receiving end of this kind of thing before and the pattern of behaviour is always similar.
So, to summarise, I'm definitely keeping a cool and practical head ...there's no point allowing emotion to clog my thought processes, I'm in business and need to be businesslike. That said, I'm not callous either, however, like most hard working people, this stings and I do not appreciate being made a mug of. My belief is this is a simple case of 'eyes being bigger than the belly,' as my mum would say ... the customer saw something she wanted, overstretched herself to seal the deal and is now regretting her actions. In doing so she is about to cause me a great deal of inconvenience.
What I really don't appreciate is someone attempting to pull the wool over my eyes, and sadly that is what I truly believe is happening here. I'm an honest straightforward person and I expect my customers to pay me the same courtesy. Not much to ask eh?
Until I hear from my customer direct, I won't be persuing this matter beyond attempting to complete the sale in the usual way, I certainly won't be dealing with any husbands on the subject ... I'm pretty sure it would be against the Data Protection Act to discuss his wife's financial arrangements with him anyway. As it stands at the moment, without his involvement, I simply have a late payer because I haven't heard from her direct that she no longers wishes to complete her purchase.
I think there are a couple of firm lessons to be learned here:
1. The first is a simple reminder as Sandra points out (I think our law is similar Sandra) when agreeing the terms of a sale, don't forget to make your customer aware of your terms and conditions.
2. Layaway can be a pain in the you know where! In trying to accommodate your customer's needs you may leave yourself wide open to being messed around. I am now reconsidering my layaway option and as a result of this, I may well withdraw the facility for new customers.
3. Paypal deposits and credit card deposits/instalments may result in chargebacks (I have yet to find this out) as the goods are not technically in the possession of their new owner until all payments have been made and the item has been posted. It may be wiser to accept deposit payments by cheque/cash only. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I'd welcome them.
Several of you were writing while I was putting this post together! Thanks for your comments, I have read all of them and really appreciate the thinking behind them. Marlys, this particular lady definitely won't be buying from me again and it won't be her choice to make! 
Busser BearsThe terms of the sale were plainly laid out, and it's a contract that she agreed to. You get to keep that deposit as stated. Business, is business.
Hugs,
Leeann Krikau
Busser Bears
Cincinnati, OhioHi guys! Haven't posted for awhile but I just wanted to add that I think you are absolutely correct in your assessment of this situation, Paula, and you are within your rights to keep the deposit for the aggravation and loss of revenue to this point. Love your avatar bear and my 5 yr. old son just asked me to make him a red, white, and blue bear too! That bear's a real beauty!
Newcastle, OntarioHi Paula,
I definitely agree that if you stated "no refunds", then you should keep the money. As you say, she won't be buying from you again, and she's already caused a lot of inconvenience, so I wouldn't bother about "good will". Business is business.
As for hubby, it is possible that he stumbled across the bear sale, and she didn't tell him about it. However, he should not have contacted you as a third pereson - he should have had his wife email you. The other possibility is that there is no husband, and she is acting as one in trying to recover her money. Either way, I know you will keep a cool head and sort this out.
hugs,
Brenda
I read this with great interest. All great ideas! And now I know that I need to update my own website regarding a No Refund policy.
I just wanted to add something that I have done in similar situations (now you have to remember I've been in business long before emails became the norm): I send a signed and dated letter by confirmed delivery or registered letter. I took a business law class (a million years ago) in college and a few things stuck in my brain. Of course, keep a copy of the letter and proof or delivery ... now you have physical legal proof that you made every effort to contact your buyer regarding this issue.
Kathy
Thanks for that Kathy ... that's great advice!
bears by beesley TMHi Paula. I am so sorry you are having to deal with this.
We have the same rules in our layaway agreements as you do. A few years back I had a similar situation and in the end I did refund the deposit. Only because the woman was so rude about the ordeal and I did not want the hassel. It annoyed me beyond reason but I in the end realized it was better to keep the peace for my sanity or maybe because I just did not want to deal with her. I'm weak! What can I say!
Hugs Louise
