I have a client who paid a retainer back in June 2009. She has used all but 3 hours and is often found emailing me every so often, maybe once a month with some odd ball job that I never hear back from her on for another 2 weeks at least asking if I finished the task at hand. I always have to respond that I never heard from her with the missing details I required to finish the task. I even send follow up emails but can't call as I have no phone number for her and she has always worked through email only.

This has confused me, but I went along with it and now she is telling me she wants a refund for the three hours of the remaining hours that were left based on the retainer paid in June 2009. From a personal perspective I would love to refund her the money since those hours are remianing but from a business perspective, I clearly state on my FAQ page that no refunds will be made due to the nature of my business. I mean obviously I would refund if the situation would be a bit different but I feel that after this long of a period of time and with the lack of communication that a refund should not be made, as I clearly state that within my website.

I did not state no refunds within the contract, so I wonder, what should I do? I thought about just refunding her within 30 days but at the same time I really, honestly feel I should stick to my business practices of no refunds, I have never been asked for one and I have gone up and beyond trying to communicate with this person and do the tasks she has asked me even though they really were not within the contracted tasks. She is asking for a refund because at this time she just can't have an assistant, she is getting ready for the holidays and events. She didn't state that she was upset with services provided.

Looking forward to any advice, or what you would personally do, because this is a first for me.

Thanks,
Brandy

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Brandy Ellen's Business Solutions

This is a complicated issue and a great question and situation for which we can all learn from.

If it is your policy not to give refunds then I would email her that. If it is also your policy to carry over hours then I would send her a note letting her know she still has 3 hours of time left and that you will continue to carry over the time for her.

Like you, I do not offer a refund, but I have not had a client not use all of the time they have purchased.

It is odd that she would request a refund on this, since you have been kind enough to carry over her 3 hours for the past 6 months!

I would guess, she is in need of the money for holiday shopping. But, again that is not in your policy.

Stick with your policy, that you have and let her know you will be glad to continue carrying over the hours.

I hope that helps,
Andrea~

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Action Jackson Virtual Assistant|

Brandy,

Even though you state in your FAQs that you do not offer refunds, my feeling is that since this clause is not within the contract itself (which I consider to be binding), I believe that this client is entitled to a refund. If the clause was in the contract, I'd say no refund.

I'm not sure about this part of your dilemma...did you bill her for the odd ball unfiished jobs and the time spent emailing her for the information she didn't send to you? If not, then you might want to send a final bill deducting this time from the time owed. You should be compensated for any time spend on this client whether the job was completed or not.

I do hate to see you have to refund the money. This is an unusual situation because most times clients will just finish out their pre-paid term and call it a day. If you don't return the money, it could cause more problems later and you would need to consider the possibility of negative consequences. Will she badger you for the refund or take legal action? Or, will she just accept a compromise...say, finish out the pre-paid term with additional tasks?

The difficult part is that this client doesn't communicate well. So offering up a list of tasks to fill the pre-paid three hours might not get you anywhere either.

So the choice is to refund the money and move on. Add a no refund clause to your future contracts so it doesn't happen again OR offer to fill the 3 hours with additional projects perhaps placing the contract 'on hold' until next year as a courtesy.

But if you do place the contract on hold for the future, you will need to decide if you want to continue working with this non-communicative client. Sometimes it is better to just 'cut them loose'.

Janine

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I would suggest you go with your contract. Sometimes we learn from our mistakes. Refund her money, be pleasant about it and move on. You may make a better, positive impression by being the better person about it.

Next step, change your contract to reflect a no refund policy!

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Lisa Olinda of Olinda Services
Keeping you on the path to success!
www.olindaservices.com

Since your contract did not include your "no refund policy", I think you should do a refund but make sure all the time you have spent on unfinished projects/trying to follow up with her is deducted from the refund. If you have used up the time, explain to her where the time was spent. As others have suggested, make sure you update your contract to include your refund policy.

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Cherisse
www.timewisevirtualsolutions.com

I have to agree, I did spend time sending her emails and researching various tasks but it was no more than one hour of that time, so I would have to send her a final cancellation of our contract, a refund notice and move on. I do agree that since it was not in my contract I really should refund her.

Thank you for all the very honest and open advice, I have learned and will add the wording to my contract for future clients.

Have a great weekend,
Brandy

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Brandy Ellen's Business Solutions

Hi Brandy,

Everyday we all learn something new. Learning from our mistakes or others is another way for us to learn how to implement that new knowledge.

I hope everything works out for you in this situation.

Best of luck,
Andrea~

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Action Jackson Virtual Assistant|

Originally Posted by Action Jackson VA

Hi Brandy, Everyday we all learn something new. Learning from our mistakes or others is another way for us to learn how to implement that new knowledge. I hope everything works out for you in this situation. Best of luck, Andrea~

So true, I agree 100% :-)

Thank you

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Brandy Ellen's Business Solutions

Just curious has anyone ever had a problem with a client i.e. client wanted their money back, client did not like the finished piece. How do you handle these clients?

I haven't had that problem VAHadry. If you feel the work is quality work, (ie., you couldn't find someone to produce better results, you are an expert in that field) then I give the refund. However, if you work is marginal, you should give the refund or perhaps attempt to negotiate the refund amount.