[eShine]

I am in a bind here and I was hoping to get the opinion of members. As many of you know we try our best to please customers. Lately with the cold weather we are getting a few emails each week about frozen products, usually about 1 in 15 orders. There are no couriers that have climate controlled delivery truck or offer any guarantee against freezing. Of coarse we won't just close down for the winter because we still sell a decent amount. Freezing products are totally out of our control, I wouldn’t order chocolate in July then be surprised when it arrives melted however we have been replacing these orders at our cost plus pay the shipping. I do not know of a nice way to explain to a customer that we can't help them if their product freezes. What's your take? Would it be bad business to have a "Order at your own risk" in the winter?

[pirex]

I think its something the customer need to consider when buying a product. Not fair that you have to pay it either, its something that is out of your hands. You can`t do anything with the weather!

[gmblack3]

If you have a "Order at your own risk" policy will your sales drop more then the loss you are paying out now?

I take it that you are not doing any shipping at the end of the week. Products sitting in a hub over the w/e will freeze for sure.

[FMINUS]

Does the product still work after it defrosts?

I remember ordering "Drifters" in the summer. They kept warning me over and over again about it melting. I ordered it anyways.

[Deep Gloss Auto Salon]

I think a simple disclaimer that states exactly what you said should suffice... something along the line of

During cold weather months there will be the probability that products may freeze in transit. There are no couriers that have climate controlled delivery truck or offer any guarantee against freezing. Please understand that E-Shine.ca strives to provide it's cutomers witn the best service and as such, we would like to advise that this is a probability but unfortunately we can do nothing over and above providing you with this information should you decide to place an order during cold winter months

IMO once you educate the customer you have done your due diligence....

[eShine]

95% of the time the products are fine when they thaw. From experience (No science to back this up..) I found that when a product freezes there are three tell-tale signs that it is no good.

1. The Bottle split open,
2. Some liquids seeped out of the cap
3. The product is clumpy like sour milk after it has thawed and shaken.

I am also worried a disclaimer will scare away customers, currently it is only costing us about $100/week in replacement items but $400/month adds up, we are not a huge company LOL. IF I do create the disclaimer I would have to have it during the checkout process to ensure I don't get the "I didn't read or find the disclaimer". I duno, I hate the feeling of not being there through thick and thin but I also don't like replacing orders at cost when it is out of our control.

I am also curious that if when a package is frozen after the customer reads the disclaimer they simply will say the package was damaged or leaking Basically say anything but "Frozen" LOL.

[FMINUS]

I would just put the disclaimer. I dont think there is a protocol that will satisfy 100% of the customers. Some customers will complain even with the disclaimer, other customers will think "they warned me". But for the ones that do complain, you just have to do the right thing.

[sneek]

It is a tricky game. It is a order at your own risk kind of deal. A lot of products go bad without you being able to see it, the performance is less than that of a product stored in ideal conditions. I guess stores to this all the time. No know knows if all the products froze and then got thrown on the shelves. The customer doesn't find out till they use it, and if it is a new product to them...they have no idea. I think you should just post the warning. That way you aren't paying out of your pocket.

[Divine Detail]

Just explain to them during the winter it's out of your control that the products may freeze. Tell them that 99% of the time this should not harm the product, and that there really isn't a lot you can do for them. Maybe, place a disclaimer stating that there will be no replacement of product due to circumstances which are beyond you control; ie freezing or melting. If they are worried about it, let them take out insurance on the package and go chat with the carrier.

[eShine]