If it’s a return and there is not a true warranty issue, then I think the customer should cover cost of return (I don’t charge a restocking fee) but if it’s an actual warranted defect then I send a return shipping label and provide the option of refund, replacement/repair and then I cover the return shipping price as well. If it’s my companies fault, then it’s my financial obligation to bear those costs. If someone just doesn’t like it because it didn’t work for them, they can cover shipping and after inspection, I’ll do the reimbursement. To this point, we’ve sold thousands of products and I’ve only had 2 returns. 1 was my newish seamstress went a little high on the bottom where the saddle webbing and the cordura body meet, so like 2 or 3 stitches broke when the customer sat in it. He reached out, we provided a return label, it came back we inspected it, found the issue and got it shipped back to him. The other was one of the gear straps I was selling. We used a rivet and a paracord connection point, the rivet pulled out of the strap. The guy bought two, rather than wait to see if the other was fine, I had him send them both back and reinforced the webbing with a larger rivet and a hard webbing backing. Of course I covered costs of shipping to and from. Hawk didn’t offer me the same courtesy when their stand offs bent on the helium stick. And I bought some 1/4” dyneema rope from US rope and recovery out of Pennsylvania. I bought a couple thousand feet (10 spools worth) paid 6k plus $240 shipping). It took him 3 months to make my rope, then when he sent it, it was way bigger than 1/4 amsteel (closer to 3/8”) and was super loose weave. Needless to say it didn’t work and truthfully I wouldn’t have trusted it to meet the breaking strength either. He charged me return shipping AND a 20% restocking fee. Basically I gave away $2000 when it was all said and done. Dan-O saved the day for me by getting me a spool of amsteel to hold us over and I swore I’d never do to my customers, what US ropes did to me.
