Unfortunately, in today’s online world, there are those individuals who believe they can get away with just about anything. For this reason, we have to have some pretty redundant and sometimes silly rules. Most people look at these rules and think “Really? Are there really people out there that don’t know that already?” Sadly, the answer is “yes indeed, there are.” Let’s take for example “The Phil Makarewicz Rule” on the KLM Performance Return Policy Page. It reads as follows:
“The Phil Makarewicz Rule - If you have ordered a product from another vendor, do not have a receipt, are not listed as our customer, have returned merchandise to a manufacturer without informing your correct seller, please do not attempt to extort money from KLM Performance. Mr. Phil Makarewicz could not produce an Invoice Number, Date of Sale or a Receipt for the product he knowingly did not purchase from KLM Performance. KLM Performance will only offer refunds to our customers. To qualify for a refund, you must have a receipt, order number or be listed in our database as a customer. Please do not expect us to provide you with a credit if you use Extortion and Lies to obtain an unwarranted refund. We find it very sad that someone would resort to the behavior of Cyberbullying or cyber-harassment. This childish form of bullying or harassment using electronic means also known as online bullying is increasingly common, especially among teenagers, as the digital sphere has expanded and technology has advanced.”
I know. You are asking yourself, “really?” and the answer is, not only does this individual try to extort money from KLM Performance; but he went on an online rampage to degrade the KLM Performance name, including slurring the name of the owner. All of this moaning, harassment, and wrath for a transaction that never transpired. In our attempt to help him (even though he was not our customer) and even going so far as to contact the manufacturer of his product, we had to ask this customer on many occasions to produce ANY evidence that KLM Performance had any direct transaction with him. He could not make any written proof of a transaction, no email, order number, address match, credit card receipt, or any other proof after several attempts to help him. So, KLM Performance could not refund him for a transaction that never took place. We did endure his vulgar language, inflammatory accusations, and threats for as long as we could.
So, yeah, we actually had to write a rule to tell people that if they didn’t buy it from us, we certainly aren’t going to refund them for it. I know, it’s really sad that we have to list these childish rules on our policy page, but some times you have to take a stand against those who think they can act reckless or deceitful and get what they want through threats.
We have encountered others who would return a product that we don’t sell, asking for a refund, or a part that was obviously used for years, or even a box with a brick in it, expecting a refund. We’ve delt with those without too much surprise. But when you expect us to give you money for an imagined transaction, that’s truly a head scratcher.
So, we are sorry we have to include seemingly redundant and silly rules. We wish we could make everyone happy, but we are a business. We at KLM do business honestly and fairly. We speak respectfully to our customers. We do our very best to give every customer our courteous and professional best. Not every one of our customers leaves happy, but we do fair and honest business, and we expect the same from our customers. Too much to ask? Apparently, for the Phil Makarewicz’s of this world, it is..
We at KLM Performance feel extreme sorrow for the next company that deals with this individual or has the misfortune of doing business with him!