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How long is too long to hold a reservation?


GeocoinGuy

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So here's the question (ironically, it's the thread title) -

 

How long is too long to hold a reservation?

 

I'm asking because reservations are a new thing for me, and most of you have at least seen the Virtues coin -

 

So I have 7 reservations that I invoiced - totaling 13 LEs+, and I have sent 2 payment reminders thus far with no word from the parties having placed the reservation.

 

I sent the initial invoice when I got a shipping date, advising those that I did not expect payment until I received a shipping date from the mint.

 

Upon receiving a shipping date, I sent payment reminders through paypal.

 

Now that I have the coins in hand, and still have outstanding reservations, I sent another payment reminder.

 

When is it time to cancel the reservation and release the coins to the general public?

 

Again... I have never done reservations before, so I am counting on the community for some guidance on this.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

~J

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I'm not too familiar with reservation "rules," but I think you have done all you can do. I personally would wait 5 business days then cancel them. You can't be too nice or people are going to walk all over you and think they can get away with stuff like this. You have given them plenty of notice and opportunity to pay. Just MHO.

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I'd also recommend working this into your reservations information in the future. Make sure that you say, up front, that unless someone makes arrangements with you, all reservations will be cancelled x days (5 business days sounds right) after you have sent your second reminder (the one you send after you have the coins in hand).

 

By "makes arrangements" I mean communicates with you to let you know that something came up (e.g., I suddenly have to travel for work and won't have access to email, let me pay you now/later/whatever arrangement you make).

 

You may also want to put something in the reservations agreement that says something along the lines of "I reserve the right to refuse to accept reservations from you if you habitually make reservations and then fail to pay."

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Since you did not put a payment deadline in your original terms, I think that you should give them some more time. Things come up, emails go missing,internet goes down, computers crash, electricity goes out (look at where these people are from...maybe they were hit hard by the recent snow storms). There are a lot of legitimate reasons why you might not have heard back from these people. You could check to see when the last time they logged into GC or posted in the forums.

 

It is not like you are talking 100's of coins here...you should be able to afford to give them a little more time. Maybe your next email should include a note saying that if payment is not received in x amount of days, the coins will be made available to the public. In the future, you really should have that in your terms of the reservation...maybe even include it as something the buyer checks off on (agrees to) before the coin is reserved.

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I appreciate the responses thus far - all valid points, and as I said, the reservation thing is very new to me, so I want to be fair to all involved.

 

I don't have an issue with holding these orders, but when I have pending orders in my webstore, I feel like I'm not doing enough to get them cleared out, and I don't want that to be a reflection on customer service or speed of delivery (been there before).

 

~J

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I give people two weeks to pay with 2 reminders in Paypal and 1 via normal email just in case. This is stated on my site usually and on the first invoice. I also don't invoice until I have the coins. This lets me make sure they are not lost in shipping or delayed as well as check them out a bit to make sure all is good. Even last week I was traveling for work and I know the coins were at the house but wanted to see and touch them before sending any invoices.

 

A few days is not nearly enought time. If I was on vacation or something and didn't check my email for a week, I lose my reservation. I wouldn't be very happy. I figure after 2 weeks everyone has had an oppertunity to pay if they still intend to.

 

I get 3-5 people each time that don't. I still sell the coins. Sometimes if I have someone that reserves a large number I'll ask for deposit or payment, because I don't want them to walk away. But other than that, I take my chances.

 

Mike

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