Mistake on Order..... Who Pays for the Mistake??

I would call the company and see if they would be able to do an exchange of the sweats. If not, maybe try to reason with the other mom and see if she would be willing to split on the cost of the replacements.

That stinks on all levels...I say the most you can do is offer to pay half...especially since you aren't positive who's fault it really is (and next time, save everything, even if it's written on the back of a receipt!) LOL! I've learned that! Good luck and I hope all works out!

If she was going back and forth she has to know the error is hers. They probably ran smaller than she thought and they don't fit. Not your fault.

It doesn't matter what they wrote their orders on or that you threw the papers away. It would have been nice to still have the papers but not necessary.

If she pitches a fit meet in the middle for the sake of working together.

I am involved with Cheer Boosters at our school and have been for 3 yrs now.

One thing I've found is to keep everything for your CYA file so you can go back and have the data you need.

That said, you don't have it... I would certainly meet in the middle since you are going to be working together. Will you be placing an order for more product so that you might have a couple extra for "stock"?

We try to get examples of the cuts of the shirts, sweatshirts and pants so that we can best give ideas if something runs large or smaller.

I don't do the ordering as I am not interested in that due to the drama it can cause. Our coaches usually do the orders.

Best wishes with it...

We have paid for the additional shirts ourselves when this happened with my husband and my son's baseball team......If SHE is unsure and has an inkling it might have been her mistake AND if she's a decent person, she will offer to pay.

Can any of the kids switch around the sweats? Like someone who ordered a Medium but could use a small instead?

I would, also, make it clear to her that you ARE paying out of YOUR pocket (in a nice way) so she doesn't think this is being paid for by the Basketball Team Gods, who we know doesn't exist!.......

This falls into the category of no good deed goes unpunished sigh..... It is probably your responsibility as you didn't keep the little slips of paper. Are they mega expensive? If not I would just do it and take back the other shirts. donate them to goodwill. or keep them for next years sizing questions. I would not let her keep those and new ones also.

Oh, that is awkward. I don't think it's worth making a big deal over, and the tone of your question makes me think you aren't aiming at that. I guess I would just put it back on the other mom. Simply say, "I volunteered for the position and did my best, but with all the last minute orders I may have made a mistake. What do you think is a reasonable way to resolve this?" You might politely disarm her with that approach. However, you'll have to be prepared to absorb the cost as well. Put it into your own kids clothing rotation or donate it. Either way, if you're going to be spending time with this person it's best to be as gracious as possible and not to get yourself frustrated over it. You'll be able to enjoy rooting for your daughter more this way. Good luck!

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Oh, that is awkward. I don't think it's worth making a big deal over, and the tone of your question makes me think you aren't aiming at that. I guess I would just put it back on the other mom. Simply say, "I volunteered for the position and did my best, but with all the last minute orders I may have made a mistake. What do you think is a reasonable way to resolve this?" You might politely disarm her with that approach. However, you'll have to be prepared to absorb the cost as well. Put it into your own kids clothing rotation or donate it. Either way, if you're going to be spending time with this person it's best to be as gracious as possible and not to get yourself frustrated over it. You'll be able to enjoy rooting for your daughter more this way. Good luck!

Have you called the company? Even IF you placed the order blah, blah, many companies will charge you less or cut a special deal for the sweatshirts if a mistake (evn on your end) was made because they, too, want to keep your business.
I'd call the company. Ask to speak with customer service. Explain to them the error - on the ordering end - but ask them if there is anything they can do to help out because the girls still need the right size sweat shirts and you just placed a large order with them and mistakes happen. We're only human.
I have found through my experience a little bit of honey and remorse can get you a great solution.
Regardless of the company response (unless it is a free replacement) I'd talk to the other parent and ask if she is willing to split the difference since what you have written is what you have written and there is no way to really know who/how it happened. If she is crazy about it and balks - just pay for the darned things yourself. Not worth a fight.

Before you even go there, have you tried contacting the company and seeing what their policy is on exchanges? If it was Land's End, they are fantastic, and will return/exchange even a monogrammed item at no additional cost.

If you still had the her hand written slip, I would say she should pay for a M if she originally wrote S. If she wrote M and you wrote S, then it should be your responsibility. At this point, there is no way to know for sure what she wrote. I would talk to her and if this is true, discuss..."Sally, you were very undecided on which size to order. I believe I transferred everything as was originally written. How about we split the replacement cost?" On the other hand, if you remember her being torn and think that might have been on your mind when you transferred the order...could you have written it wrong?

Wow, that's horrible. I know because I recently lived that nightmare! The parents don't turn in their slips and then the wrong size is ordered and you can't prove who's fault it is. I had 6 wrong orders, only one was my fault and the person was gracious enough to keep the sweatshirt because it did fit her daughter, but wasn't big like she'd hoped.

The other issue I see (and I don't know if it will be an issue with you) is that some companies can't make just one shirt, or if they can, they charge a lot of money to run it.

I would do what others suggested and let her know you're paying out of your pocket and go halfsies. Talk to the coach as well, maybe there is a fund that could help spring for the sweatshirt since you were volunteering. It's not a very nice way to thank a volunteer who made an honest mistake when she was trying to help! Doesn't make anyone want to volunteer in the future.

I actually accept no orders now that aren't on the original order sheet and turned in on time with money. And unfortunately I now have to overcharge everyone to cover possible mistakes because in the 10 years I have been doing this, I've never had an order go through correctly and someone always orders the wrong size or the wrong size comes, and once in a while I order the wrong one (this one was due to the fact that she filled the sheet out wrong).

Sorry, and good luck with your situation!

No brainer
The mom, she was given a form and failed to hand in the form as requested. I advice you call the company and see if they can help you with that, most companies will just to have you back as a costumer.
You could split the cost, but I wouldn't.
At my son's school they always tell us if you don't fill the order form and hand it in on time, we are not responsible for shortages or errors.

Since neither of you know who is at fault split it. seems to me that is the best option. YOu dont want to fully take blame bc you are unsure and at the same time you were just helping out. Either way you are both guilty and maybe next time you help dont throw anything away till its all said and done.

oh boy.... been there done that and will NEVER do it again....
The first time I did this was for my daughters soccer team and the shirts had all the players names on the back... well the list I was given didn't have one player who was bumped up from another team and her mom went crazy on me.... no way to order more because the company would not do a one person order.... I got really nasty e-mails from the mom but in the end just told her her daughters name was not on my orig, list and told her she should have stepped up to volunteer to be in charge of ordering.... ugh
Dumb me did it for my son's class the next year and never got money from 2 of the kids who ordered..... this is what you get when teenagers are the go between ...... lesson learned!

I do like the pay 1/2 part from the other answers :) good luck

I think no matter what the company should have allowed to exchange it, that is only good business.
But since it will not happen, I in the past paid for such a thing myself, without telling the mom that I did it, me being the mediator. And I thought it serves me right to volunteer, I should know better what I get involved into. In my case, I had the form, and the mom told me she did not write what was on the form against her name, and that she wanted to order something different from what was ordered and she thought she did. How do you respond to that?? I would just say no can do, if I did not have to see that mom again, but as it is, I just said "let me see", and then later I came back to her and just given her the money back and took her order back and told her that she should order a new one herself should she still want the item. She chose not to order a new one at all - duh, ordering takes a little effort, and I am not her messenger :)

I'd do the following:

1. Offer to sell the shirts at a discount. Maybe someone would buy and you can recoup the loss. Yeah, they're a unique item, but maybe someone else with that last name will buy (a cousin? a sibling?).

2. Consider asking the mom to go halfsies on a new order because you can neither prove nor disprove whose mistake it was.

3. If you go halfsies, then give her half of any profit if you can resell the shirts.

Man this stinks. Our tball team has had similar issues, fortunately they were things I could correct. It's possible you made a mistake. It's possible the mom made a mistake or she is unhappy with her choice. There really is no telling. If it were me I think I'd first see if anyone on the team wants to buy the sweatshirts that don't fit. Maybe someone wants an extra or needs a smaller size? I'd also call the company, you may be surprised that they are willing to work with you. Does the mom even expect you to pay for the correction? Are you even in a position to pay for it? If the company is unwilling to work with you and no one needs or wants to trade shirts, I'd probably apologize to the mom, reiterating the fact that not having the forms made if harder for everyone and then ask how she was to handle it.

Definitely take this as a lesson learned. If it ever comes up again, email copies of the orders you make out to the team members ASAP so they can review the order. This way you'll have a paper trail. I'm sorry you are having to deal with this.

I'd split the cost of the error with her, and she orders and pays for the new one in full, if that is her plan.

I had this happen with baseball uniforms.

Since I didn't keep the papers (WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN), we split the cost of the order.

In the future, volunteer or not, keep all the papers. I have made a file folder for specific baseball seasons and will not make this mistake again. I also have made parents send me e-mail confirmations of their orders - that has helped a LOT. As I did have a parent state I had made a mistake on the order - I went back to their e-mail - printed it out and brought it to practice, she was embarrassed and paid for her mistake.

GOOD LUCK!

I would contact the company first and see about an exchange. Then, I'd offer to pay half the price for the new order.

Can you sell the smaller sized ones to another family for a discounted price? Like a $1 or $2 off? Use that money towards the purchase of the larger ones?

Is there money in the booster's fund to cover the mistake? Ask the coach. Maybe use the smaller sized sweats as a prize or give away at the next game? Maybe there is a younger sibling who would love a pair to "support" the team??

They forgot their e-mail print out at home and should have been more responsible. My inclination is that they should pay.

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