Client orders 60F8000, then decides to upgrade to a 65" / after I ordered the grilles. I have yet to complete the install, so I say no problem we'll simply upgrade the grilles, as the speakers stay the same. I contact Artison and am told sorry we don't take back grilles. Keep in mind the grilles are unopened, new in box.

I understand company policy, but come on- really ?!! The grilles are brand new, and I cannot possibly be the only one to sell a Samsung 8000 series with Artisons. Do they honestly think they will not sell another set of grilles for a Samsung 60" ?!! It's not like they are set of $3k Leons.

Thank you Artison for taking care of your dealers.

So client changes the tv and you didn't charge them for a change order? There is no way I would get stuck with a set of grills when the client changed things from the original proposal.

Have them pay for the change and you now have a set of grills for a 60" tv in the future.

You should be able to point out to the customer that you cannot return the grilles and extra charges were incurred by their change of mind, so they have to reimburse you for that.

I don't see how you can fault a company for not accepting returns unless you arranged ahead of time to be able to do so. Hell, when I start a project, I SELL the equipment to the client ahead of and separate from the installation. I tell them I do custom work and do not stock product, so every item is a special order, to be paid for in advance. CHANGES ARE FINANCED BY THE CLIENT.

You ordered CUSTOM product and want to return it?
They built it to your order, why should they lose money from doing exactly what you asked them to do?

I threw away 3 pair of grills that were leftover a couple of weeks ago. That's part of the cost of custom projects. Client changed the TV's so we had to order different grill kits, and that was paid for by the client.

If the client changes their mind on custom orders, they pay for it with a change order.

+1
If you had any idea of how many orders they process and if only 2% of orders were returned for re-stock, they would have to build 10 more warehouses.

Also, who's to say that all returns are unopened in mint condition?
I had a conversation with my guys at A*I and they told me how they have to deal with returns where power supplies, manuals, cables and damaged products come back as NIB with a story of "customer changed his mind and I never even installed it". 
We've had alarm panels that had changed installer codes, so we couldn't program them.

Now, I realize that to you it's only a speaker cover and I suspect you would never pull a shady crap like tear, stain, drop or bend a custom cover and try to return it as NIB, but there are enough others out there that I'm not surprised by Artison's policy

I'm on the artison side in this case. When you buy artison grilles, you sign a form saying this is the tv that I'm using with it, and that it's a non returnable item. They don't inventory grilles; they make them up on an as needed basis. Your customer changed his mind; blame your customer, not your supplier, who clearly did what they said they would do.

Have to agree with everybody else. Quit your whining.

This is how I work as well, save for occassional low-risk product orders with known-good clients.

If I have to return product due to client changes after purchase, I do all I can to take care of them, but they pay for return shipping, restocking fees and my time to pack, ship and deal with it.

+1.. Not Artisons problem your client wants to change their mind and you don't want to put together a change order. Speaker grilles are a custom order item, a change/return at the very least should incur a restocking fee.

Look guys, I get it and understand policy is policy- so be it.

+1.....and client changes mind, Why should Artison eat that??????

Not beating a dead horse here...but...

Manufacturers in any industry rarely take back custom orders. TV's change a lot so it makes sense that Artison won't take the grills back.

This is a good lesson about ordering things too early and making sure that customers understand that mind changing often costs them more money.

"The customer is always right" should be altered for the new world we live in. "The customer with a valid credit card is always right".

We have today's winner!!

As i mentioned, I understand it's built to order, but the point I was trying to make was - how many 60" grille sets do you think Artison will sell this week ?

Do you really think they will "eat" the cost ?.... or simply fill the next order.

I never said the client wouldn't be charged, I just suggested I would make a call to see what I could do.