Maybe have the teacher have a check list of her/his students & as that student turns in the order check off the name & write the total amt. collected from that student. If you've had this problem before with her then it sounds like she's trying to pull one over on you. I'd say no to the refund & state that this has happened before with them & will not continue. Good luck!
We had this problem as well with one person. We never received an order from them and payment was supposedly handed in partially in cash and checks. The parent verified that the checks were never cashed thus proving that we had not received the order. She still was adamant that we replace the missing money. She could not prove the order and the principal agreed that unless she could prove we received the order via a copy of the order forms or cancelled checks that we were under no obligation to refund her anything.
Now...in the interest of keeping the peace I asked her what the ordered items that were paid for in cash were and they only totaled $30. In the end I ordered the stuff from the company for her because it only cost us $15 (we make 50% profit). I figured it was easier for us to be out $15 then to deal with her wrath for the next few years. I did tell her however that for future orders she will need to make a copy as I will not go through this again with her.
Ultimately though if your person cannot prove the order then you are not obligated to refund her. It is really your call as to what you decide to do. Good Luck!
We actually had the same problem happen last year, a family came to pick up their merchandise only by our records we had never received an order. I talked to the mom and told her that we had never received it but if she could show documentation of the order we would refund her money. By documentation I mean a copy of the order sheet (all of our sales have numerous copies and one for the customer to keep, returned checks showing that we had cashed checks from that order, etc.) She didnt have any records so we didnt refund the money, we do have a policy now that we document every check number, who wrote it, how much, who sold it to them, yes it is alot of work byt if there is a problem we can follow it. Good luck!
"When you stop learning you stop growing."
It seems with every thing you do there is always someone who has to create a problem.
Our PTO recently concluded a giftwrap fundraiser. We are just finding out that one family has written a letter complaining that they never received their product from their kindergartener's order but that their two older sons both received their orders. They are saying that this child submitted an order for $65 of product and that cash payment was in the envelope (a risky venture with a kindergartener). We have had no problems with this child's teacher with any other orders, nor have we any record of ever receiving an order from this child (and our volunteers on this project are extremely trustworthy).
This family is demanding that the PTO give them $65 and are claiming that we are unprofessional if we don't take care of them. This family has had the same problem with a tshirt order in the past where the PTO just decided to go with their word and give them a tshirt (a loss of only $4). In addition, their three children are not model students, if you know what I mean. Also, we balanced at the end of this fundraiser so there are no excess funds to prove that we received their money. In summary, no order, no excess funds, no cancelled checks, nothing...
It is my opinion (as one of the exec. board members) that we hold our ground on this one and let them know that we cannot refund money we never received. I would like to suggest that we could sell them items from the giftwrap vendor at our cost (and forgo profit)to try to meet their needs. However, they would likely not go for it because these were Hannukah items and would likely not be received in time.
One of the other board members thinks that maybe we should just bite the bullet on this. I am trying to be reasonable but have a hard time paying out $65 hard earned dollars to a family that has proven that they are not responsible.
