Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
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Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
#2When I was homeless, I found a job with a "call center". Our training consisted of teaching us the cover story and how to handle reactions to it. We began with a joke involving alcohol. Then if they didn't hang up we launched into the pitch: "We just lost our lease on our warehouse, and we've got to move all these pens. You can get them imprinted with your name and phone number for a bargain. What do you say?"
I quit within 3 days because I'm not a liar.
Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
#3One thing that irks me about dealing with big businesses, that the post touches on, is payment terms. If I buy an item, I pay for it immediately (or if it’s large enough, a creditor pays for me). Big companies pay with IOUs that say they’ll give you cash later, say 30-90 days from now or after criterion X is fulfilled. They do not care if you’re a small company with poor liquidity. I think it’s absolutely abusive behavior
Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
#4> Then, 3 weeks into the process, with the orders still coming, Marcus pointedly asked him about why they were ordering so much more than the 6,000 bags they had originally predicted. The food broker laughed and said “I wondered why you’ve been so upset and concerned. When they said ‘units’, that was cases. They’re right on target so far.” You can imagine how we felt in that moment, realizing that the person we hired to make this a smooth transition and to guide us and to tell us the things we don’t know failed to ever ask us if we were ready for a 36,000 bag order. This is equivalent to a year and a half’s worth of coffee for us. We would NEVER have agreed to this had we known. It was more than we could physically or financially handle. We immediately severed our relationship with this food broker figuring at this point we were better off figuring this out without him.
> “I wondered why you’ve been so upset and concerned. When they said ‘units’, that was cases.
Ouch.
I get a lot of flak at work and at home when I get irritated that people don't use the right words and terms and this story won't change my attitude.
Eg:
- "we want a new tab on the website" -> they want a new subdomain with a whole new CMS and a link in menus of every site
- "we want a new site to highlight this thing" -> they want a single page with a photo and a paragraph but want to be able to change it themselves at will
Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
#5This doesn't really make a lot of sense.
How can bags be mistaken for cases when negotiating a deal? The price would be different by an order of magnitude.
Why would orders trickle in like this if the product isn't getting shipped from the distributor and sold?
Maybe I'm overly cynical and wary of things on the internet but somethings not adding up here.
Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
#6When I was homeless, I found a job with a "call center". Our training consisted of teaching us the cover story and how to handle reactions to it. We began with a joke involving alcohol. Then if they didn't hang up we launched into the pitch: "We just lost our lease on our warehouse, and we've got to move all these pens. You can get them imprinted with your name and phone number for a bargain. What do you say?" I quit…
I am curious about the joke involving alcohol.
Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
#7One thing that irks me about dealing with big businesses, that the post touches on, is payment terms. If I buy an item, I pay for it immediately (or if it’s large enough, a creditor pays for me). Big companies pay with IOUs that say they’ll give you cash later, say 30-90 days from now or after criterion X is fulfilled. They do not care if you’re a small company with poor liquidity. I think it’s absolutely abusive beh…
That’s more specific to the food business.
I run an advertising company and we always take payment in advance and work with several large (publicly traded) companies.
Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
#8One thing that irks me about dealing with big businesses, that the post touches on, is payment terms. If I buy an item, I pay for it immediately (or if it’s large enough, a creditor pays for me). Big companies pay with IOUs that say they’ll give you cash later, say 30-90 days from now or after criterion X is fulfilled. They do not care if you’re a small company with poor liquidity. I think it’s absolutely abusive beh…
That’s more specific to the food business. I run an advertising company and we always take payment in advance and work with several large (publicly traded) companies.
I have experience in the semiconductor industry and it operates similarly to what the post described
Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
#9One thing that irks me about dealing with big businesses, that the post touches on, is payment terms. If I buy an item, I pay for it immediately (or if it’s large enough, a creditor pays for me). Big companies pay with IOUs that say they’ll give you cash later, say 30-90 days from now or after criterion X is fulfilled. They do not care if you’re a small company with poor liquidity. I think it’s absolutely abusive beh…
That’s more specific to the food business. I run an advertising company and we always take payment in advance and work with several large (publicly traded) companies.
Amazon's retail profit comes from investing the money they postpone paying suppliers until 30+days after the customer pays Amazon.
Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]
#10One thing that irks me about dealing with big businesses, that the post touches on, is payment terms. If I buy an item, I pay for it immediately (or if it’s large enough, a creditor pays for me). Big companies pay with IOUs that say they’ll give you cash later, say 30-90 days from now or after criterion X is fulfilled. They do not care if you’re a small company with poor liquidity. I think it’s absolutely abusive beh…
And yet, if you’re a big company, transactions are expensive. If small companies need frequent payments and won’t float AP, why would you buy from them? Would you rent an apartment that insisted on daily payments? (Ok, bad analogy, but you get the idea).
I don’t have a good answer, but this isn’t a one-sided thing where the big guys are taking advantage of small companies. This is also small companies agreeing to operate the way big ones do in order to get a foot in the door.