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Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

modest.coffee

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Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#21

Post by asah »

It's 101 that wholesale buyers order by the case and for producers to specify the casecount and price, and for errors like this to be caught when the prices/etc don't line up. This is equivalent to not knowing that URLs can redirect, or that http:// and https:// aren't the same thing. Distributors work with 1000 brands each and don't have time (or margin) to babysit.

Also, when a company gets a much larger and different customer, I would expect any CEO to pickup the phone and talk with peers about how to manage the process. Brokers are outsourced commissioned reps, not shareholders.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#22

Post by lnxg33k1 »

johnchristopher wrote: post #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…

I worked for a web agency a while ago, where they embraced DDD and like the first few meetings with the client were only focused on creating a ubiquitous language and defining common terminology in order to avoid misunderstandings, it takes a bit of bootstrap but it's the best way to work with people who are not technical. Probably food distribution could make some use for it too as far as I can see from the post

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#23

Post by drewcoo »

johnchristopher wrote: post #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…

> people don't use the right words and terms

Your examples are people "being helpful" by "figuring it out for you" when they don't understand all the specifics. Yes, that's an annoying problem any specialist deals with.

The article is about something that should have had clarity in a contract. It's the kind if situation that should involve lawyers.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#24

Post by jjeaff »

georgeburdell wrote: post #3

One 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…

I remember in a corporate finance class in college, we did a lot of calculations comparing prepayment to net 30, net 90 terms, etc.

The game is to maximize cash flow, though in the end, it doesn't make a lot of difference except in very thin margin businesses. But the general wisdom is to always try to take maximum advantage.

I always felt that it is a silly strategy considering that it strains your suppliers, provides little financial benefit, and big corporations blow so much money on so many other things that could easily be addressed before worrying about setting up net 30 payments.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#25

Post by foreverCarlos »

johnchristopher wrote: post #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…

I noticed that some PMs (and now also engineers) use “tab” in place of “page”. So “adding a tab” means “adding a page”. I was very confused by that and still have to double check what they mean each time.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#26

Post by cptskippy »

treis wrote: post #5

This 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.

They were relying on a consultant.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#27

Post by SkipperCat »

davidmurdoch wrote: post #19
treis wrote: post #5

This 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.

It probably went something like "we can do $5.00 per unit, sold in cases of 6" "Ok, we'll order 6000 at that price"

Yes, but at some point a purchase order has to be drafted and a contract has to be signed. Those things should be spelled out in detail.

I'd think the big company would almost demand that or else the coffee roaster could ship 6000 zip lock baggies with 10 coffee beans in each. I know that's an absurd example but a PO and contract protects everyone against that and that's why any reasonable company doesn't proceed without defined terms.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#28

Post by DaveExeter »

Eleison23 wrote: post #2

When 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…

That's more what I would call "strategic misinformation".

Ok, ok, it's a scam, but a very common scam! Similar to the white van scam. They really should teach people about these scams in school.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#29

Post by maxerickson »

kioleanu wrote: post #20
treis wrote: post #5

This 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.

probably „Can you move 6000 units?” “Yes we can move 6000 units at 10$ per pound” “Sounds great, get them going!”

I probably wouldn't take on tens of thousands of dollars of loans based on that. I guess it's presented that they took the loans out after the confusion was identified.

When I saw it yesterday they had more than 1,000 cases of the dark roast left (and none of the light or medium). So 1,000 cases in a day, a big chunk of the 34,000 bags. I wonder how long it will take them to ship, what with their not having the facilities for it.

Re: Distributor cancelled an order and we need to move 30k bags of coffee [updated]

#30

Post by mschuster91 »

treis wrote: post #5

This 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.

> How can bags be mistaken for cases when negotiating a deal? The price would be different by an order of magnitude.

These kinds of confusions happen regularly, lol. Back a decade ago when I was working in pubs, colleague ordered what he thought would be one pack of paper towels - in the order form, he chose the wrong column to place the "1" in. Next day a shipping company showed up with a pallet of paper towels. Boss wasn't amused too much, but not because of the money, rather because we lacked the space to store a fucking pallet of paper towels. We ended up selling half of them to patrons at cost and managed to squeeze the rest wherever we could - I would not be surprised if someone today would still find a random roll somewhere and wonder where it came from.

In another job at a supermarket, this happened somewhat weekly. Didn't really matter unless it were really slow-moving or perishable goods, but it rarely happened in the latter case and in the former case stuff could also simply be sent back to the central warehouse.

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