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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]

#61

Post by bombcar »

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’m deeply in love with “webpage” now being called a “microsite” of course at double the cost.

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

#62

Post by sva_ »

viburnum wrote: post #16

I can't put my finger on it exactly but there's something about this story that isn't making sense.

Hint: At the point at which they agreed to sell 6000 units, they must've agreed to a price for those units. Then later they figured out that the trader meant cases and upped the number. I'm thinking they expected to get paid about 6 times more (6 packs per case) ...

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

#63

Post by yesfitz »

lnxg33k1 wrote: post #22
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

Does DDD mean domain-driven design[1]?

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain-driven_design

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

#64

Post by JimtheCoder »

sneak wrote: post #43
CamelCaseName wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, and not just that, but they can arbitrarily decide to not pay you until you either give a steep discount or give up pursuing it.

You can arbitrarily decide not to ship until prepayment is received.

But then they choose someone else to supply.

If you have enough brand recognition where they must have your product specifically, this usually means you are big enough that the payment terms aren't that big of a deal

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

#65

Post by bombcar »

seneca wrote: post #51

This isn't grifting, and if they had specified the distributor it would be libel. This is a story about a small business that made a lot of bad decisions and got in way over theirs heads. That's all well and good, but the spin to try to make themselves look like victims is pretty disingenuous. This sounds like the story you get from a teenager about how it's everyone else's fault after they're caught red handed doing…

Exactly. And if you deal with (shitty) small businesses you’ll hear this or variants time and time again.

Part of the reason Walmart has crushed all their small business competitors.

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

#66

Post by seneca »

spcebar wrote: post #46
wutheringh wrote: post #37

Is this grifting? How did the distributor benefit?

The distributer said, "actually we don't need this much, so either take back this enormous amount of coffee that we know you can't handle or give it to us for free and you can "write it off on taxes," which leaves the coffee company screwed on their loans. When the coffee company says they want to take it back, the big company tries to make them pay an enormous fee. The grift, as I understand it, is in the distributo…

Those options were explicitly laid out in the contract they signed, they even say that in the blog post. It's not a grift if they tell you up front exactly what will happen.

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

#68

Post by kulshan »

yellow_lead wrote: post #40
viburnum wrote: post #16

I can't put my finger on it exactly but there's something about this story that isn't making sense.

Like agreeing to contract terms you are entirely unable to uphold?

They didn't even understand the terms they agreed to. The distributor didn't "grift" them. They weren't swindled, it was just bad business decision making and lack of understanding their terms.

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

#69

Post by anon223345 »

My friends company (software consulting) got a contract with Amex, super excited

Took months for them to even respond to emails about their invoices, they never ever paid on time or even a month a late

Dealing with giant firms is the worst and there’s nothing you can do as a small vendor besides having your game tight upfront

and if you do have your game tight upfront they won’t hire you in most cases

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

#70

Post by legitster »

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…

> They do not care if you’re a small company with poor liquidity.

This is a feature, not a bug.

If you are in an inventory-rich industry, you do not want to deal with a supplier that has no working capital.

Goods first - money later sucks if you are a small startup. But it's much easier to work with inventory and figure out the money later than vice-versa. Toyota does not want to stop the production line because their order of ball-bearings showed up late and now they have to start a new purchase cycle.

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