Well, a client of ours ordered some Lexar 1GB JumpDrives that were only available from Ingram.
All we needed were 5, so we placed the order online last Wednesday afternoon with the confirmation email for the order coming through shortly after that. We made sure to phone in and verify a number of times via the sales rep we were speaking with that the order was good to go and they assured us that it was.
We had already committed to our client that they would see them today as yesterday was a holiday here in Canada.
We received a call last Friday afternoon from another Ingram sales rep indicating that our order was still on hold and required approval.
We indicated to the Friday sales rep that we had done all of that with the previous Wednesday rep. They even indicated that our credit card was indeed associated with the transaction and that it should have gone through.
So, then began the "negotiations" to have that shipment overnight to us so that we would receive it today. After a successive amount of, "Please let me place you on hold" by the Friday sales rep, they received the go-ahead to get the shipment to us today by UPS overnight at no extra charge.
Guess what?
The transaction was still on hold this afternoon! This was found out because our regular UPS driver had not shown up by lunch. A quick check of the status for the transaction turned up today's date for the transaction being released.
This was after the Friday sales rep assured us that the product would reach us today, after the Wednesday sales rep had assured us that the product would be here by today, and now today the Customer Service rep letting us know that the product will be here tomorrow.
*Sigh*
So, now we are in the position of having to apologize to our client for the product delay all the while providing them with an ETA for tomorrow. In the mean time the delay has caused a production issue with our client, so we will end up needing to compensate them in some way as a sign of good faith.
We are only as good as our word. If a client cannot count on our word, then what else is there?
Under promise and over deliver.That motto takes on a while new meaning when it is our reputation and the food and shelter we provide our families on the hook for a client's lack of confidence in our word. They certainly would not be our client once they have lost that confidence in us.
We have certainly lost confidence in Ingram Micro Canada as a reliable source for product. It is disappointing, but true. :(
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
I would just have two questions.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I don't understand a scenario where 5 USB jump drives would cut in to production, and this would be good information to know.
Second, unless a customer is adamant about getting a firm date, I would never be specific with what day it will arrive when coming from a 3rd party. Our clients probably differ some, but a 1-2 day delay on 5 USB jumps seems like a non-issue, but that refers back to my original question.
Craig,
ReplyDeleteFirst: A set date was due to an on-site project they had. The drives are needed for that specific project for their employees. So, yes, they had to deal with the fact that the drives did not show up.
We always set a date based on our experience with our supplier's shipping methodology.
While our clients understand that those dates are sometimes flexible due to a number of factors, the whole point of the post was that we were being failed pretty much every time we have ordered something from Ingram.
It has come to the point where we cannot make any commitments with our clients if we need to order from them as we cannot trust them to follow through anymore.
When a commitment is broken by us with our clients, no matter how small, it reflects poorly on us as professionals who are supposed to know what we are doing.
When a series of commitments are broken by us with the same client ... what does that say about us?
Thanks for the comment.
Philip