Unprofessional Suppliers?

Philippines
August 5, 2012 10:23am CST
Friends.. Tell me if i had been wrong... For the past few days, i had been looking for tshirt printers who can give me a competitive rate. Some failed to give quotation, some gave but too high for my budget but there was one who fit in. There were some modifications on the design, so i sent them an email requesting for a quote as their might be a substantial adjustment on the rate. That was thursday. I called them x times on their cellphone, texted them and resent the email for both friday and saturday but they were not replying. So I was under the impression that they are not interested in my business for their schedule might already be full. I needed those shirts on the last week of August so I am panicking already. I needed to close the figures. This morning, i texted them to follow up on the rate as i needed to close the deal today. even on a sunday, i still searched for a supplier and finally got one and the rate was very good! So, i thought.. i guess i wont need the old supplier anyway, they arent replying. Besides, the new one is such a good deal! So, i emailed the old supplier and told them that i have found another one. This afternoon, they replied... with sooo many hate text messages saying, "I am so pissed off at you. How dare you ask me to close the deal on a sunday! I have a family too you know." Like woah?!!! I cant believe this! I had followed up ever since Thursday! I needed to get those shirts going. Didnt they see the messages i left on their phone? Didnt they see the many calls that I made? I explained to the supplier that I got someone else because they have not been replying. I know it is sunday but i needed to close this issue so that I can proceed with my regular work and weigh the budget. Can anyone tell me where I've gone wrong? I honestly find the reply very unprofessional.
7 responses
@nnanduri (23)
6 Aug 12
Hi , there is nothing wrong in your side.Its business for them also.So why they need to be so careless.Don't think more,they lost a good deal.You did your best.But you should realise this before you called him on sunday to cancel the deal.If they want to continue, they will respond back as soon as you make a call to them.The procedure is once you offered them, they need to follow the customer.I think they don't to run their business.
• United States
6 Aug 12
Dear Gracee I would have spent several days getting as many bids as possible before going with the first one who met your budget. That way if one does fall through you have another one to back you up. Probably a great place to do some networking is right here on Mylot. Now the end of August is coming up quickly so you'll want to be sure this company can get your order out. If they can I'd ask to see a sample and also ask how soon can I get the shirts. Are they mailing them to you or are you picking them up? As long as you didn't sign any legal documentation with the other company then you're not obligated to have them do your job for you. I would have done the same thing because you really don't know them other than what is on their website. It's hard to build a relationship with a business on ebay. Although we did. We had an order out of Tawain and it was a pretty huge order and she paid us half up front and then the other half when we delivered. We didn't know her and she didn't know us. We drove our products to her friend here in Washington state and it turned out to be a win win situation. We even delivered way ahead of schedule. So I'm glad you were able to find someone else who had good customer service skills. That way you know that they're real and committed. You feel comfortable with them it sounds like and the other company just kind of let you hanging and that's no way to close a deal. There really is nothing wrong with being a squeaky wheel especially when you were worried that you wouldn't be able to find someone who could do your job within the short window that you have and within your budget. I'm glad though that you went with your gut feeling and started calling other vendors until you found the right one. Best of luck to you.
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
5 Aug 12
I agree with the last person sounds like you sent them to many messages, as every business needs time to respond. Many business don't work on weekends in my area; specially on Sundays. I would move on to the new printer and forget about the old one. I'm certain they will forget about you quickly. It sounds like the old printer really didn't want to do business with you and was hoping you would move on now.
@ARIES1973 (11426)
• Legaspi, Philippines
6 Aug 12
You are the customer. They should know that if they are in the business field. They should never talk that way to their customer.
@Visdude11 (211)
• Norway
5 Aug 12
Dear, you have not done anything wrong. The supplier did. He should treat his customers better. In this case he lost you as a customer for not replying, it is his fault. You are right, it seems very unprofessional. You should use the new you found, and don't care about the old one. He doesn't even deserve you.
@Byamee (84)
• India
6 Aug 12
Well their answer proves how unprofessional they are. You have taken the right decision by not finalising the deal with them. They acted so irresponsibly before the deal was made, you could imagine what kind of service you would get from them in the future. As far as the family stuff is concerned he should be more concerned about his job, as if he doesn't have that then his family will be the one to suffer. All the best to you for future deals.
@Raine38 (12250)
• United States
5 Aug 12
You were wrong in wasting your time waiting on them Just kidding, but seriously you're even nice enough to give them a few days to ponder it over and ample enough time to get back to you with a clear answer. Oh well, they're not the only ones in the industry, and by their attitude they're not that popular it seems. Remember, you're the client so you call the shots, well most of it. ANyway, you already got a better supplier and you will make your deadline. Too bad for the first supplier because they lost a client and they also have such attitude problems you wouldn't think they need clients in their business.