One of the most important lessons I learned about being a buyer, I learned when I was 14 years old packing boxes at my uncle's warehouse—yes my uncle was into hard child labor.
I remember packing a box of old lady, polyester dresses for a store in Florida. I had run out of a style and the company policy was to just substitute the style for another style (this is a very common warehouse practice).
For some unknown reason, that day I decided to call my uncle in the showroom and ask him if it was ok to do the sub. After a second of silence he yelled into the phone, “Child do you have your head up your (censored)? You know what the company policy is! Do I have to baby sit you?” Slam…ok, I got it.
So I started to pull another style from the rack that had the same colors but different print, when the phone rang… “Whose box are you packing?” I’ll never forget, it was Tammy from Tampa. “Jesus that woman is a complete crazy psycho bitch, pull the style from another store and pack her shit right”.
Ok, in case you didn’t get it my uncle was not your huggy, lovey-dovey type of guy. So I had to unpack another store’s box….pull the style out and pack Tammy’s shipment correctly. I’ll phrase it a different way. I unpacked another box that was packed and ready to go—tape, postage and everything. That day I understood, it’s not about being liked it’s about fear and respect.
Years later when I started working with boutique store owners, they all had a common complaint about the same typical nonsense; short ships, subs, canceled orders & styles. They all thought it was a normal part of doing business. Each time I asked them, “Well how did you handle it?” And I got the same answer, “Well I tried to call/return/complain about it but I got no where.”
Do you know why they got know where? Because they were nice! You are not in business to win a popularity contest. You don’t need the vendors to be your friends; you need them to respect your business. Being “nice” is not always the way to get what you want and need. You have rights as buyers to demand what you paid for and what you bought.
How do you protect yourself? It starts with the paper trail.
1. Write your own orders on your own paper.
2. If you want goods shipped as a set or in groups, say so on your orders. Limit the amount of shipments they can do on the order.
3. Did you get a special deal, gift with purchase or free freight? Write the note on your order. I can’t tell you how rampant amnesia is in our industry.
4.Cancel and start dates? Yes you need to write one; “as ready” is NOT a start date…and cancel dates should never be more than 30 days from the start date.
5.Take photos of everything that you buy. Trust me this is the best way to insure what you bought is what you get.
6. Write a detailed description. “Top” is not a clear description.
7. Make sure you unpack and try on everything as soon as you get them in. You only have 5 days to make a claim.
8. Make any claims in writing (email or fax works) and follow up with a phone call. If they don’t answer you, start charging them a fee and write that if they don’t answer you in 15 days you are going to donate the goods to charity and charge them back the full amount plus freight. Yes, you can get away with this by calling your credit card company and reversing the charges.
Is the vendor going to get mad at you? Absolutely! Remember you are the one that should be mad, you bought and paid for the goods in good faith, they are they ones that are cheating you!
Be demanding and outrageous, the idea is that they remember you are not going to take their BS.
Having said all of this, I must also clarify that it is important to be fair and professional. Building strong relationships with your vendors is key, but keep in mind this is business, and they are not your friends.