“Oh my God. Why? It was clearly written in the Invoice that I needed blue color, and now when the shipment has reached, you are saying that you have sent us black color? Are you serious right now?”, Chris yelled on his phone, talking to the supplier always made him frustrated and exhausted because of the number of excuses each one told for the mistakes, after a deep breath he continued calmly, “Please take your shipment back and send us the corrected items, I cant use this. Or please refund us the payment or we will have to work out something legal.” He cut the call after saying those words.
He knew fully well that it will take at least a good 15 – 20 days to resolve this crisis, that too if the supplier provides the correct color in a new shipment. What should I do, he thought knowing fully well that things might turn ugly initially when the upper management receives this information, But still what could I do? I sent the correct color sample, mentioned correct color in the Invoice and yet they made this blunder. Why is it going like this?
His phone started ringing again, it was the supplier again. Just looking at that name made it more frustrating for Chris, he cut the call and kept his phone upside down, not answering the messages or the calls. Of course, they would now be asking to give them another chance. Why should I? This is drastic, how can someone make such a mistake? Chris thought and remembered the value of the invoice again, but that is not all, the monetary loss is there of course, however, this is such a huge loss in time as well. Even if the supplier agrees to make a new shipment, it will probably take another couple of months to get dispatched and an extra month to get here.
The phone was ringing again but Chris didn’t pick it up knowing fully well who the caller might be. He tried to divert his attention by calling different people, asking about their work status. He didn’t feel like checking his email and got up to go for a jog.
An hour passed by, and Chris returned from the jog exhausted. Perhaps I pushed myself a little too much today.
He checked his emails and found an email from the supplier from about after half an hour after his phone conversation, marked at high priority. It must be probably for the balance payment. Why would I pay him when the goods aren’t even what I expected them to be, he took a deep breath and opened the message.
He could not believe it. The supplier had written that he made a mistake while stating the facts during their phone conversation earlier. Apparently black color was sent to another customer who had ordered black, and to Chris and his firm, they had sent the approved color only, that is blue. The supplier apologized again in the last line and ended the mail.
Chris was astonished. He was very happy, but still, how could the supplier have made such a mistake of telling the wrong information. He was so frustrated all day, but he finally took a deep breath and closed the email. He texted the supplier, “Got your mail. Thanks for the clarification” and went to sleep.
-Siddarth
LiveSid 