I’ve been working on a deal at work to get in a whole new super duper computer storage system. It’s a big deal and we’re looking at spending over £100k.

Anyway, I have an original supplier who we’ve worked with for over 5 years. They have done a great job each time and are our preferred supplier.

We have a new system at work now that for contracts this large, we need to ensure that we get more than the one bid in. We need to be impartial to any preferred supplier so that the right decision is made for the business and not because supplier A can give away free Ipods (not that ours do!)

So, we went out to the marketplace and found another provider. They were very keen but I completely frank and honest with them. I told them it wasn’t just about price but service. Service would be difficult for them to demonstrate as we’ve had no dealings with them in the past.. they knew this so provided us with some phone numbers of some customers who were happy to refer them… no doubt these customers would have received their free Ipods!!

Well, they came back more expensive that our preferred supplier but around 20%. None of their contacts they supplied were available to take my call but I did hear from a colleague who told me that she had dealt with them in a previous life and that they were crap… the supplier didn’t hear this of course.

Anyway, we went back to them to let them know the bad news and they then said that their price wasn’t the final price and that they said that they were able to offer two of the units for the price of one.

Ok, so I was prepared to give them a second chance. They requoted but now I find that they were supplying two older type models in their two for one model with a lot of the internal bits missing… what sort of two-for-one deal is this??

Once again, I get back to them and they fob me off with how I don’t need the high end  machines which i had previously quoted for… who are they to tell me what I need and don’t need??? Huh!?

Ok back to the drawing board, I give them one more chance and tell that I want the best price on their original quote. They take over 2 weeks to get back to me and when it does come back, I find that it was the same price right as per their first communication with me!

I am fed up at this stage and I close the deal with the other provider.

I give the annoying supplier a call and they take it ok. 20 mins later I get a huge email with her going on how injustice has been done blah blah blah.. 

Well, she has burnt her bridges.. that’s the last time I’ll be dealing with them!!