Work only has 1 supplier

agnes

agnes

agnes

Soldato
Joined
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Amsterdam, NL
Question guys,

Hypothetically (hah), you work in IT and you only have the option of 1 supplier. Who is very unreliable, unprofessional and generally difficult to deal with.

So, you approach your manager, who INSTANTLY shuts you down, nope, only this supplier, this one and only supplier.

Odd, this supplier started before him, I'll speak to my bosses boss. Nope, same thing... What then?

It's making my job hell and my colleagues waiting on kit that may or may not come when the supplier said.

Someone is clearly in pocket, but what options do I have? Speak to someone up higher? Risk my own job just to make it that bit easier for me and my colleagues?

All hypothetical of course lol.
 
You have tried, I wouldn't push the issue, as they will cover anything untoward up, and your life then becomes unbearable / paid off.
 
Hypothetically, you could raise an official grievance/complaint on the basis that the current state of affairs is impeding you from carrying out your job to the best of your ability.
 
Don't go to your bosses with problems. Go with solutions. Find a replacement supplier with a good track record and present your case to someone who cares.

Relate the problem to lost time and consequently lost money for the company - explain how changing supplier can save the company £s rather than saving you time.
 
That's my fear, but then the stress of trying to do my job well with users kicking up a fuss when kit never arrives is just not worth it.
 
Ricochet J said:
Don't go to your bosses with problems. Go with solutions. Find a replacement supplier with a good track record and present your case to someone who cares.

Relate the problem to lost time and consequently lost money for the company - explain how changing supplier can save the company £s rather than saving you time.
Click to expand...

Already been searching chap, I just know it will be shut down. As someone who has been here longer than me also tried the same. They too got shut down and the bosses simply wouldn't even listen to the new supplier on the phone nor even meet for a discussion. Very shady.
 
I'm afraid that in business it makes sense to do exclusive deals with one supplier (or a small number of suppliers) so you don't have the costs/risks of selecting a supplier every time you want to buy something, hence these sort of deals are fairly common. That supplier probably gives your employer a rebate on everything you buy, which is useful if you pass procurement costs to your customer as they don't get the rebate.

What you have to understand is that the amount of stress and hassle you suffer from dealing with this supplier means nothing to them, simply put it's your job to manage the supplier accordingly.
 
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Is there any higher?

Are they the cheapest? Maybe they only care about price rather than their quality.

Wait a month or two then send an anon letter stating you're an ex employee of supplier and left due to finding out about their dubious practises.
 
In all seriousness, I doubt the people much higher would know anything about it. As long as it wouldn't be obvious who did it, you could always send an anonymous message to one of the bigger bosses asking them to look in to it, and explain that you don't trust the chain of command.
 
Zefan said:
In all seriousness, I doubt the people much higher would know anything about it. As long as it wouldn't be obvious who did it, you could always send an anonymous message to one of the bigger bosses asking them to look in to it, and explain that you don't trust the chain of command.
Click to expand...

Trust is a big issue. A very big issue.

I've got a couple of 'large' suppliers to provide information and I'll arrange some calls tomorrow with them to see what pricing we can get on items. If it's lower (which it will be, as Insight are £200 cheaper straight off the bat on our main laptops) and yet still given the cold shoulder. Then I'll have lost the will to try and do a good job and just get on by with not giving a single shade of ****.
 
Does your supplier start with a V? :S
We've dealt with a lot of this, but luckily me and my manager are always on the same page.
 
I'd just tell the users kicking off that if they have a problem to speak to your boss as its not in your remit (and start looking for another job as clearly they don't respect your expertise...)
 
Weirdly I've had a similar problem in my place of work, albeit vastly different to IT. Thankfully my boss thought expanding our supplier list was a good idea, so it's something I've been able to role out over the last few weeks.

If your boss isn't interested, even with figures on the company potentially saving money, there isn't much you can do without really putting yourself on the line!
 
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