# Am I being cynical? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 6, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538 "2006-10-06T19:17:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/1 "2006-10-06T19:17:49Z")
A customer in California ordered $6000 worth of material. Days after we shipped it, they called asking if they could push back the order. We couldn’t, since it had already shipped. Yesterday, we receive notice from the trucking company that the customer refused the shipment, claiming that the material was a mess and unsalvageable. I spoke to a rep of the trucking company who said that she had seen the shipment and it looked fine. Am I being cynical or realistic when I assume that the customer was just trying to avoid taking the material? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/2 "2006-10-06T19:22:21Z")
I can’t really conceive of another logical explanation. Sounds like you’ve nailed it on the head. The question is, what recourse do you have? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/3 "2006-10-06T19:23:48Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] Am I being cynical or realistic when I assume that the customer was just trying to avoid taking the material? [/QUOTE] I am a little surprised you have to ask. That is a common business tactic when things start to fall apart with either the business relationship or with a financial crisis at the receiving end. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/4 "2006-10-06T19:24:17Z")
Realistic. Dealing with the public, I’m surprised this would get much reaction from you. So what’s the upshot, you’re out shipping costs? Or was it a custom order. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/5 "2006-10-06T19:37:53Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] I am a little surprised you have to ask. That is a common business tactic when things start to fall apart with either the business relationship or with a financial crisis at the receiving end. [/QUOTE] I’ve never encountered this one. This is a long-time customer, and we would have been happy to give them a grace period with the invoicing had they asked. I guess I was just curious if anyone could see a different side. Strangely, just after I posted, the customer called asking if replacement material was on its way. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Dealing with the public, I’m surprised this would get much reaction from you. > So what’s the upshot, you’re out shipping costs? > Or was it a custom order. Some days, I need to get nonbiased feedback. I was fairly annoyed about it, and I know that I can get annoyed at things that shouldn’t annoy me. Out shipping both ways, which is about $2500. This material, assuming the trucking company is right, can be resold without any issue, but we can’t make anything approaching a profit on it now. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/6 "2006-10-06T20:03:54Z")
If it’s a larger org, imagine that the guy placing the order panicked, and lets the underlings know that they can’t accept the order. This order filters down five layers of the organization until it gets to the warehouse guy, who in turn panics, and gives the rejection his best shot. I would take it up with your contact, in the nicest possible way, and let him/her know that you’re “confused”, as the shipment was checked and it’s fine. And offer flexible terms if needed. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/7 "2006-10-06T20:42:05Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] Out shipping both ways, which is about $2500. [/QUOTE] Ouch! Just curious - is this a repeat customer? ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/8 "2006-10-06T20:46:33Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] Strangely, just after I posted, the customer called asking if replacement material was on its way. [/QUOTE] “I’m sorry, but we can’t ship out the replacement matreial until we can figure out exactly what went wrong with the first shipment. Wouldn’t want it to happen again…” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/9 "2006-10-06T21:08:04Z")
[QUOTE=Enginerd] “I’m sorry, but we can’t ship out the replacement matreial until we can figure out exactly what went wrong with the first shipment. Wouldn’t want it to happen again…” [/QUOTE] When you get the material back, inspect it. If it looks fine, I would send that same material back. That way you don’t have to order replacement. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/10 "2006-10-06T21:42:18Z")
And charge them for ALL the shipping. You don’t get to order stuff, refuse it for no reason, send it back, re-order it, and not pay for all of that. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/11 "2006-10-06T23:31:13Z")
Ha! I finally got some pictures back from the trucking company and… well… We were all wrong to be so cynical. The material is scattered around the truck willy-nilly. I can’t tell if there’s any damage, but the trucking company rep claiming that it looked fine? Should be smacked. Now I have to try to get money from the trucking company instead of the customer–a much preferable situation. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/12 "2006-10-06T23:48:52Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] I’ve never encountered this one. This is a long-time customer, and we would have been happy to give them a grace period with the invoicing had they asked. I guess I was just curious if anyone could see a different side. Strangely, just after I posted, the customer called asking if replacement material was on its way. Some days, I need to get nonbiased feedback. I was fairly annoyed about it, and I know that I can get annoyed at things that shouldn’t annoy me. Out shipping both ways, which is about $2500. This material, assuming the trucking company is right, can be resold without any issue, but we can’t make anything approaching a profit on it now. [/QUOTE] What do they mean by “messed up?” Is it fixable? Disheveled? If it’s fucked up, can you get reimbursed by the trucking firm? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/13 "2006-10-06T23:50:13Z")
D’oh. I didn’t read all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/14 "2006-10-06T23:57:40Z")
If anyone’s interested in the carnage, here’s a picture: [Photo Storage](http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v101/jsgoddess/?action=view¤t=mvc-330s.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1) ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/15 "2006-10-07T00:10:09Z")
Hmm… how much carnage _is_ that? If they’re, say, rolls of carpet, then it’s not much. Big glass cylinders, so much more. And I’d say that given the circumstances you were perfectly justified in being cynical, but you clearly did the right thing waiting for confirmation before getting snippy with them. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/16 "2006-10-07T00:12:35Z")
[QUOTE=Nanoda] Hmm… how much carnage _is_ that? If they’re, say, rolls of carpet, then it’s not much. Big glass cylinders, so much more. [/QUOTE] Those are rolls of fiberglass material. Thin (1/100 inch thick), nonwoven fiberglass fabric. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/17 "2006-10-07T03:24:43Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] Those are rolls of fiberglass material. Thin (1/100 inch thick), nonwoven fiberglass fabric. [/QUOTE] Pretty carnagey-looking. But is the fabric ruined? I don’t know nuthin’ 'bout fiberglass fabric. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/18 "2006-10-07T05:48:20Z")
You run a strange business to send $6,000 worth of goods to a customer (good one or not) without payment in advance!!! I would certainly have asked for payment in full and then dealt with replacing the material. And fiberglass? I am not expert, but isn’t that stuff pretty much indestructible? It sure didn’t look that bad to me…and is that picture of how it arrived at the customer location, or how it arrived back to you? ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/19 "2006-10-07T07:16:44Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] You run a strange business to send $6,000 worth of goods to a customer (good one or not) without payment in advance!!! I would certainly have asked for payment in full and then dealt with replacing the material. And fiberglass? I am not expert, but isn’t that stuff pretty much indestructible? It sure didn’t look that bad to me…and is that picture of how it arrived at the customer location, or how it arrived back to you? [/QUOTE] This is not strange at all, in fact it’s the norm for business to business dealings in that companies go through a credit approval process and assuming they pass they can then order/receive goods and pay later depending on the agreed terms of sale. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2006, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538/20 "2006-10-07T07:44:41Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] If anyone’s interested in the carnage, here’s a picture: [/QUOTE] I can see that there are rolls of stuff all sort of thrown around in the truck, but is the stuff itself damaged? Because, I mean, come on, sending the shipment back just because the rolls aren’t neatly stacked… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-being-cynical/375538.md?page=2)