Should I feel bad about this

[Anthony Diodati]

[Dave Balderstone]

We have a major supplier who invoices us somewhere between $30K and $90K a week (for printing). A year ago we were fed up with the number and frequency of errors on their invoices, and I told them that from that point forward we were going to ask ourselves "Are we prepared to pay this invoice?" and not "Is this invoice correct?"

In 2003 we caught $3700 in overcharges on their invoices and corrected those.

$6700 in undercharges we accepted.

djb

[Mark & Juanita]

You have some valid points. But I would offer the following counter- point. The OP was buying this material for a client and a job he was performing for that client. Now, one would assume that his time also has value (not to say that if I was going in for something for a weekend project, my time would not be valuable either, it would just be harder to place a $ amount on that time). The action you are counseling would require that the OP expend additional (perhaps billable time) in dealing with what should, by all rights, be an assumed competency of the business with which we was dealing. So, either the OP was going to have to "take himself off the clock" so to speak, or he was going to be expending his client's money to spend additional time in finishing his purchase or afterwards so that HD could then educate its supposedly already trained employee. Having attempted to deal with "customer service" following a sale, this could have resulted in a significant expenditure of time.

The OP did his due diligence in informing the cashier of the correct pricing for the material. The attitude he encountered was definitely a problem, and a quick word to the manager might have been in order if that did not result in significant additional time wasted.

[Steve]

-------------------8 --

Yes, it's called baleen.

Steve

[Steve]

----------------------8 Jack

Is it a Maple tree?

Steve

[Jerry McCaffrey]

Mark wrote in :

Yup! And I used to have to drive 30 miles to get to one. Now they are all over the place and friggin useless!

Jerry

[Dennis Vogel]

That's a good one. Shop at WalMart, who is putting companies out of business by the low cost they demand from their suppliers, then worry about a few cashiers. Brilliant!

Dennis Vogel

[Dennis Vogel]

Jack, I'm on that limb with you. I'm surprised people think getting something undeserved isn't wrong. Clerk's error, stocker's error, cash register programming error, no matter. It's not what the stuff is supposed to cost and the buyer knows it. But, then again, I've found people can justify just about any damned thing they wish with very little effort.

Dennis Vogel

[James D Kountz]

Dennis, Just so I understand you right, are you saying that you would have stood there and took the smartass kids attitude AND on top of that took your own time to educate her and show her the error of her ways and to explain this to her? Or could it be you would have just thrown your hands up too. Keep in mind I DID make an effort to correct her and was snapped at in a very condescending way for it. So screw the little twerp. That how I justify it.

Jim

[Andy Dingley]

Hey, that's capitalism in action. I wouldn't do it in my local toolshops, I argue with one of my favourite timber suppliers to take more money (I'm afraid the guy will starve !), but Borgs are fair game for any blatant exploitation that they leave themselves open to. They're not people, they're stock exchange listings.

[Han]

"Joseph Smith" wrote in news:9KwOb.61229$ [e-mail]:

Bottom line: Either the local database programmer has a beef and "forgot" to program the cash register to ask for the # of feet; or; The cashier has a beef and inputs "1" when asked for the # of feet.

One or the other will have to use their own feet to go look for a new job, soon!

[Ron Magen]

Dennis, Have you ever spent an hour or so of YOUR OWN time educating/explaining to a clerk AND 'Manager' about a blatant error, that was costing THEM money ? Then going back to the store about a day later, then a week later . . . and seeing the SAME thing going on ?!?!

THEY DON'T care one wit. Plus it's 'like trying to teach a pig to fly . . . it wastes your time and annoys the pig'

Regards, Ron Magen Backyard Boatshop

[Lawrence Wasserman]

Bang.

[John Carlson]

I would not view this as a case of taking advantage of the cashier, but of taking advantage of the store and its (in this case) incompetent hiring policy.

HD chose to hire a minimally qualified individual and put them into a job with minimal training. (Probably so they could pay them a minimal wage and earn a maximal profit.) If the ill-trained and uncaring employee made a mistake, it was not the OP's fault, but HD's

The >Jim,

-- jc Published e-mail address is strictly for spam collection. If e-mailing me, please use jc631 at optonline dot net

[Dennis Vogel]

First of all, it's not the "twerp" who's getting screwed. It's the company, which is to say the shareholders. You might be one. HD is in a lot of mutual funds.

I would have gone to the manager as someone else suggested. It's clear the clerk didn't know what you were talking about. There's nothing else you could have done with her. Sure it would have taken some effort. But it would have been the right thing to do. Do you disagree? Do you were think you were "right" in the fullest sense of the word?

Dennis Vogel

[Dennis Vogel]

And who do you think owns that stock? I know you know it's people like you and me. And cheating a corporation isn't any definition of capitalism I've ever heard of.

Dennis Vogel

[Dennis Vogel]

No, I haven't. But did it really take you an hour to explain the problem to the store manager? Somehow I doubt it. You're exaggerating to make a point. I do think I would have taken some time to explain and I'd be surprised if the manager couldn't be made to understand. After all, the lumber or the rack was marked in some way that explained the pricing. How is it that the manager couldn't understand what it meant?

Dennis Vogel

[Ron Magen]

Denis, In his case I'm NOT exaggerating. Between getting the 'Customer Service' people {that is where the Manager's 'cubicle' is}to contact the manager, explaining the situation, showing him the 'ticket info', having him 'check the log', then the computer, getting the 'cashier' and explaining the whole situation AGAIN, it probably took MORE than an hour. While it was a little frustration, I felt good about doing something 'positive' rather than just 'bitching' under my breath. The 'Manager' thanked me, and said he would correct the error right away.

You can imagine how stupid I felt when I was in that store again a few days later and say the SAME 'shelf ticket', with the same error . . . completely unchanged. Whether the manager & clerk understood or not is completely immaterial . . . they JUST DIDN'T CARE.

I don't know if this is a 'they-don't-pay-me-enough-to-care' situation or they simply don't hire people who have pride in themselves, and care to do a job well - no matter what it is. It no longer matters. Now I just shrug my shoulders, shake my head, and walk out the door. Sometimes I even mumble, "What a Maroon".

Regards & Good Luck, Ron Magen Backyard Boatshop

SNIP

[Mark & Juanita]

Let's say someone like the original poster's time, including labor, benefits, and overhead is on the order of $1 per minute (that is not out of line for a skilled craftsman or laborer). How much of that person's billable time should be spent in resolving another business's problems?

[mel]

How much of that person's billable time should be spent in resolving another business's problems?

so whay you're saying is it's that merchant's responsibility to insure your profitability and not yours for seeking out a merchant that doesn't waste your time?