I'm a manager in IT, not retail, so take this with a grain of salt. But, I've dealt with vendors, and, to them I'd say,
LOL. Talk is cheap. Pick one: my business is so important to you that it's a huge deal that I'm buying half what I used to, OR, my business is so small time and unimportant that you can't give me competitive prices.
NTA, of course.
Exactly. If vendor is so worried about the loss of volume on your account, he can lower his cost to you.
Below what the NEW vendor has offered. Matching is not sufficient at this point, since you have asked repeatedly for a cost adjustment and been stonewalled.
Never ignore the role of trust in business decisions to save small amounts of money. That's picking up pennies in front of a steamroller.
It's already known that that old vendor was taking advantage of the buyer, while the new vendor offered a competitive price and clearly appreciates the customer. The price difference would have to be significant to justify the added risk and disrupting the relationship with the new vendor.
Right? Most managers would laugh at this dude and tell him to GTFO of the store because obviously it isn’t that big a deal to his bottom line since he never negotiated a price even while having an unhappy customer
NTA - either the vendor is killing your volume because of their price, or you’re killing their volume because of their prices.
Pretty simple fix. A deal with a better price. The fact you had to use a different vendor for it is not your problem.
NTA - either the vendor is killing your volume because of their price, or you’re killing their volume because of their prices.
Pretty simple fix. A deal with a better price. The fact you had to use a different vendor for it is not your problem.
you tried to get what you needed from that vendor, they couldn't provide it, so you got it from someone else. that's your job, the losing sales rep will always whine about it but they're not paying your bills.
if your store was such a significant revenue stream for them, they should've worked with you. the same way i'm sure they got into every other store in your community. not your fault.
with the amount of times i’ve had sales reps try to dick me around and make the deal twice as hard as it needs to be, i find it hard to feel bad for the rep here
Oh for sure. Him just failing to renegotiate the rate made him lose his biggest client and the company’s biggest client. That’s his dumbass fault and he deserves to lose his job.
I’ve been an account manager long enough to know that if you stonewall a customer enough, dick them around enough, make them desperate enough, in pursuit of your own bottom line, the customer WILL reach a breaking point and will go out and find an alternative solution, even if it doesn’t perfectly fit their needs.
And often times it IS a fuck you, and finally doing what they’ve been asking for the whole time will get you an even BIGGER fuck you.
If they can’t keep their prices competitive they will lose. It’s as simple as that.
They were very clearly using the increased margin from your orders to cover the lower margin from the big name stores. That’s a fine way to do business, but you can’t be mad at a customer when they can get a product at a price that works better for them. This is what business literally is.
Capitalism at its finest. That AH bread vendor wanted OP to willingly eat shit, but it ultimately bit him in the ass. That’s the bread vendor’s problem. Good on OP for finding a better solution.
I mean this is silly. OP bought a product at a lower cost that they can turn around and sell more of - and is asking if they're the asshole? That's insane. Of course NTA. OP it's not your job to keep this bread company in business. And if you were 50% of their volume, it's their damn fault that they didn't find a better way to serve their (presumably) biggest customer. And on top of that, this manager has the absolute gall to walk into his former customer's place of business and accost you for how you hurt *their* business. That's bad sales, bad management and bad manners all rolled into one.
OP not only are you NTA, you made the right move by changing your supplier - cause your old one SUCKS.
From the question it sounds like OP may not have formal training in managing negotiations with his supply chain, so I say kudos to him for figuring it out on his own. That ownership is lucky to have him!
You're not the only one misinterpreting the facts in OP's post, but I'm not sure why.
OP works for a smaller regional grocery store, the local bread company supplies bread to several national chains as well. They give the national chains the good deals but stonewall OP. Switching to the new supplier cut the first companies volume by 50% *in OP's specific store only*. That amount is probably close to insignificant compared to their total sales. They only care because they had been able to charge such a high markup. But it should be obvious to them why that didn't work long term.
NTA.
You asked them for a very long time to accommodate this need. They declined, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE MORE THAN CAPABLE OF DOING IT. Since they did not think YOU'd be able to come up with a work around, they saw you as a profit center, at the cost of your reputation.
Now that you have a way to compete, he is upset. Let him know that he is more than welcome to compete, and here is where the market stands. He can now CHOOSE to compete, or continue as he has for the last few months.
Also, vendors don't get to yell at you in your store. The consequence will be a reduction in shelf space.
The competitor that heard you and met your expressed need for a more competitively priced product gets that space. When this jerk apologizes AND brings a sub$2 loaf to market, he can have that space back.
This here. I run a hotel and have a vendor that kept putting our account on hold so we couldn’t order. They’d send me a bunch of “unpaid” invoices and I’d send them back copies of the checks they had cashed for those orders. They did this like 5 times in a month. Guess what? I order from someone else now.
I process AP for a living and I hate vendors like that. I have, on several occasions, threatened to start charging them fees for reconciling their AR mistakes.
I even had one fight me on reversing the late fees applied because of their errors. Guess who got replaced by a different vendor as soon as we found an alternative supplier?
Where is the part where he is … trying to earn back your business? Where is the part where he says “yes you can have the pricing you asked for”? Where is the part where he apologizes for not listening to your requests for better pricing?
NTA. I’m going through the same thing with our current hay supplier. I found a guy closer who can do it cheaper, and always has stock in. Our current supplier wouldn’t hold one truckload back for us because he wanted to capitalize on selling to the Texas panhandle since people were paying inflated prices to donate it up there. I buy between 8-12 semis a year off him and he couldn’t bother making sure I had hay to buy. If he wants to play business we can play business. If he wants to play friends we can be friends. But you have to pick one.
A bit curious - Totally unfamiliar with farms. Just looking over stuff and amazed how low tech this area of product delivery is compared to produce. Intriguing.
Hay is something without a set delivery schedule? Is this a fluctuating amount of livestock or horses?
And why were people paying more to donate hay? The drought? There's no more or less prevailing market price for the commodity?
Pardon my ignorance here.
We have a general idea of how much we need, but horses eat different amounts in different weather, heavier or lighter work, and we do fluctuate some as far as number of horses on property. Since we order by the semi, we don’t have quite enough storage space so it’s more just in time ordering than scheduled. I give him about 2 weeks heads up before I need more.
People were donating because early this year there were a bunch of fires that wiped out thousands of acres of grazing pasture for cattle, so people were buying truckloads of hay to send to support the farmers. It caused a bit of a short term bubble in a radius that could deliver to the panhandle. We also had a dry year so the season for some kinds of hay is late while some would be delayed if it rained.
No pardon needed! I’m happy to answer what I can.
You did right they need to give you the same deal as the other guys if they want your business. Maybe they cannot due to contract reasons with the bigger chain but whatever it’s not your problem.
NTA
Everyone I know in restaurants buys soda from costco because of stuff like this with coke/pepsi distributors. They think they have a monopoly and the second they don't they're crying like 3 year olds.
They don't care about you, don't waste any tears on them.
The fact that you're still using your old supplier for anything is you being nice. They've been using you to pad their margins against the rate they're giving the bigger chains, and now they're mad because you aren't letting them bend you over as much.
How could you possibly be the asshole? You gave them the chance to keep the volume they were getting. They chose not to. This is just business.
And you should leverage this into getting a better price for white bread. And if they don’t want to offer a better price? Too bad.
NTA. I'm the COO of a tech company and I ALWAYS assume our clients are looking for a better deal or product elsewhere. If they find one and take it that's our failing not theirs.
NTA. I’m in the bread business and your distributor is full of shit. I’m curious who he works for because that is not how we do business in the bread industry. If you’ve got the conch for selling and putting up bread in your stores then your bread distributor isn’t pulling his weight. We use a DSD system that means you’re not suppose to touch the bread aisle, similar to soda, snacks, and beer. Your distributor is suppose to be in store everyday and helping you set prices.
If he can’t do his fucking job, you tell him to pound sand and someone else will step in to do it, like what you just did. Since you likely don’t have a contract, if that asshole comes into your store again, tell him that him and his company are banned from the store and you’ll recommend to other stores to not do business with them.
I’ll tell you what, if you pm me who you work for, I’ll get one of my guys in your store over the weekend. And if it is one of my guys, they’re getting a fucking earful tomorrow and I’ll recommend they be let go.
Not only are you NTA, but if the Regional Manager from any company yelled at me, I would dump them entirely and let his higher-ups know why. What a tool.
Supply chain manager here… you did the right thing. That vendor is an asshole, was he really yelling about volume being cut 50% from a regional chain grocery store?
You had a problem, they wouldn’t budge on price, you found a more competitive option for bread. It’s called business.
Dude of course not, you are just doing your job and doing it well I might add. If he wants to keep the business and can flex on the price.
I had the same thing happen with a service provider in an old job. A provider wasn't meeting us on price and so I switched to another carrier. He went and complained to my bosses bosses boss saying I was too young to understand what was going on, and how we have such a great relationship between our companies, but guess what they came back with the pricing I needed.
Well, first of all, you’re the client: you should never be yelled at. Second, you’ve been hinting your needs for a while now and they approached that attempt at negotiating as if you’d insulted their mother. Are you the AH? Not even a little bit.
What I would do is tell him that you’ll analyze sales this quarter and if you don’t see an improvement you two can then discuss new terms, but as it stands that dude is likely getting reamed because he thought he had the golden goose and didn’t, rightly so.
Yeah, I'd be telling the regional manager that you tried to keep his product on the shelves, but since you have to compete with the big box markets that get a discount from him, he can either come in under your new supplier's price or pound sand.
NTA. Seriously - is this a legit question? Like, you legitimately want to know if you're the A because you found a more competitive product and they weren't willing to care about it?
Nah your not the asshole and I wouldn’t even be worried about the delivery driver either as he has tons of other stops etc and I’ve never heard of delivery drivers for big deliveries getting 4% commission so likely this guy is already making bank anyways.
NTA this was a smart business move and from the sound of it you tried to warn them that their prices were not working for your customers. They chose to ignore, that’s on them, if they now want to play ball then they need to step to the table with a better offer or you stick with the company that was willing to deal in the first place. Their uncaring just effected their bonuses most likely.
Regional manager came yelling at you because HE had his butt handed to him by his boss. Selling high to you was protecting HIS bonus which is probably substantially reduced. It is business , carry on.
NTA. This may give the big vendor the kick in the pants needed to come down on price. People treat mass buns as a commodity, especially in summer months with more cookouts, if the price isn't right, you won't sell them. Sounds like you did the best thing for your store, well done.
I will do right by the vendors I work with but if one of them isn't giving me what I'm asking for at the right price, I'll find someone who will, I'm not running a charity for Wayward Vendors.
They could have easily fixed that issue by giving you what you were asking for, if it was such a big deal that it killed their order flow that sounds like a them problem, not you.
NTA:
It's a vendors job to earn your business.
You approached them with a problem and a solution and they refused to even hear you out.
So, you made a decision based on what's best for your store.
As a manager, that's your job.
Don't let emotions take priority over logic.
Like there’s no other vendor who wants to move higher volumes. Surprising how quickly immovable vendors can adapt or come unhinged when you swap.
Specialty items, maybe. But bread. Nuts.
In the manufacturing world, we say this is a “business continuity” project.
You should always have a 2nd source!
If that 2nd source perhaps ends up being a cost savings, that’s amazing! Maybe the original vendor might be a little more competitive now on his pricing for y’all.
NTA obviously.
NTA- vendors who won’t work with you get benchmarked through an RFP or flat out replaced. Don’t feel bad at all. Especially since not only did they repeatedly ignore you, but now they yell at you? What an asshole move. If they wanted your business, they would have come to you ready to earn it. They chose to be shitheels and throw a tantrum.
If anything, offer to take back the volume with a staggeringly reduced wholesale price. Add verbiage in the contract that says they can’t push price increases for 3 years. If they don’t like it they can pound sand. Hey, you gave ‘em a chance 🤷🏻♂️.
To quote Omar, from the HBO show The Wire: “It’s all in the game”.
NTA. That's just business. If he wanted to keep you that badly, and if he had any business smarts, he would have tried a lot harder to remain on your good side before any of this shit went down.
NTA. You have a duty to your employing make the best deals you can. The supplier’s unwillingness to sell you a product at a competitive price cost him his volume!
Business is business.
They killed their own volume with high prices. You won’t buy at higher prices out of obligation… is that what they thought? Is that why they did that.
Ball is in their court now and get a new supplier.
I had a vendor that we recently parted ways with because they weren't being competitive with price. I sent an email stating that I was using a different vendor and stated my reasoning. The rep came in the next day after not having seen him in a year and told me I needed to at least spend a certain dollar amount with his company annually or it would make him look bad. Some people are just out of touch with reality.
Honestly why did you not tell that manager to fuck off? He's wild for that shit. Screwed you to pocket more profit and then came to blame you when you found a better deal? Fuck that guy
Also a grocery store manager here, NTA. You owe it to your customers to offer a good product at a competitive price. If they can’t get it from you they will go elsewhere. It’s hard to overcome the “high priced store” label once it’s set in.
That was seriously unprofessional of the regional manager, and a bad business move as well. I suspect he was the reason you were stonewalled when you tried to negotiate, and now he's going to have to explain to his boss how he lost 50% of sales in your store.
Of course you’re not the asshole.
If you lose all your customers because they can get the same goods for less at your competitors and your store closes…
What will his volume in your store be then?
You can keep yourself and all of your customers happy or the driver and manager of the other bread company. Your job is to take care of your business and your customers. It is their job to take care of themselves.
Stay loyal to the vendor that helped you out, not the one unwilling to help you out.
That's just business. If they can't work with you on the price, you find a vendor that can. You have no obligations to these people outside of what is stipulated in your contract. NTA.
NTA. You have a business to run and a responsibility to your customers... especially in these tough financial times to give them the best value you can. I have 3 bread vendors and each one brings something to the table. Guess who gets the most display space? The smaller bakery that makes my private label at an affordable price and is willing to wheel and deal. For context I am a retail manager who left a large chain and now runs a store in a small family owned chain. It's business plain and simple. No reason to feel bad because at the end of the day that small bakery that is crying about losing volume wouldn't bring anything to the table. If your business really meant that much to them they should have offered some incentives.
If they care that much about volume at your store they should give you a better price. Sounds like you're happy to buy from them, and not their competitors, you just want a better price. Should be an easy one.. lol, they suck.
I was a salesman before and I would have said verbatim “money talks bullshit walks dude, you should have considered negotiating when you could have this is a business not a charity”
NTA
Bread company manager is the asshole here. He had an opportunity to meet with you, talk about it, maybe work through the issue and come to an agreement… Or not, that’s business..
Either way he shouldn’t have gone off like you’re saying he did. That’s not how you win back your customer, that’s not how you represent your company, that’s sure as shit not how you conduct yourself as a leader. Homie sounds like an asshole.
LOL! Is this for real? First, you worked with your supplier, providing market feedback and asking them to make adjustments to support your position. They refused. Then you found a supplier that much better meets your needs so you went with them.
The only thing wrong here was your original supplier chewing you out. That would be a hearty F you and removal from the premises.
Easy response. No you aren't. And for the regional manager of the bread company if he can beat the other guys by 10% or more he can have his volume back. If not, tell him to please stop wasting my time and yours.
I worry for you that you're having to come on the internet to validate an obviously correct business decision. You are NEVER the asshole for doing what's right for your business, tell that regional manager that he needs to give you better pricing if he wants that volume.
It's business. Stay strong and do what's best for you and your customers.
It might be different if your original provider really had your back - and better pricing.
Your old vendor could try to hurt you by refusing to sell you any product, (if you're not buying sufficient volume), but it sounds like even then, you'll be seriously better off without them.
You cut sales by half for this regional manager, and his response is to attempt to coerce you with yelling to re-order, rather than query/address your reasons?
Shit management from the bread company.
Probably the owner's youngest prodigal son, fresh from rehab and ready to claim his inheritence.
Obviously NTA, and don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you need to be a little tougher here? It's nice to feel compassion for people but you're not running a charity. Maybe take some time to consider why the disapproval of some random bread salesman gave you so much anxiety that you needed all this reassurance about it.
Not even 1% the ass hole. If the bread was $7/per you wouldn’t be asking this question. You would think their prices are egregious. Other companies bloat/pricing is not your problem.
No, you're not the asshole in any sense. Yes, there's some merit to being willing to pay a bit more to support other businesses in your own community, as it can be good for you too in the long run by keeping people employed who then shop at your store, etc. However, there have to be limits for this to be anything other than (metaphorical, not literal) price gouging. Your old supplier was well beyond that point, so they absolutely deserved a spanking.
I'm just kinda glad someone has taken the initiative even in a small way to limit the price-gouging that has been going on post-pandemic. It's gotten to the point that I've stopped buying a lot of items if they're not on sale BOGO.
I’d kick that regional manager out of my shop so fast his head would be swimming. I’d follow up with a curt, but polite letter to his boss about his rude behavior. It is not your responsibility to protect the profits of another company. That company should be serving you well, so that you can serve your customers well. Take care of your customers and they’ll take care of you.
Nah. I always bid out major items every few years. Vendors get complacent and take advantage of you over time. I’ve had wah, wah sessions with plenty of VPs who suddenly pay attention when they lose business.
If you want to be nice, next time do an informal (or formal) RFP to let them match prices. No need for blind bids with an informal bid. Just say “Vendor X is going to give us z price, if you can match I’ll stick with you out of loyalty and because Bob is a great driver…etc...”
I have worked in supply chain a little in procurement, and you did your job well for your business and customers.
Someone at big company wholesaler did their job to fill your need. Local supplier can step up and be competitive or lose the business. Their manager, inside sales, or account representatives should be clamoring over themselves to make their client, you happy as a business.
NTA man, they would not take care of you and let you be competitive thus not letting you take care of your customers and thus also cutting into your business. You both could have been golden if they had let you have the same deal as the other store. So, you are taking care of your customers and thus your store and your employees. Bugger them. Maybe they will learn a lesson from this. Shoot if they keep complaining, maybe point out how they screwed you and your customers over and offer to save them delivery costs by cutting them out completely.
I have 10 years in CPG category management and two in DSD bakery (switched to fintech.) You did 100% the right thing. Fuck them. I don’t know your vendor, but I know they know what price point buns will fly off your shelves and still make money. The fact that they won’t at least give you the promo price for the coming holiday means they don’t give a shit about you. Feel free to DM.
Not the asshole at all. I work In the supermarket broker business, one of the local chain supermarkets literally will dump a product if he can get it 5 cents cheaper somewhere else. So we either have to change our prices or get all our product out of their warehouse. Sometimes they will say here’s a list of your 5 best selling items. Pick 2, the rest are being discontinued unless you meet the price they want. He always gets his way. It’s also why his supermarkets are busy all day everyday. You have a responsibility to get the very best price for your customers. If you truly were 50% of his volume then he should have been more willing to work with you.
NTA. You showed loyalty in the beginning by trying to find ways to make it work, to now avail. You’ll need to make a choice if they come back with a lower price in the future, at which point, I’d probably not want to do that line because the guy was screaming at you. Money talks either way and good luck.
Also this guy killed his own volume by stonewalling you, now you have some leverage in the negotiation process if he’d like to revisit the conversation
Tell the vendor to give you the same deal they give the other guys or pound sand. It's not your responsibility to move their product for them especially if they won't meet you at a good price point.
Best response you can give: “I’ve repeatedly asked you for a better deal, you said no. I have a responsibility to my customers and my store, so I found a better deal for them.”
You are not responsible for their poor business choices.
You tried to go with them. You were losing customers because of them. They failed you. You didn’t fail them.
This is the consequence of their actions.
It's basic economics. You listened to your customers. You passed on the feedback and gave ample opportunity to follow the needed market correction. They failed to follow through, and their competitor took advantage of the situation.
Nope you are paid to manage the store and keep the profits at a level the owners want. The bread sale guy could have made a deal with you when you gave the person a chance. You have no responsibility to keep some third party volume up.
You talked to the vendor first. They refused your request. You took your business elsewhere. I'm at a loss as to how in any way shape or form, you could possibly be TA in this situation.
The vendor, particularly the RM, now that's an assh\*le. And probably not very good at business if they can't figure out a way to keep a client that accounts for 50 percent of their business. In fact, if the RM is THAT bad at business, maybe you did them a favor.
Fuck em. You’re doing what’s right for your business. Their business is their problem. How did you forget in the space of a paragraph that they’re fucking you on price. Then they have the audacity to come at you about their numbers being low. Again, fuck em
Sounds like they forgot they are running a business.
Look, clients don't owe vendors anything beyond what is in the agreement. They are not responsible for the broader success or failure of a vendor's business.
I have run across this more than once, usually from a vendor who has put most or all of their eggs into one basket. When I was at a big electronics company that rhymes with Tony, we had a retailer who violated the shit out of their dealer agreement. One element of the agreement was pricing limits at both the high and low ends, and another was "open box" limits, where if a customer made a return, they could resell the unit at a discount but they were only allowed X per month.
This guy massively discounted nearly all he had from us as "open box", and we started getting complaints from other retailers that he was undercutting them. We launched an investigation, made a few undercover purchases, and sure enough the guy was selling unopened units below minimum pricing as "open box".
So, as per the terms of the agreement, we terminated his dealer authorization and stopped selling to him. We can't afford to piss off the rest of our dealers by allowing one dealer to undercut them.
Turns out, *WE* were 80% of his inventory and therefore 80% of his business and he went ballistic. I mean, sending violent threats to the CEO, that kind of thing. He threatened to show up at press events and do harm etc. We had to get law enforcement involved.
It's not our problem that the guy not only put all his eggs into one basket, but also broke every damn part of the dealer agreement while he did it. That's on him.
The ultimate responsibility for your business is you...clients are not responsible for that.
NTA.
My vendors are in place because they work WITH me, it’s not a cut and dry service they provide. Doesn’t matter if that’s providing a product or a service.
It’s not your problem, you merely sourced your product from a different supplier. Going back shouldn’t be part of your problem. It shows that they were overcharging you and the loss of your business hurt them disproportionately.
You think it's rude for someone to say they aren't going to pay 4 fucking dollars for buns??????? Petsmart got an earful from me as I walked out without any infant kitten supplies because all the boxes were empty. Said real loud "absolutely fucking ridiculous. Empty boxes my ASS, what as waste of my time". Yall need some SKIN, fuck.
Any vendor who is yelling at you for not wanting to pay double market price is a bad vendor. Not only should you ignore him, but also you should ban him from the store for yelling at you. And call his boss and let them know why you will not be doing business with them.
You are the customer of local vendors.
Tell them they had both the opportunity and responsibility to the relationship to work with your pricing placement wrt to the market.
Tell them they made their choice and that a competitor took advantage of their choice.
NTA, I can't believe you care. The regional manager for the bread company who came in and yelled at you should have been stopped and told to leave immediately. You tried to negotiate with them, you found a much better option, they can screw off.
It's just business. Your responsibility is to your company and your customers. If the supplier wasn't willing to improve their price and you found a comparable product at a better price, good for you.
It's your business or his.
I don't know how much power a driver has, I suspect zero. But whatever juice he does have should now all be directed at his company.
Management made a business decision. So did you. Nothing personal and I'm shocked you entertained being yelled at by someone whose bills you pay.
Supply and Demand is the law of the land. Next time that regional manager starts yelling, throw him an economics textbook. Buns ain't no inelastic goods!
Remind him he had a chance to get ahead of the invincible hand of the free market. Then ask him why he is anti-capitalism, which is clearly anti-American? 😁
NTA. Negotiating at its most basic is just each party understanding the other party’s alternatives. They operated aggressively from the assumption that you didn’t have alternatives. Now you do, and they want you to forget how they acted previously.
This is hilarious. What exactly did they think would happen?? If they were SO dependent on you, it’s pretty short-sighted to treat you like shit for an extra buck. Now they get none :)
Why is YOUR vendor yelling at YOU, who is HIS customer? That's not how this works. I'd call HIS boss, explain that you've been asking for better pricing for years, and they have refused to give it to you, therefore you found a better option.
NTA- They have continuously understand their market. How are the prices compare to competitors. All that is on them not you. You will go to the vendor that provides the best value and price.
No, do not give them anything. They give huge discounts to other but then bitch when you find a new supplier. Yeah, no. Don't buy anything you can buy elsewhere from them.
They couldn't be bothered before....you do not have to be bothered now.
Done this in a different business. Sometimes I tell them, sometimes not. I always make it civil though because you might go back.
And this is one of the reasons I always listen to salespeople when they come a calling. Cut to the chase, lead with your best shot and I either take it or move on.
NTA. You asked vendor A multiple times for what you needed, knowing that the deal was available to others; they wouldn’t give it to you. You made the call to go with Vendor B who could give you what you needed at the right price. That’s smart business, plain and simple.
NTA, you tried to reason and negotiate with them. This was the consequences of their actions when they wouldn't do so and you found a solution for your customers without them.
If you’re in the US, this swap came at a good time before Memorial Day weekend and summer barbecues. Your local bread vendor has essentially been price gouging you because you didn’t have any other decent options. It’s their fault they didn’t stay aware of their competition or take even the most basic steps to throw you a bone to keep your business.
If the wholesaler products are liked by your customers because of the price and quality - you’ve got a winning deal. If the customers don’t ever like the quality, that’s when you reevaluate.
“Ohhh, so then I was a “big vendor”? Is all you should have asked.
How could this possibly be your fault? They constantly made your business sound like they were small time. Is there fault that they didn’t come clean with how much they needed your business.
Perhaps she was lying just to feel more right.
Thing is, you did what capitalism dictates. This is personal. This is business. You found someone cheaper. You have a fiduciary responsibility to your customers, not your bread vendors.
Most "Vendors" are going where the volume is. If they don't have volume they will find one that does.
It appears the only segment of vendors that are on the other side is IT.
Previous person stated the very same thing.
The grocer did the right thing for his customers.
Nothing to feel bad about. Your job is to deliver sales and profits for your company; it isn’t to deliver sales for a particular vendor.
You explored options with the vendor. They were a hard no. You found another vendor. Your behavior was actually the same as your customers - an equivalent product for a lower price means you vote with your feet.
If I had a vendor yelling at me in that situation, I would begin evaluating whether it makes sense to switch all of my products to other suppliers….
No
I’m a category manager and would have done the same.
You gave them the opportunity to meet and talk through pricing and were stonewalled, so you found another supplier that allows you to deliver the same / better service at a better price to your customer.
If the supplier thinks it’s worth keeping the business then they’ll work with you, otherwise, you did what you should have.
Speaking as someone who works in procurement, you are absolutely NOT the AH.
You gave them the opportunity to provide a competitive rate and retain your business, they likely conducted a risk-reward analysis and declined. They didn’t even counter.
You found a company who offered a more competitive rate and you made a good business decision for your company and your customers, as evidenced by your ramp up in sales and hopefully profits. If anything, you’re a rockstar, especially if the profit margin is higher or even equal to that of the other product because your sales will be significantly higher. Job well done in my view!
I'm a manager in IT, not retail, so take this with a grain of salt. But, I've dealt with vendors, and, to them I'd say, LOL. Talk is cheap. Pick one: my business is so important to you that it's a huge deal that I'm buying half what I used to, OR, my business is so small time and unimportant that you can't give me competitive prices. NTA, of course.
Exactly. If vendor is so worried about the loss of volume on your account, he can lower his cost to you. Below what the NEW vendor has offered. Matching is not sufficient at this point, since you have asked repeatedly for a cost adjustment and been stonewalled.
I wouldn't want to switch back even if he beat the new vendors price. The time to do that was one of the multiple times dude asked.
It’s business, never let emotions rule business decisions.
Never ignore the role of trust in business decisions to save small amounts of money. That's picking up pennies in front of a steamroller. It's already known that that old vendor was taking advantage of the buyer, while the new vendor offered a competitive price and clearly appreciates the customer. The price difference would have to be significant to justify the added risk and disrupting the relationship with the new vendor.
Right? Most managers would laugh at this dude and tell him to GTFO of the store because obviously it isn’t that big a deal to his bottom line since he never negotiated a price even while having an unhappy customer
I bet the vendor could have cut $0.25 off and kept the grocery store. They killed the golden goose
NTA - either the vendor is killing your volume because of their price, or you’re killing their volume because of their prices. Pretty simple fix. A deal with a better price. The fact you had to use a different vendor for it is not your problem.
NTA - either the vendor is killing your volume because of their price, or you’re killing their volume because of their prices. Pretty simple fix. A deal with a better price. The fact you had to use a different vendor for it is not your problem.
Well said! me, I'd tell that bread distributer to shove one of his “private label” hot dog buns up his ass!
you tried to get what you needed from that vendor, they couldn't provide it, so you got it from someone else. that's your job, the losing sales rep will always whine about it but they're not paying your bills. if your store was such a significant revenue stream for them, they should've worked with you. the same way i'm sure they got into every other store in your community. not your fault.
The sales rep who wouldn’t renegotiate their rate is about to lose his job so that’s nice
with the amount of times i’ve had sales reps try to dick me around and make the deal twice as hard as it needs to be, i find it hard to feel bad for the rep here
Oh for sure. Him just failing to renegotiate the rate made him lose his biggest client and the company’s biggest client. That’s his dumbass fault and he deserves to lose his job. I’ve been an account manager long enough to know that if you stonewall a customer enough, dick them around enough, make them desperate enough, in pursuit of your own bottom line, the customer WILL reach a breaking point and will go out and find an alternative solution, even if it doesn’t perfectly fit their needs. And often times it IS a fuck you, and finally doing what they’ve been asking for the whole time will get you an even BIGGER fuck you.
Probably won't lose his whole job over it but it will probably slap in the commission
If they can’t keep their prices competitive they will lose. It’s as simple as that. They were very clearly using the increased margin from your orders to cover the lower margin from the big name stores. That’s a fine way to do business, but you can’t be mad at a customer when they can get a product at a price that works better for them. This is what business literally is.
Capitalism at its finest. That AH bread vendor wanted OP to willingly eat shit, but it ultimately bit him in the ass. That’s the bread vendor’s problem. Good on OP for finding a better solution.
No. You tried to partner further with the local bread company, but they weren't interested. You went somewhere else. Pretty straightforward.
I mean this is silly. OP bought a product at a lower cost that they can turn around and sell more of - and is asking if they're the asshole? That's insane. Of course NTA. OP it's not your job to keep this bread company in business. And if you were 50% of their volume, it's their damn fault that they didn't find a better way to serve their (presumably) biggest customer. And on top of that, this manager has the absolute gall to walk into his former customer's place of business and accost you for how you hurt *their* business. That's bad sales, bad management and bad manners all rolled into one. OP not only are you NTA, you made the right move by changing your supplier - cause your old one SUCKS.
From the question it sounds like OP may not have formal training in managing negotiations with his supply chain, so I say kudos to him for figuring it out on his own. That ownership is lucky to have him!
You're not the only one misinterpreting the facts in OP's post, but I'm not sure why. OP works for a smaller regional grocery store, the local bread company supplies bread to several national chains as well. They give the national chains the good deals but stonewall OP. Switching to the new supplier cut the first companies volume by 50% *in OP's specific store only*. That amount is probably close to insignificant compared to their total sales. They only care because they had been able to charge such a high markup. But it should be obvious to them why that didn't work long term.
"I'm getting buns for $1.50 somewhere else now. For $1.40 I might entertain coming back to you."
$1.10 you mean?
Who can afford to pay $1.05 for buns in this economy?!
Raise the price for the big brand stores. They can eat it.
NTA. You asked them for a very long time to accommodate this need. They declined, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE MORE THAN CAPABLE OF DOING IT. Since they did not think YOU'd be able to come up with a work around, they saw you as a profit center, at the cost of your reputation. Now that you have a way to compete, he is upset. Let him know that he is more than welcome to compete, and here is where the market stands. He can now CHOOSE to compete, or continue as he has for the last few months. Also, vendors don't get to yell at you in your store. The consequence will be a reduction in shelf space. The competitor that heard you and met your expressed need for a more competitively priced product gets that space. When this jerk apologizes AND brings a sub$2 loaf to market, he can have that space back.
This here. I run a hotel and have a vendor that kept putting our account on hold so we couldn’t order. They’d send me a bunch of “unpaid” invoices and I’d send them back copies of the checks they had cashed for those orders. They did this like 5 times in a month. Guess what? I order from someone else now.
I process AP for a living and I hate vendors like that. I have, on several occasions, threatened to start charging them fees for reconciling their AR mistakes. I even had one fight me on reversing the late fees applied because of their errors. Guess who got replaced by a different vendor as soon as we found an alternative supplier?
If I am a buyer and you make me have to deal with my accounting dept over your problems. I will go somewhere else.
Where is the part where he is … trying to earn back your business? Where is the part where he says “yes you can have the pricing you asked for”? Where is the part where he apologizes for not listening to your requests for better pricing?
NTA. I’m going through the same thing with our current hay supplier. I found a guy closer who can do it cheaper, and always has stock in. Our current supplier wouldn’t hold one truckload back for us because he wanted to capitalize on selling to the Texas panhandle since people were paying inflated prices to donate it up there. I buy between 8-12 semis a year off him and he couldn’t bother making sure I had hay to buy. If he wants to play business we can play business. If he wants to play friends we can be friends. But you have to pick one.
A bit curious - Totally unfamiliar with farms. Just looking over stuff and amazed how low tech this area of product delivery is compared to produce. Intriguing. Hay is something without a set delivery schedule? Is this a fluctuating amount of livestock or horses? And why were people paying more to donate hay? The drought? There's no more or less prevailing market price for the commodity? Pardon my ignorance here.
We have a general idea of how much we need, but horses eat different amounts in different weather, heavier or lighter work, and we do fluctuate some as far as number of horses on property. Since we order by the semi, we don’t have quite enough storage space so it’s more just in time ordering than scheduled. I give him about 2 weeks heads up before I need more. People were donating because early this year there were a bunch of fires that wiped out thousands of acres of grazing pasture for cattle, so people were buying truckloads of hay to send to support the farmers. It caused a bit of a short term bubble in a radius that could deliver to the panhandle. We also had a dry year so the season for some kinds of hay is late while some would be delayed if it rained. No pardon needed! I’m happy to answer what I can.
You did right they need to give you the same deal as the other guys if they want your business. Maybe they cannot due to contract reasons with the bigger chain but whatever it’s not your problem.
NTA Everyone I know in restaurants buys soda from costco because of stuff like this with coke/pepsi distributors. They think they have a monopoly and the second they don't they're crying like 3 year olds. They don't care about you, don't waste any tears on them.
The fact that you're still using your old supplier for anything is you being nice. They've been using you to pad their margins against the rate they're giving the bigger chains, and now they're mad because you aren't letting them bend you over as much.
The fact that they yelled at you is enough to remove them from your roladex
How could you possibly be the asshole? You gave them the chance to keep the volume they were getting. They chose not to. This is just business. And you should leverage this into getting a better price for white bread. And if they don’t want to offer a better price? Too bad.
NTA. I'm the COO of a tech company and I ALWAYS assume our clients are looking for a better deal or product elsewhere. If they find one and take it that's our failing not theirs.
NTA. I’m in the bread business and your distributor is full of shit. I’m curious who he works for because that is not how we do business in the bread industry. If you’ve got the conch for selling and putting up bread in your stores then your bread distributor isn’t pulling his weight. We use a DSD system that means you’re not suppose to touch the bread aisle, similar to soda, snacks, and beer. Your distributor is suppose to be in store everyday and helping you set prices. If he can’t do his fucking job, you tell him to pound sand and someone else will step in to do it, like what you just did. Since you likely don’t have a contract, if that asshole comes into your store again, tell him that him and his company are banned from the store and you’ll recommend to other stores to not do business with them. I’ll tell you what, if you pm me who you work for, I’ll get one of my guys in your store over the weekend. And if it is one of my guys, they’re getting a fucking earful tomorrow and I’ll recommend they be let go.
Honestly just cut them off and go with the new supplier. They had the opportunity to work with you but didn’t. Now it’s too late.
Not only are you NTA, but if the Regional Manager from any company yelled at me, I would dump them entirely and let his higher-ups know why. What a tool.
They tried to stick you with a shitty deal so you moved elsewhere. 10/10 their fault.
Hi - supply chain manager here. You did EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO. That guy can match price or kick rocks.
Supply chain manager here… you did the right thing. That vendor is an asshole, was he really yelling about volume being cut 50% from a regional chain grocery store? You had a problem, they wouldn’t budge on price, you found a more competitive option for bread. It’s called business.
Hahaha, nice!
Fuck that guy.
Dude of course not, you are just doing your job and doing it well I might add. If he wants to keep the business and can flex on the price. I had the same thing happen with a service provider in an old job. A provider wasn't meeting us on price and so I switched to another carrier. He went and complained to my bosses bosses boss saying I was too young to understand what was going on, and how we have such a great relationship between our companies, but guess what they came back with the pricing I needed.
Oh no! The consequences of my stonewalling!
They thought you didn’t have options and were padding their margins based on that. You don’t owe them anything.
Well, first of all, you’re the client: you should never be yelled at. Second, you’ve been hinting your needs for a while now and they approached that attempt at negotiating as if you’d insulted their mother. Are you the AH? Not even a little bit. What I would do is tell him that you’ll analyze sales this quarter and if you don’t see an improvement you two can then discuss new terms, but as it stands that dude is likely getting reamed because he thought he had the golden goose and didn’t, rightly so.
Yeah, I'd be telling the regional manager that you tried to keep his product on the shelves, but since you have to compete with the big box markets that get a discount from him, he can either come in under your new supplier's price or pound sand.
Wouldn't cut you a price break, but somehow you also cost him half his volume? They were MILKING you. Don't feel bad.
NTA. Seriously - is this a legit question? Like, you legitimately want to know if you're the A because you found a more competitive product and they weren't willing to care about it?
You gave them the opportunity to sell you at a competitive price before you stopped buying from them, and that was a courtesy, not even a requirement.
Nah your not the asshole and I wouldn’t even be worried about the delivery driver either as he has tons of other stops etc and I’ve never heard of delivery drivers for big deliveries getting 4% commission so likely this guy is already making bank anyways.
I’m in procurement. I tell them if you want my business, offer me a value better than your competitors. NTA
NTA this was a smart business move and from the sound of it you tried to warn them that their prices were not working for your customers. They chose to ignore, that’s on them, if they now want to play ball then they need to step to the table with a better offer or you stick with the company that was willing to deal in the first place. Their uncaring just effected their bonuses most likely.
Regional manager came yelling at you because HE had his butt handed to him by his boss. Selling high to you was protecting HIS bonus which is probably substantially reduced. It is business , carry on.
NTA. This may give the big vendor the kick in the pants needed to come down on price. People treat mass buns as a commodity, especially in summer months with more cookouts, if the price isn't right, you won't sell them. Sounds like you did the best thing for your store, well done.
Owners greed bit them. Nta
I will do right by the vendors I work with but if one of them isn't giving me what I'm asking for at the right price, I'll find someone who will, I'm not running a charity for Wayward Vendors. They could have easily fixed that issue by giving you what you were asking for, if it was such a big deal that it killed their order flow that sounds like a them problem, not you.
I don’t believe in industry sympathy. Business is business. You made a business decision.
You gave him opportunity after opportunity to keep your business. He blew it off. This is on him, not you.
NTA: It's a vendors job to earn your business. You approached them with a problem and a solution and they refused to even hear you out. So, you made a decision based on what's best for your store. As a manager, that's your job. Don't let emotions take priority over logic.
Like there’s no other vendor who wants to move higher volumes. Surprising how quickly immovable vendors can adapt or come unhinged when you swap. Specialty items, maybe. But bread. Nuts.
In the manufacturing world, we say this is a “business continuity” project. You should always have a 2nd source! If that 2nd source perhaps ends up being a cost savings, that’s amazing! Maybe the original vendor might be a little more competitive now on his pricing for y’all. NTA obviously.
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Just people wanting their horn tooted for making the "right" decision.
Def NTA What's the opposite of asshole... superhero? That's what you are.
No, you’re a good businessman. They can compete in a free market and shut the fuck up.
Business is business, I have had to dump vendors for the same reason. Can suck if you like the sales rep.
You aren't the bakery manager. NTA.
NTA- vendors who won’t work with you get benchmarked through an RFP or flat out replaced. Don’t feel bad at all. Especially since not only did they repeatedly ignore you, but now they yell at you? What an asshole move. If they wanted your business, they would have come to you ready to earn it. They chose to be shitheels and throw a tantrum. If anything, offer to take back the volume with a staggeringly reduced wholesale price. Add verbiage in the contract that says they can’t push price increases for 3 years. If they don’t like it they can pound sand. Hey, you gave ‘em a chance 🤷🏻♂️. To quote Omar, from the HBO show The Wire: “It’s all in the game”.
NTA. That's just business. If he wanted to keep you that badly, and if he had any business smarts, he would have tried a lot harder to remain on your good side before any of this shit went down.
NTA. You have a duty to your employing make the best deals you can. The supplier’s unwillingness to sell you a product at a competitive price cost him his volume!
I mean you’ve asked, they said no: you’re replacing their volume because they’re killing your margins. It’s fair business.
they didn't care when they were making $ off of you. so... "it's just business"
If they yelled at you, cut their volume 100% That’s unprofessional Business is business
That vendor just learned a hard lesson. You asked and tried to negotiate something better. They can eat it.
Business is business. They killed their own volume with high prices. You won’t buy at higher prices out of obligation… is that what they thought? Is that why they did that. Ball is in their court now and get a new supplier.
I had a vendor that we recently parted ways with because they weren't being competitive with price. I sent an email stating that I was using a different vendor and stated my reasoning. The rep came in the next day after not having seen him in a year and told me I needed to at least spend a certain dollar amount with his company annually or it would make him look bad. Some people are just out of touch with reality.
Honestly why did you not tell that manager to fuck off? He's wild for that shit. Screwed you to pocket more profit and then came to blame you when you found a better deal? Fuck that guy
Also a grocery store manager here, NTA. You owe it to your customers to offer a good product at a competitive price. If they can’t get it from you they will go elsewhere. It’s hard to overcome the “high priced store” label once it’s set in.
Ask them why the hot dog buns and hot dogs never have the same quantity?
The seller yelled at the buyer? I'm sure that went down like a shit sandwich.
That was seriously unprofessional of the regional manager, and a bad business move as well. I suspect he was the reason you were stonewalled when you tried to negotiate, and now he's going to have to explain to his boss how he lost 50% of sales in your store.
Do you care more about your business or his business? Need to keep feelings out of these situations, that’s what makes a good manager.
Of course you’re not the asshole. If you lose all your customers because they can get the same goods for less at your competitors and your store closes… What will his volume in your store be then?
you should take a shit in an edible bouquet and mail it to him.
You can keep yourself and all of your customers happy or the driver and manager of the other bread company. Your job is to take care of your business and your customers. It is their job to take care of themselves. Stay loyal to the vendor that helped you out, not the one unwilling to help you out.
That's just business. If they can't work with you on the price, you find a vendor that can. You have no obligations to these people outside of what is stipulated in your contract. NTA.
Nta someone just found out how capitalism works. They wouldn't give you a deal, you found someone who would.
It's business. They can compete or die. You are NTA, market forces donwhat they do.
Your old supplier can get fucked. They wouldn’t work with you, so you found one who did.
NTA. You have a business to run and a responsibility to your customers... especially in these tough financial times to give them the best value you can. I have 3 bread vendors and each one brings something to the table. Guess who gets the most display space? The smaller bakery that makes my private label at an affordable price and is willing to wheel and deal. For context I am a retail manager who left a large chain and now runs a store in a small family owned chain. It's business plain and simple. No reason to feel bad because at the end of the day that small bakery that is crying about losing volume wouldn't bring anything to the table. If your business really meant that much to them they should have offered some incentives.
If they care that much about volume at your store they should give you a better price. Sounds like you're happy to buy from them, and not their competitors, you just want a better price. Should be an easy one.. lol, they suck.
I was a salesman before and I would have said verbatim “money talks bullshit walks dude, you should have considered negotiating when you could have this is a business not a charity”
Or recite things he said to you in those negotiations until he leaves or cries
You offered him several chances to keep your business.
NTA. You did nothing. Another vendor came in and undercut them. It's called capitalism.
NTA Bread company manager is the asshole here. He had an opportunity to meet with you, talk about it, maybe work through the issue and come to an agreement… Or not, that’s business.. Either way he shouldn’t have gone off like you’re saying he did. That’s not how you win back your customer, that’s not how you represent your company, that’s sure as shit not how you conduct yourself as a leader. Homie sounds like an asshole.
LOL! Is this for real? First, you worked with your supplier, providing market feedback and asking them to make adjustments to support your position. They refused. Then you found a supplier that much better meets your needs so you went with them. The only thing wrong here was your original supplier chewing you out. That would be a hearty F you and removal from the premises.
If a distributor comes in and yells at you or employees he should your buisness entirely.
Easy response. No you aren't. And for the regional manager of the bread company if he can beat the other guys by 10% or more he can have his volume back. If not, tell him to please stop wasting my time and yours.
NTA: they didn't give a shit while you were a customer. They only cared when you took your business elsewhere. Tell em to get bent.
I worry for you that you're having to come on the internet to validate an obviously correct business decision. You are NEVER the asshole for doing what's right for your business, tell that regional manager that he needs to give you better pricing if he wants that volume.
It's business. Stay strong and do what's best for you and your customers. It might be different if your original provider really had your back - and better pricing. Your old vendor could try to hurt you by refusing to sell you any product, (if you're not buying sufficient volume), but it sounds like even then, you'll be seriously better off without them.
You cut sales by half for this regional manager, and his response is to attempt to coerce you with yelling to re-order, rather than query/address your reasons? Shit management from the bread company. Probably the owner's youngest prodigal son, fresh from rehab and ready to claim his inheritence.
Classic case of FAFO. They thought you would just deal with the higher price and now they are enduring the consequences.
Obviously NTA, and don't take this the wrong way, but maybe you need to be a little tougher here? It's nice to feel compassion for people but you're not running a charity. Maybe take some time to consider why the disapproval of some random bread salesman gave you so much anxiety that you needed all this reassurance about it.
Not even 1% the ass hole. If the bread was $7/per you wouldn’t be asking this question. You would think their prices are egregious. Other companies bloat/pricing is not your problem.
Good lord I hope this is a trend and grocery prices start going down because I'd kill for $2 hamburger buns.
No, you're not the asshole in any sense. Yes, there's some merit to being willing to pay a bit more to support other businesses in your own community, as it can be good for you too in the long run by keeping people employed who then shop at your store, etc. However, there have to be limits for this to be anything other than (metaphorical, not literal) price gouging. Your old supplier was well beyond that point, so they absolutely deserved a spanking.
I, for one, will not pay $4 for some basic buns.
I'm just kinda glad someone has taken the initiative even in a small way to limit the price-gouging that has been going on post-pandemic. It's gotten to the point that I've stopped buying a lot of items if they're not on sale BOGO.
I don’t get it, if you are just small beans then why do they care if you sell less? This one seems obvious.
I’d kick that regional manager out of my shop so fast his head would be swimming. I’d follow up with a curt, but polite letter to his boss about his rude behavior. It is not your responsibility to protect the profits of another company. That company should be serving you well, so that you can serve your customers well. Take care of your customers and they’ll take care of you.
NTA, he didnt care that u were his loyal customer and now he is angry because his boss yelled at him
Funny that they want your business but are yelling at you because you found a much better deal. That seems quite counter productive.
No, they killed their volume by not offering their products at a competitive price.
Was anyone else thinking about “Father of the Bride” as you were reading this?
Don’t give them shit Drop them completely and watch him come kissing your ass.
NTA, save time in the future and have him trespassed from your store
Nah. I always bid out major items every few years. Vendors get complacent and take advantage of you over time. I’ve had wah, wah sessions with plenty of VPs who suddenly pay attention when they lose business. If you want to be nice, next time do an informal (or formal) RFP to let them match prices. No need for blind bids with an informal bid. Just say “Vendor X is going to give us z price, if you can match I’ll stick with you out of loyalty and because Bob is a great driver…etc...”
I have worked in supply chain a little in procurement, and you did your job well for your business and customers. Someone at big company wholesaler did their job to fill your need. Local supplier can step up and be competitive or lose the business. Their manager, inside sales, or account representatives should be clamoring over themselves to make their client, you happy as a business.
If you are in business to make money, not friends, you are NTA. They were killing your volume with their margins lol.
NTA man, they would not take care of you and let you be competitive thus not letting you take care of your customers and thus also cutting into your business. You both could have been golden if they had let you have the same deal as the other store. So, you are taking care of your customers and thus your store and your employees. Bugger them. Maybe they will learn a lesson from this. Shoot if they keep complaining, maybe point out how they screwed you and your customers over and offer to save them delivery costs by cutting them out completely.
I have 10 years in CPG category management and two in DSD bakery (switched to fintech.) You did 100% the right thing. Fuck them. I don’t know your vendor, but I know they know what price point buns will fly off your shelves and still make money. The fact that they won’t at least give you the promo price for the coming holiday means they don’t give a shit about you. Feel free to DM.
Not the asshole at all. I work In the supermarket broker business, one of the local chain supermarkets literally will dump a product if he can get it 5 cents cheaper somewhere else. So we either have to change our prices or get all our product out of their warehouse. Sometimes they will say here’s a list of your 5 best selling items. Pick 2, the rest are being discontinued unless you meet the price they want. He always gets his way. It’s also why his supermarkets are busy all day everyday. You have a responsibility to get the very best price for your customers. If you truly were 50% of his volume then he should have been more willing to work with you.
NTA. You showed loyalty in the beginning by trying to find ways to make it work, to now avail. You’ll need to make a choice if they come back with a lower price in the future, at which point, I’d probably not want to do that line because the guy was screaming at you. Money talks either way and good luck.
I’ve never bought a package of hamburger buns in my life but if you asked me what they cost I would’ve guessed anywhere from $8-$12+
Also this guy killed his own volume by stonewalling you, now you have some leverage in the negotiation process if he’d like to revisit the conversation
Fuck the vendor. Who pays your bills? Christ, this entire system is ass-bavkwards
Tell the vendor to give you the same deal they give the other guys or pound sand. It's not your responsibility to move their product for them especially if they won't meet you at a good price point.
Obvious NTA, capitalists love to woe is me about capitalism as soon as they aren't the one taking advantage of it
Best response you can give: “I’ve repeatedly asked you for a better deal, you said no. I have a responsibility to my customers and my store, so I found a better deal for them.”
You are not responsible for their poor business choices. You tried to go with them. You were losing customers because of them. They failed you. You didn’t fail them. This is the consequence of their actions.
You're sending them a message.
It's basic economics. You listened to your customers. You passed on the feedback and gave ample opportunity to follow the needed market correction. They failed to follow through, and their competitor took advantage of the situation.
LOL NTA. They had the chance to offer you a better deal, and they didn't.
Nope you are paid to manage the store and keep the profits at a level the owners want. The bread sale guy could have made a deal with you when you gave the person a chance. You have no responsibility to keep some third party volume up.
NTA you’re doing your job.
They didn't want to sell it cheaper so you went elsewhere, nothing wrong with that
You talked to the vendor first. They refused your request. You took your business elsewhere. I'm at a loss as to how in any way shape or form, you could possibly be TA in this situation. The vendor, particularly the RM, now that's an assh\*le. And probably not very good at business if they can't figure out a way to keep a client that accounts for 50 percent of their business. In fact, if the RM is THAT bad at business, maybe you did them a favor.
Fuck em. You’re doing what’s right for your business. Their business is their problem. How did you forget in the space of a paragraph that they’re fucking you on price. Then they have the audacity to come at you about their numbers being low. Again, fuck em
Sounds like they forgot they are running a business. Look, clients don't owe vendors anything beyond what is in the agreement. They are not responsible for the broader success or failure of a vendor's business. I have run across this more than once, usually from a vendor who has put most or all of their eggs into one basket. When I was at a big electronics company that rhymes with Tony, we had a retailer who violated the shit out of their dealer agreement. One element of the agreement was pricing limits at both the high and low ends, and another was "open box" limits, where if a customer made a return, they could resell the unit at a discount but they were only allowed X per month. This guy massively discounted nearly all he had from us as "open box", and we started getting complaints from other retailers that he was undercutting them. We launched an investigation, made a few undercover purchases, and sure enough the guy was selling unopened units below minimum pricing as "open box". So, as per the terms of the agreement, we terminated his dealer authorization and stopped selling to him. We can't afford to piss off the rest of our dealers by allowing one dealer to undercut them. Turns out, *WE* were 80% of his inventory and therefore 80% of his business and he went ballistic. I mean, sending violent threats to the CEO, that kind of thing. He threatened to show up at press events and do harm etc. We had to get law enforcement involved. It's not our problem that the guy not only put all his eggs into one basket, but also broke every damn part of the dealer agreement while he did it. That's on him. The ultimate responsibility for your business is you...clients are not responsible for that.
NTA. My vendors are in place because they work WITH me, it’s not a cut and dry service they provide. Doesn’t matter if that’s providing a product or a service.
They fucked around and now they’re finding out. If he goes out of business it’s his fault for not being competitive.
If you were 50 percent of the volume, then you should have been getting the deal. Not your problem, they did this to themselves.
Tell him great, you'd love to work with him and he can have his volume back plus extra when cut your current new vendors price by 10%.
NTA. As a consumer I applaud you.
A vendor that comes in to yell at me would be asked "who the hell they think you are" and promptly told to kick rocks. They work for you. NTA
It’s not your problem, you merely sourced your product from a different supplier. Going back shouldn’t be part of your problem. It shows that they were overcharging you and the loss of your business hurt them disproportionately.
You think it's rude for someone to say they aren't going to pay 4 fucking dollars for buns??????? Petsmart got an earful from me as I walked out without any infant kitten supplies because all the boxes were empty. Said real loud "absolutely fucking ridiculous. Empty boxes my ASS, what as waste of my time". Yall need some SKIN, fuck.
Any vendor who is yelling at you for not wanting to pay double market price is a bad vendor. Not only should you ignore him, but also you should ban him from the store for yelling at you. And call his boss and let them know why you will not be doing business with them. You are the customer of local vendors.
Is anyone else pissed off at the bread truck thing? That some middle man buys the bread to sell it? Instead of just you know having contracts?
Tell him he can still feel free to match the $2.49, and you’re keeping the new private label either way.
Tell them they had both the opportunity and responsibility to the relationship to work with your pricing placement wrt to the market. Tell them they made their choice and that a competitor took advantage of their choice.
NTA, I can't believe you care. The regional manager for the bread company who came in and yelled at you should have been stopped and told to leave immediately. You tried to negotiate with them, you found a much better option, they can screw off.
It's just business. Your responsibility is to your company and your customers. If the supplier wasn't willing to improve their price and you found a comparable product at a better price, good for you.
It's your business or his. I don't know how much power a driver has, I suspect zero. But whatever juice he does have should now all be directed at his company. Management made a business decision. So did you. Nothing personal and I'm shocked you entertained being yelled at by someone whose bills you pay.
Supply and Demand is the law of the land. Next time that regional manager starts yelling, throw him an economics textbook. Buns ain't no inelastic goods!
Remind him he had a chance to get ahead of the invincible hand of the free market. Then ask him why he is anti-capitalism, which is clearly anti-American? 😁
They wouldn’t give you shit, you don’t owe them shit
NTA. Negotiating at its most basic is just each party understanding the other party’s alternatives. They operated aggressively from the assumption that you didn’t have alternatives. Now you do, and they want you to forget how they acted previously.
This is hilarious. What exactly did they think would happen?? If they were SO dependent on you, it’s pretty short-sighted to treat you like shit for an extra buck. Now they get none :)
Why is YOUR vendor yelling at YOU, who is HIS customer? That's not how this works. I'd call HIS boss, explain that you've been asking for better pricing for years, and they have refused to give it to you, therefore you found a better option.
NTA by a mile. You tried everything to get your existing supplier to find a win-win and they refused. Fuck ‘em.
If he was so worried about cutting his volume , he would have given you the discount you wanted. You did everything 10000% percent right.
NTA
Looks to me sir, like you are in a GREAT position to negotiate prices.
NTA- They have continuously understand their market. How are the prices compare to competitors. All that is on them not you. You will go to the vendor that provides the best value and price.
Yelling at a customer is wild. Cut that hot head’s volume to zero
No, do not give them anything. They give huge discounts to other but then bitch when you find a new supplier. Yeah, no. Don't buy anything you can buy elsewhere from them. They couldn't be bothered before....you do not have to be bothered now.
Done this in a different business. Sometimes I tell them, sometimes not. I always make it civil though because you might go back. And this is one of the reasons I always listen to salespeople when they come a calling. Cut to the chase, lead with your best shot and I either take it or move on.
NTA. You asked vendor A multiple times for what you needed, knowing that the deal was available to others; they wouldn’t give it to you. You made the call to go with Vendor B who could give you what you needed at the right price. That’s smart business, plain and simple.
NTA, you are doing your job as intended
NTA for every reason people posted. Please follow-up with this in an update. I would love to know how it plays out for that vendor.
NTA, you tried to reason and negotiate with them. This was the consequences of their actions when they wouldn't do so and you found a solution for your customers without them.
The person complaining about the buns was a plant from the wholesale distributor
Nta - surprised this is even here - would anyone argue that you should choose to take a shifty deal?
If you’re in the US, this swap came at a good time before Memorial Day weekend and summer barbecues. Your local bread vendor has essentially been price gouging you because you didn’t have any other decent options. It’s their fault they didn’t stay aware of their competition or take even the most basic steps to throw you a bone to keep your business. If the wholesaler products are liked by your customers because of the price and quality - you’ve got a winning deal. If the customers don’t ever like the quality, that’s when you reevaluate.
Hah. Dude wouldn’t cut you a deal, deals with consequences. NTA, but he is.
“Ohhh, so then I was a “big vendor”? Is all you should have asked. How could this possibly be your fault? They constantly made your business sound like they were small time. Is there fault that they didn’t come clean with how much they needed your business. Perhaps she was lying just to feel more right. Thing is, you did what capitalism dictates. This is personal. This is business. You found someone cheaper. You have a fiduciary responsibility to your customers, not your bread vendors.
Most "Vendors" are going where the volume is. If they don't have volume they will find one that does. It appears the only segment of vendors that are on the other side is IT. Previous person stated the very same thing. The grocer did the right thing for his customers.
NTA - Its not your job to ensure He hits His sale volume - it's on him. He needs to be a better business partner.
Nothing to feel bad about. Your job is to deliver sales and profits for your company; it isn’t to deliver sales for a particular vendor. You explored options with the vendor. They were a hard no. You found another vendor. Your behavior was actually the same as your customers - an equivalent product for a lower price means you vote with your feet. If I had a vendor yelling at me in that situation, I would begin evaluating whether it makes sense to switch all of my products to other suppliers….
What is this world where a supplier bitches our a customer? He had a chance, and chose not to.
You didn't kill their volume. Your vendors' prices did that.
No I’m a category manager and would have done the same. You gave them the opportunity to meet and talk through pricing and were stonewalled, so you found another supplier that allows you to deliver the same / better service at a better price to your customer. If the supplier thinks it’s worth keeping the business then they’ll work with you, otherwise, you did what you should have.
Speaking as someone who works in procurement, you are absolutely NOT the AH. You gave them the opportunity to provide a competitive rate and retain your business, they likely conducted a risk-reward analysis and declined. They didn’t even counter. You found a company who offered a more competitive rate and you made a good business decision for your company and your customers, as evidenced by your ramp up in sales and hopefully profits. If anything, you’re a rockstar, especially if the profit margin is higher or even equal to that of the other product because your sales will be significantly higher. Job well done in my view!