Timing

[timelessantiques]

Any tricks or helpful advice on how to deal with suppliers timing shipments?

I have orders showing up 9 months late mixed in with my new orders and yesterday a supplier shipped a very large Valentine's and spring jewelry order leaving me short for my remainder of Christmas extras. They used my credit card number from a prior shipment in Sept and have been arguing with me for two days. My invoice clearly states ship Jan 4th.

This time almost every single company has tried to ship like 3 months in advance and I keep saying it is still the ship date listed and nothing has changed. I know economic times are tough for them but I have never had this problem before and it suddenly seems to be the norm. I won't have any suppliers if I drop them all.

Frustrated and seeking advice.

[Christmas Hampers]

I am hesitant to give the OK for credit card debits at vendor discretion.

When we make our Christmas Gift Baskets Christmas Gift Baskets, we try to have as small a shopfloor window as possible, as stock sitting on the warehouse floor basically costs us interest.

Ring your credit card company and cancel the authorization, so the payment will not go through.  That will progress the negotiation.  There is no use having stock and no cashflow - it's not good for either you or your supplier.

[Giftys.com]

I think it's time to shop for a new vendor. Maybe hit some of the shows in January and see who else is out there. They don't deserve your business if they can't provide professional and reliable service.