It is so hard to know when to say when. If you have had a bad vendor experience how do you know if it is a deal breaker or a one time thing? For me it has to do 100% with how they handle the mistake, whether or not they take responsibility, and how much it ends up costing me, monetarily, time wise and reputation wise. If it takes me too much time to fix, they won’t take responsibility and I end up losing money on it, you can bet I’ll be moving on. Maybe they seemed to have an awesome product that no one else had. Maybe they have a great name and reputation. If your experience is bad and just gets worse just walk away. No matter how great someone else says that vendor is, if they aren’t treating you right, then remember there are other fish in the sea.
A bad relationship is a bad relationship. Whether it is love or business. CIO has some advice on how to walk away. How to Sever a Bad Vendor Relationship was written with IT in mind, but it applies pretty broadly to business, whether the vendor is providing your internet or your albums. Luckily ending most vendor relationships is as easy as not sending them another order.
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1 Comment at "Breaking Up With A Vendor Is Hard To Do"
Great topic! I have stayed to long with many a vendor over the years. The devil you know is easier to deal with than the vendor you don not know.
Last year I changed my lab of 8 years. First time I did a cost analysis of my current vendor and 3 top labs I was considering. The lab I choose is 65% less. The customer service is better and they print the back of the photos the way I want them not the way they want them.
I still have a friendly relationship with lab #1. They were so friendly that they told me all of their internal problems that lead to poor quality on some products and their need to keep my costs high.
It’s not about them, it’s about me.
BTW, if I had done the cost analysis 8 years ago I would have saved over $100K! Ouch! But I really liked lab #1!
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