Quote: (10-27-2015 09:09 PM)swoosh Wrote:
Any entrprenuers out there who can chime in? I've been having trouble with an overseas company with whom I ordered my product from at the end of September. The sample came quickly without problems. Now that I placed my scaled order they seem to be stalling. I used PP to send 1/4 of the final price to begin production. They respond to my emails but I just feel like something is off. They are a new company to me and they have a high quality product at a low price so I would hate to cut em. I've never gotten burned before and so I'm not too familiar with the red flags. In the meantime I've has to take a loss and source out a domestic company to stay affloat while they process my order.
What do you guys think? how can I politely kick them I the pants? Should I just ask for a refund and look for a different company? What do you consider a reasonable lead time?
Thanks in advance
This is meant in the most constructive of spirits:
1. 'Entrepreneur' is a title misappropriated by every person who watches Dragon's Den and the Apprentice, and then thinks they are one too because they have some shitty idea that loses them money hand over fist, but it's all cool so long as they can tell people they meet they are entrepreneurs. If you are one, other people will apply the title to you, and it will be because you have achieved prolonged and varied success, and demonstrated peculiar talent.
2. Your question is incredibly vague, and suggests that a large part of the problem may be naivety on your part. The obvious questions that spring from your post, just off the top of my head, are:
What kind of product is it? Is it highly technical? What was the agreed lead time for delivery? Were there any caveats? How far past the agreed lead time are you?
A reasonable lead time depends entirely on what the product is. If you've ordered t-shirts, reasonable may be measured in days. If you've ordered fusion reactors, decades may be the measure of reasonable. Your vague post suggests that you may have approached the whole thing in a vague, and possibly naive way. You do not come across as business-like, and that may be harming your presentation to your 'foreign company'. If that is the case, they may simply feel that they can treat you as disposable.
If you are able to provide a specific breakdown of the situation, with actionable information, then you will be far more likely to get constructive responses.
Edit. Less constructive than I could have been. Have to interview a prospectivee employee. I will add an example post shortly to try to help.