I F**** HATE this
Well, I called the guy in charge of dried goods and told him we needed him to check the product list, get prices and get samples. He just told me "Well, we don't work tomorrow." I explained neither did we, but we'd have to because this is a big contract. I said I'm sorry to ruin his holiday, but business is like that (this business anyway). I even gave him til early Friday for the price lists, which is a decent deadline considering the short notice. Well, he just repeats "But we don't work tomorrow."
So I snapped. I said "Ok. Do you want me to call the owner and tell him we're not submitting a propposal because you don't work tomorrow?"
I hate doing that. I f***** HATE doing that. You shouldn't have to threaten people to get them to do their job, no matter how distasteful, unexpected or even unfair it is.
Do they work today?
I don't know how big your company is. Do you have a management directive to work this proposal, identifying those who need to work and what their responsibilities are?
Quote: DJTeddyBearOK. They don't work tomorrow.
Do they work today?
Well, the agency reverted to XX century procedures. They published the invitation online, but not the text of the request for a propposal. So I had to go to their offices for it. They kept me, and other suppliers, waiting for 4 hours while they printed the requests and signed them. Really. They also claimed they couldn't give me a copy on CD for "technical reasons." I suppose the last is true is "I don't want to" qualifies as a techincal reason.
Anyway, by the time I made it back to the office and managed to scan the relevant parts, the guy had left for the day.
Quote: NareedWe were very neatly blind-sided at work yesterday. Today and tomorrow are a holiday locally, whatever the Gentiles call Easter these days. Offices, banks and wholesalers, among others, are closed. Well, yesterday a Mex City government agency published an open invitation for propposals for two different food supply services. Worse, they want samples by Monday. So naturally we ahve to work on a holiday and sampels will be hard to come by.
Well, I called the guy in charge of dried goods and told him we needed him to check the product list, get prices and get samples. He just told me "Well, we don't work tomorrow." I explained neither did we, but we'd have to because this is a big contract. I said I'm sorry to ruin his holiday, but business is like that (this business anyway). I even gave him til early Friday for the price lists, which is a decent deadline considering the short notice. Well, he just repeats "But we don't work tomorrow."
So I snapped. I said "Ok. Do you want me to call the owner and tell him we're not submitting a propposal because you don't work tomorrow?"
I hate doing that. I f***** HATE doing that. You shouldn't have to threaten people to get them to do their job, no matter how distasteful, unexpected or even unfair it is.
It has been my experience when the government does things like that they are not expecting response from anyone except the supplier that was already leaked the details of the tender in plenty of time to prepare it. Have a nice weekend.
Quote: PapaChubbyYour government sounds a lot like my government. Request a proposal immediately before a holiday, with a deadline immediately after the holiday. That way all the government workers get to go home and have a nice holiday, while you have to work the proposal.
Actually this si quite rare. The sites where the publications are posted ave been pretty empty since last week. Invitations posted this week have very long lead times. Mostly nothing earlier than the middle of next week. they figure everyone's out of town and won't see the invitations, much less respond to them.
Quote:I don't know how big your company is. Do you have a management directive to work this proposal, identifying those who need to work and what their responsibilities are?
It's outgrown the current organizational system, that's for sure. But everyone knows that any requests from our department have top priority. They also know some clients, including the current one, have an even higher priority than that. So "we don't work tomorrow" is not even an excuse. You weren't going to work tomorrow, and Friday, you are working now.
Quote: kenarmanIt has been my experience when the government does things like that they are not expecting response from anyone except the supplier that was already leaked the details of the tender in plenty of time to prepare it. Have a nice weekend.
This sounds right.
Quote: kenarmanIt has been my experience when the government does things like that they are not expecting response from anyone except the supplier that was already leaked the details of the tender in plenty of time to prepare it. Have a nice weekend.
Of course.
But Mex City's laws provide for a reverse auction on qualifying propposals. We can knock the price down for the other guy.
Yeah, that is what I was thinking also. The fix is in. Someone already has that contract. Now the agency is just going thru the motions on the paperwork to see that they get it with a facade of compliance, but somebody already has that contract. He is out having fun while his competitors run around scrambling.Quote: kenarmanIt has been my experience when the government does things like that they are not expecting response from anyone except the supplier that was already leaked the details of the tender in plenty of time to prepare it. Have a nice weekend.
Whether this is Mexican politics as usual, I don't know. It would seem that this should not have been a surprise to anyone.
Quote: DJTeddyBearOK. They don't work tomorrow.
Do they work today?
Quote: Nareed...Anyway, by the time I made it back to the office and managed to scan the relevant parts, the guy had left for the day.
I hadn't realized that you were posting today, about an event that happened yesterday afternoon.
Now it makes sense. Sorry for your troubles. Having the government for a customer sucks almost as much as having them for a vendor/service provider.
Quote: DJTeddyBearI Having the government for a customer sucks almost as much as having them for a vendor/service provider.
The government buys paper rather than goods or services. That is, they care a lot more that you have the rigt papers than you offer a fair price or a good service. I'd say the average request is 250 pages long, and the description of the good or services required is maybe 20 pages of that. The rest is paper, rules, regulations, terms and so on.
In other words: it really sucks.
Quote: DJTeddyBearHaving the government for a customer sucks almost as much as having them for a vendor/service provider.
So they are a pretty good customer then?
Quote: NareedI hate doing that. I f***** HATE doing that. You shouldn't have to threaten people to get them to do their job, no matter how distasteful, unexpected or even unfair it is.
Some people don't get it and that is why they stay at the bottom. I still remember a guy wanted vacation in April. We were in pest control and that is the busiest time of year, it was out of the question. Think Wal-Mart the day after Thanksgiving. I told him flat out no-way and explained why. The conversation was short:
"But my family always goes to Myrtle Beach in April!"
"Guess what, this year you are going a different time of year!"
Another was a woman who was a bookkeeper in the office. She wanted to be gone the 1st of July to get an "extra" day long vacation due to the Independence Day Holiday. The first working day of the month was "closeout" and she knew that. A bookkeeper being gone on closeout was out of the question. She kept asking me all morning getting me to the point of having to yell (yes, yell!) at her that she had to pick another week and quitg asking me.
Some people seem to think their job is there for their own convienience and that their employer is their customer.
He should have mentioned it at the interview. Then he would have had the opportunity to take a job in a different industry.Quote: AZDuffman"But my family always goes to Myrtle Beach in April!"
"Guess what, this year you are going a different time of year!"
Quote: DJTeddyBearHe should have mentioned it at the interview. Then he would have had the opportunity to take a job in a different industry.
Would not have mattered, he was about the worst employee I had in the 5 years I managed people. Kind that cried "why" everytime you told him to do something. Never understood the correlation between being productive and getting paid. My only regret was that I could only fire him once.
