PPB July 2019

An Order Went Wrong— Am I To Blame? A vendor placed the logo incorrectly, but the original supplier is anticipating payment. Is the distributor liable? Q A DISTRIBUTOR ASKS: I recently worked with a vendor who placed my client’s logo in the wrong location on a large quantity of bags. The products had been shipped from the supplier to this vendor for printing and the vendor has admitted to their mistake. They are not charging us for their time or printing but the client can’t use the bags and we are on the hook for the cost of the bag. Who is responsible for this loss? How should I proceed? A To me, the vendor printed the items incorrectly and should be on the hook for the bags. Have you asked them already? Because if they are worth anything they will take responsibility for their screwup, like they should. To me, it’s a no-brainer. If they messed up and there was a proof, it’s 100 percent their responsibility to pay for it. DAVID ADDI Fired Up Promotions Baltimore, Maryland My thought would be that your screen printer, who already admitted the error, should also be responsible for the bags. My sense would be that they probably wouldn’t admit their fault. Send them an invoice along with their note saying they screwed up. Will they pay? Probably not. I’m not sure about where you live, but I’m sure you have a small claims court where you can have ‘loads of fun.’ That’s what I’d do. ALLAN CLAIR A&A Specialty Advertising Fort Myers, Florida What does your contract—or terms and conditions—with the decorator say? It is typical to include something like, ‘decorator will be responsible for mid-decorated goods over XX percent per order, with a maximum value of $XX per piece.’ With that agreement in place, the decorator is responsible for securing replacement bags, up to the max value per piece, and re-running the job. You may need to buy more to cover their XX percent error allowance. JENNIFER REISSAUS, MAS Advertising Specialties Alliance/ Kaeser & Blair Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania Some decorator suppliers will look to negotiate their way out of the total cost and offer to zero out their own charges, not considering the cost of goods. You’ll need to supply them with validated charges for the goods and request payment, but you may not see the results you’re hoping for. In that case, and depending on the size of the order, a lawyer may have to get involved. Was there no proof approval process on this order? LISA GREYHILL Grey Hill & Associates Clarendon Hills, Illinois Many times, a company decorating a supplier’s pieces will have a waiver in the fine print, saying the customer accepts responsibility if something goes wrong. The decorator limits their liability to the cost of their part of the work. AMY KRITZMAN Gold Medal Ideas Buffalo Grove, Illinois 12 | JULY 2019 | INNOVATE by Danielle Renda