Solutions | Voices Q A Distributor Asks: I have one credit card that I use for promo vendors that I don’t have an account with. I do not use this card for anything else. My card is hacked two or three times a year. I offer to send a check, but most vendors won’t wait and don’t have ACH or PayPal. Any suggestions? As a rule of thumb, and hopefully you aren’t doing this, but never ever put credit card numbers on purchase orders. CHARITY GIBSON National Account Coordinator Peerless Umbrella Company Newmark, New Jersey PPAI 715404, S10 Do business only with suppliers that take payment in a way that suits you. This topic has been repeated over and over through the years. A lot of answers in this thread and previous ones seem to think force is the way or waiting for everyone to change is the answer. Those two options are not proactive solutions. You must adapt to those you want to do business with, or do business with those that comply with your wishes, or encourage those you want to do business with to make the needed changes for you. One-time orders now and then because they have the lowest price will not be convincing. It seems the only viable option is to take control of your clients’ buying habits and lead them to your preferred vendor’s products. Only sell the products from suppliers that accept the payment method(s) you need. BRUCE REISSAUS, MAS Co-owner Advertising Specialties Alliance Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania PPAI 222672, D2 Q A Distributor Asks: How do you handle rush orders that do not deliver as promised by suppliers? If a deadline was missed, I’d refund in full no matter whose fault it is. RICH GRAHAM Chief Imagination Officer BigPromotions.net Dallas, Texas PPAI 256367, D2 About two months into COVID, when the suppliers or delivery services both started struggling, we stopped guaranteeing rush and have stayed under that even to this day because it’s still just too much outside of our control to guarantee anymore. However, should this have happened prior to COVID, we would have done full refund because we are only as good as our word and suppliers. CHRIS POLLAN President and Owner Pollan Promos Starkville, Mississippi PPAI 276409, D2 PPAI • MAY 2023 • 27
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