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smaulgld
2016 Feb 18, 9:50am
one of the stupider things I've seen a private company do.
To counter one of the stupidest things govt does- has an exclusive multi year vendor!
Shaman
2016 Feb 18, 11:02am
Anyone who works for a CA gov't agency is a communist.
I'd hardly call John a communist. He seems to have a real clear head on his shoulders.
But ya, I'd agree that a multi-year contract for something as common as office supplies restricts competition and will probably lead to a bad deal.
At my work we have vendors coming in all the time to pitch tools, lubricant, cleaners, hydraulic oil, parts of all sorts, wire rope, etc. It really goes on and on. But that's not bad because we get a lot of free food brought in. Does it affect the choices we make about who to buy shit from? Probably. But we don't have any locked in contracts, so if a vendor's prices go up too much or they stop providing good service, we'll switch to another one. Or if they don't bring doughnuts . . . gotta have them doughnuts . . . mmmm.
At my work we have vendors coming in all the time to pitch
Me too. It gets tiring after a while. My boss must sit in meetings and on the phone with these ding dongs most of every day. For every dozen vendors we talk to, we might submit RFPs or what have you. For every dozen of *those*, we might actually sign on. My old boss would go to conferences and conventions and splooge business cards all over the place. Then I would have to field the deluge of sales people on my phone and email--you know, the asshole cretin types that don't go away until you unplug your phone or set up an appointment you won't keep. So much time wasted on both sides.
Then there's the vendors you are actually signed on with and some of the crazy crap *they* do. Dropping by the reception desk all hours of the day with cards, candy, and fucking edible fruit arrangements. Sending me ugly T-shirts I'll never wear in size XXXL. Insisting on dinners, amusement park outtings, and conferences that are glorified work vacations, as if I don't have a personal life and a family. I had one that tried to get me to do business with one of my competitors so he could get us both a better rate (and himself a kickback probably)--like forced blind dating from a pimp, or something. I had to finally be a dick and tell him to stop or I was shutting down our contract. Ugh.
FNWGMOBDVZXDNW
2016 Feb 18, 11:47am
I'd hardly call John a communist.
It was irony. I find it funny that John works for big government.
He seems to have a real clear head on his shoulders.
I'm confused. Is his head or his thinking clear?
... That is also a joke.
I've posted before that I work for a government agency. This entity has specific rules governing how we purchase items. These rules can't be violated without breaking the law*. Generally contracts are entered into in order to ensure bulk purchase savings and also to ensure we use vendors that comply with our various requirements.
Our current contracted office supply vendor is Office Depot. We can't buy basic office supplies from anyone else. The contract with them is multi year.
Occasionally someone tries to reinvent the wheel and I'll get a call from a salesperson trying to "break in" to the entity I work for.however while I'm a marginally big deal where I work, in the grand scheme of things I have no sway whatsoever.
*pretty sure you have to have an in or kickbacks to the elected and appointed officials who govern the entity I work for.
Today I attended a meeting that featured a two hour presentation from an outside supply vendor. I'm not sure who they spoke to that thought this would be a good idea. But all the shit they were hawking...no one at that meeting can buy any of it, no matter how badly they want to. Waste of our employees time, mind bogging lay soul crushing waste of the four vendors time.
I guess they don't see it that way(yet), but one of the stupider things I've seen a private company do.