Buyers often feel content and safe when they negotiate language into a contract that indicates "guaranteed" product availability. A step above that is when the contract indicates that there is "reserve" product available for their account. That usually means that the vendor is storing product specifically put aside for a particular account in its own warehouse.
Should Buyers really feel safe or have they "bought into" a false sense of security?
I have seen both "guaranteed" and "reserve" products run out! That is an equally uncomfortable position for both the Buyer and the account rep.
Should this situation occur, an important clause to have in the contract is one that covers substitute products. Of course, a good vendor would naturally want to get something to the Buyer should a shortage of regular product occur. To ensure that something is acceptable and at the same or lower price as the missing items, it is best to have negotiated the Buyer's needs into the contract at the time of inception.
Prior to negotiations on this point, the Buyer should check with end-users to find out the restrictions on acceptable substitutes. While all shipping boxes or office copy paper may seem the same to the untrained eye, both of those types of items have specific attributes which significantly change their utility for end users in various situations. For example having boxes break open on the shipping floor because their weight exceeds the cardboard strength or jamming $20,000 high speed printers with paper that is too thick or too think for the machinery is just as bad as not having any items in the first place!
Comment Preview