Anyway I've dumped a £70 job earlier this month (a commercial quarterly). UBER-FLOUNCE!
Shall I tell you what happened? Must you? Yes. Okay then.
I got a purchase order for four cleans specifying July/October/January/April and that I need to go in early to cone off half the car park. Therefore I email them a few days before saying when I plan on coming.
Earlier this month I did just that and back comes an email from my contact saying her manager says it's not worth it in the rain and to leave it until March. I fire back an email politely but candidly pointing out that I have a purchase order specifying January and April and I would be happy to negotiate a change for next years purchase order but expected this one to be honoured.
Got a reply from my contact to the effect of "Oops sorry forgot about that, manager's not in let me speak to him and come back to you."
Two days later she comes back and says they'll cancel the original order and replace it with a new one specifying March and July.
They're dumped. They don't know it yet because they don't expect me until March and when they chase me up they'll get the following:-
Dear YYYY,
In 30 years of sales and running my own business I have always believed a purchase order to be a guarantee of an agreement between two companies or organisations. If one party wishes to change an agreement then they ask if that is possible.
As your manager has, with little notice arbitrarily cancelled my visit in January and sought to replace it with one which is advantageous to him I realise that any written communication, including purchase orders from "XXXXX" company is not worth the pixels it has been produced with.
Therefore please find someone to clean your windows who does not mind having their schedule messed about on the whim of some low level supervisor.
Yours flouncingly,
GOLD