Ah, all makes sense now. I have heard some horror stories from customers with government accounts. 90 days and more before they get paid as well as many hoops to jump through. We avoid them now.
~ LB
Yup, that happens. Or for example I had a client have a problem come up.
An order was placed for 20 digital cameras. Order was filled, cameras sent, end of story.
8 months later the government office that ordered the cameras contacts the company telling them to take the cameras back, and issue refund immediately. The office ordered the wrong cameras, and when they were deployed apparently there were problems.
So the company had to take the USED cameras back, and even pay for return shipping.
Or how about this... large order for printers. 3 months later they want support for the printers because they are not able to get the printer to accept the toner cartridges the office uses. Nevermind that the printers are fully functional, and manufacturer states the cartridges are compatible. When told to deal with the manufacturer, the government office complained enough to have the contract threatened with cancellation.
Chargebacks for orders placed over a year past? Yup.
Claims of non receipt? Yup. You think paypal is bad, try the government - they claim non receipt even when there is signature confirmation.
Many companies expend thousands on developing the ability to sell to the government, but find that it's just not worth it for them - not when they don't know what they are doing. It's really a sad state of affairs.
Here's a kicker - you're no longer permitted to submit contract modifications for contracts in relation to office supplies because a department head is off on fridays. That's an official policy. That you're not even allowed to propose a change on a given day because the person in charge is off. Nevermind that it's actually a large office with hundreds if not thousands of employees.
The problem is there is a horrible lack of accountability, and for all the crap you might have heard about GSA last year with them having conferences in vegas, it's actually a lot worse.