Read the Fine Print


by Jack Hancocks

We all know what assuming does and unless you diligently check pricing policies and conditions, you’re gonna get burned. Case in point

. I was quoting a job recently from one of those “Canadian” suppliers who manage to do everything south of the border. Freight has always been quoted freight on board (FOB) Toronto, so who cares where they are located? Well, it turns out that we all should care about location because this FOB point is good only if you are ordering catalogue quantities. That means, in this particular case, that as long as I order 1,000 units or less it is shipped FOB Toronto. Stupid me wanted to order 4,000 units, which apparently is outside of the terms of the supplier’s “catalogue quantities.” This size of order, using logic that totally escapes me, added an extra freight charge from south of the Mason-Dixon line to my client’s location in the Greater Toronto Area, as opposed to the “normal” FOB Toronto charge.

Now in this case, it means a substantial increase in freight that I apparently would have been aware of had I read the fine print on page — wait a minute! I can’t find the fine print anywhere in the catalogue. I just checked it and had my colleague check it. We are at a loss to find it. I know it is there because how could they possibly charge me if it isn’t? Well, turns out that it isn’t but in their minds they have justified the charge because the quantity is so large I couldn’t possibly expect them to absorb the freight from their U.S. point of origin to Toronto. Let it go, Jack. Chalk it up to experience and pillory them in your column. Seems fair to me!

Got me thinking though: just how many of these hidden (read unexpected) charges and conditions are there in this industry? Lots, folks. Must drive our clients nuts. Every time we quote, we add on for set-ups, freight, taxes and anything else we forgot…Extra. Not right. Whatever happened to a final price? Over-runs, under-runs, less than minimum catalogue quantities, more than maximum catalogue quantities, digital art, raster art, production-ready art — they go on ad infinitum and are supplier dependent. No wonder we forget something every now and then.

Solutions? There are none except for diligence and clients who are understanding; or, in this case, a supplier who after some cajoling, at this writing, has agreed that their policy is somewhat less than fair and is willing to work with me to reduce the impact of the unexpected freight charge.

So, how does this fit into the “Pisses Me Off” category of things? I guess in this instance it is me who pisses me off. After all these years I find that I still don’t have a handle on everything that is going on in this industry and I don’t particularly like that feeling. Thank God for sales assistants; they have saved me on more than one occasion. So my friends, read that fine print, if you can find it!