Comments on: If your contractor competes with you

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:31:28 +0000

Since the accusations have been proven true, can we have the name of the firm or at least the city & state? I would like to know who to avoid.

The company specializes in children’s and baby products and apparel, particularly organics. Their PO box address is an urban city in east Tennessee.

By: Vesta

Vesta — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:12:29 +0000

Trust me, Rebecca is right. Your customers, by and large, don’t care. We’ve dealt with “manufacturer” spats in the baby carrier world, and the customers DON’T CARE. They may even go so far as accuse you of squashing other budding businesses. Seen it happen.

By: Tonya

Tonya — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:07:09 +0000

Since the accusations have been proven true, can we have the name of the firm or at least the city & state? I would like to know who to avoid.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 06:35:41 +0000

Are there other options to also attack from the other end – the customers? Can you at least alert your customers to an unethical competing product or is this just going to cause them to go and buy it cheaper?

Whoa! You should never get your customers involved in your manufacturing disputes. Not only is that very unprofessional, but it could make your customers very uncomfortable and leave them with a negative impression of your business (I know, as a customer I’ve been there). Plus you are correct in assuming that the customer may go “check it out” for themselves in search of a better deal. As a retailer I know that our group is rarely loyal to a designer or manufacturer, our primary focus is the bottom line.

I agree that the best course of action would be to cease use of that contractor, threaten a lawsuit, and tell all of your peers/competitors. You may not be able to ever recover the loses, but it may at least hurt the contractor enough that she never puts anyone else through the greif

By: Babette

Babette — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 01:22:46 +0000

Clearly circulating this news among other DEs is a good and direct way of affecting the perpetrator. Are there other options to also attack from the other end – the customers? Can you at least alert your customers to an unethical competing product or is this just going to cause them to go and buy it cheaper?

By: Danny

Danny — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:32:59 +0000

Most legal disputes get settled out of court. If you can do it yourself it will cost you nothing. Even if she can’t afford a lawyer her contracter doesn’t know that so she should at least make the threat of going to court or settle.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:28:48 +0000

Oh, I see. That is just rotten. There’s no other word for it.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:06:55 +0000

Is this a good reason to not hire a contractor who is also their own manufacturer and/or retailer?

It can actually be very advantageous to hire a contractor who is in your market. They’re established, you’re not a threat and often, they give you lots and lots of very useful advice you couldn’t get elsewhere regarding selling venues, reps, retail accounts to avoid, sourcing etc. The difference here is that this contractor was NOT in the market but once she saw how successful her customers were, she decided to get into it.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 19:40:43 +0000

Unbelievable!!!

Is this a good reason to not hire a contractor who is also their own manufacturer and/or retailer? I love that she thinks it’s okay to take people’s money so they can have the privilege of her stealing their designs!