Produce Pointers: Price adjustment vs. bad reputation?

The Problem

Seller denying a price adjustment was given.

The Key Point

Alleged bad reputation in the industry is unlikely to be considered.

The Solution

Consider the strength of your claim based on evidence other than the seller’s reputation.

Q: We are a buyer-reseller based in the Midwest. We’re currently involved in a dispute with an importer whose salesperson agreed to a price adjustment over the phone, after we notified him the end customer wanted to reject the shipment. The price adjustment saved us from having to salvage the product right before the weekend when losses would have been far greater. 

Well, the next week, when we asked for an updated invoice, this guy denies giving us the price adjustment. Unbelievable, it was just blatant. This seller cannot be trusted, and I can provide statements from several reputable people in the industry who will tell you so. Would these statements help my case? If it’s my word against his, I think I win every time.

A: Statements asserting the salesperson’s poor reputation will probably not help you.

First, a judge or arbitrator might ask why you would have relied on a verbal price adjustment with this salesperson, if they were known to be dishonest?  

Second, even if you can establish this person has been dishonest in the past, this doesn’t necessarily mean they were being dishonest in this instance. 

And third, what if the seller counters your statements with statements from other witnesses attesting to their good reputation, and perhaps even attacking yours? This all gets messy fast.

The strongest forms of evidence presented in produce claims tend to be (1) written documentation produced contemporaneously with the transaction, such as emails and texts confirming verbal agreements; (2) tangible evidence, such as temperature reports; and (3) evidence from disinterested third-parties, such as government inspectors and the USDA’s Market News Service. 

If your case cannot be supported with evidence of this nature, this is a sign you’re fighting an uphill battle. 

Specifically, where price adjustments are concerned, it must be remembered that the party alleging the modification to the original agreement bears the burden of proof. Judges and arbitrators are typically very reluctant to give the benefit of the doubt to a party that could have removed this doubt by following best practices.