Payment Milestone coming up... Boss wants all reports in not later than one week prior to delivery date for review and sign-off.

My 2 reports are on the Boss's desk 5 days before this pre-gate date. Breathe sigh of relief, go on to other jobs.

Milestone date plus one week...

Higher Boss comes to me and says "Customer is witholding payment because your reports were late - Explain Why?"

Me: "Leave it with me, I'll find out"  I investigate and find out that Immediate Boss waited until all reports were in, then courier'd them all in one package, received by The Customer at COB on the deadline date. Ok Fine. Except that the Customer has to sub my reports to specialists BY SNAIL-MAIL. Of course, once the specialists have reviewed and returned my work, the Milestone date has passed

Now both bosses are demanding to know why I didn't get my reports in sooner!

Which one should I batter first?  Or is there another way that doesn't involve permanent loss of earnings?

Chris

Rule Two: What's in it for me? - My Dad

> My 2 reports are on the Boss's desk 5 days before this pre-gate date

Did you print them out and put them on the boss's desk or did you email it to him?

Regards,
Tom

In a way, both, Tom.

2 hardcopies on the desk for front cover signature, soft copies in a network folder for burning to CD, with an e-mail confirming their existence, and to CMA

I know what you're getting at: is there a trail of evidence showing that I met the deadline?  The answer is YES, there is, and both Buttheads are aware of it. They seem tp be implying that the responsibility for early submission is mine, and not program management's - hence Grrrrr!

Chris

Rule Two: What's in it for me? - My Dad

> They seem to be implying that the responsibility for early submission is mine, and not program managements

Are your processes documented?  If so, whose version of events is reflected in there - yours or your boss?

When you refer to early submission - do you mean the client?  Surely before any document is released it would have to be reviewed and signed off.  If you delivered the document one week ahead of the submission date surely there isn't very much more you can do?

When were your reports signed off?

No process per se to cover this, just a marker on the program Schedule.

No date on the signature blocks, either, but the courier receipt is timed at 17:15 on the exact date due to the Customer.

The Buttheads' view is that, knowing the Customer would need to get a 3rd opinion of my reports, it was down to me to ensure they received them early!

In other words, I should have pre-empted the tardiness of the mail service, short-circuited the published schedule, and sent my own reports unilaterally, instead of part of the Technical Data Pack submission!

Chris

Rule Two: What's in it for me? - My Dad

Reading my last really makes me want to punch something!

  

Chris

Rule Two: What's in it for me? - My Dad

Do you think all this is likely to blow over in a couple of days once payment arrives?  Are there penalties in the contract for late deliveries, etc?  

To go back to your question

> Or is there another way that doesn't involve permanent loss of earnings?

You could always say to your boss that there clearly has been a breakdown in communication and that maybe you could all sit down and figure out a simple process that could be used for future projects so that this situation could be avoided in future.

Dear Buttheads in charge over me,

I understand that my reports were late to the client because I assumed that I was required to submit them through you.  I did this in a timely manner, but am still being held responsible for the late delivery.  I am sorry for any problems this misunderstanding caused and in the future, I will personally deliver the report straight to the client to ensure it is on time.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

------------------------------------

-SQLBill

Posting advice: FAQ481-4875

Quote (SQLBill):

I understand that my reports were late to the client

The Data Pack containing my reports got to the Client precisely on time. My reports then had to go to the Client's subcontractor for review, and back to the Client: a process which took eight working days by Snail-Mail. During those eight days, the milestone passed, so the Client invoked the Late Delivery penalty.

The Buttheads believe that I should have foreseen this and submitted my work at least 10 days earlier than the 5 days early it already was.

Darn! I'm so annoyed I can't even write sensibly!

[tongue-in-cheek]
Please somebody, I beg you to advise me to physically assault both of the BH's
[/tongue-in-cheek]

Chris

Rule Two: What's in it for me? - My Dad

Quote:

The Data Pack containing my reports got to the Client precisely on time. My reports then had to go to the Client's subcontractor for review, and back to the Client: a process which took eight working days by Snail-Mail. During those eight days, the milestone passed, so the Client invoked the Late Delivery penalty.

From the above I assume that the sub-contractor is responsability of the Client, not yours. e.g. he is contracted by the Client.

As such time constraints should be reflected on their contract, and if their contract said that a reply will be given X days after the Client has received the documentation from your company, then those X days should have been passed to your company so you could include that on your own times.

If the Client has no such agreement with their own sub-contractor or if their sub-contractor took longer than what the Client expeted its their problem, not your company.

If you have Late Penalties on your contract then I would also expect to have a full clarification of all other dates, milestones and contraints involved, and those should make very clear whether or not your company has any responsability, regardless of what the Client may think.

If you have access to it look at the specific contract conditions and see if the Client is corrrect or not, and then highlight that to your boss if you have to.

Regards

Frederico Fonseca
SysSoft Integrated Ltd
www.syssoft-int.com

Quote:

The Data Pack containing my reports got to the Client precisely on time

Then you (and your company) met the requirements. It sounds like the client is trying to 'weasel' out of paying money. UNLESS they specified in the agreement that the document would have to be processed by a third-party and the deadline would be the date received from that third-party - which is totally out of yours and your company's control.

I believe your company would have an excellent lawsuit against the client for failure to pay.  I also believe that if they took action against you, you would have an excellent lawsuit as you met the client's requirements - to deliver the reports to the client by a specific date.  That was done. What the client does with them after that point is their problem.

-SQLBill

Posting advice: FAQ481-4875

Frederico and SQLBill both stated exactly what I was going to say.  This sounds like a client trying to weasel out of a full payment.  This would be contingent on whether or not BH1 and BH2 knew about the subcontractor via snail mail confirmation process.  If they knew, then it was their duty to inform you that you would have to turn in your reports more than one week in advance (which it seems you did of your own volition).

And who in their right mind would sign an agreement that depended upon a third party's action? The third party can hold the document as long as they like and YOU get punished for it? Come on - that does not make good business sense.  I doubt there was any agreement/statement about the third-party review.  The contract probably states that the CLIENT must receive the document(s) by a certain date/time. What the client does with them beyond that point is up to the client and not part of the agreement.  As I said before, they are trying to weasel out of making the payment and your bosses are letting them do it.  If they keep letting this type of thing happen, they won't be in business long.

-SQLBill

Posting advice: FAQ481-4875

The way I would handle this would be to explain it very calmly to them using facts only and checking your emotions at the door.

BH:  The customer has not paid us because your reports are late.  What happened?
You:  I'm not sure.  I submitted the reports ahead of schedule, so there should have been plenty of time.  Let me see what I can figure out.

[after taking time to cool down and research the situation]

You:  It appears that what happened is that after I submitted my reports on [submission date], they were compiled with the other reports and then sent to the client on [date sent].  Technically, we met the deadline with the client receiving the reports on [date received].  However, the client then sent the reports to their subcontractors and kept the clock ticking for us.

Note:  Do not assign (and especially don't accept) blame for any part of this.  Simply help them see what the undiputable facts of the situation are.

Thanks Everyone, and especially KornGeek for writing a script I could keep to without tensing my jaw and clenching my fists! Have a STAR!

I used KG's approach pretty much verbatim, and added a bit about Client weasel-ness as well.

The Results:
BH2 upbraided BH1 for holding on to all the reports until the very last possible second.
BH2 has apologised unreservedly to me for the hassle.
BH1 has apologised for getting me b*llocked by BH2.

Following a stiff talking to from our commercial folks, Client has made the payment.

I've had a written apology from Client's Sub-Con for taking so long to rubber-stamp my stuff.

Drinks all round!  

Chris

Rule Two: What's in it for me? - My Dad

**wild applause**

That's an excellent end result!  Congrats!

Nice , well done &

<Do I need A Signature or will an X do?>

Way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-SQLBill

Posting advice: FAQ481-4875

Nice outcome and great advice from KG.

Glad to know I was able to help and that things worked out.

There are two things I like in this little tale. The first is that the client recognized its failure in respecting its own conditions - but contractually that wouldn't have held much water in a tribunal anyway. It was a bluff, they were called on it and they had to fold.
The second, which I like a lot more, is the official apologies from Up Above. This is rare enough to be celebrated indeed.

I like happy endings. I'll have myself a beer tonight !



Pascal.

I've got nothing to hide, and I'd very much like to keep that away from prying eyes.