Giving an excuse for Christmas
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2006-01-22 14:16:35 - Graham EllisFrom a message dated 20th January: "being just after Xmas they are swamped".
Hmm ... a very late use of that excuse, and an indication that the supplier in question gets lots of returns, and doesn't actually gear up for business peaks which they can and should predict.
Watch our for "the Christmas excuse" at this time of year! I can recall several occasions in the past chasing up grossly overdue payments during January and being offered Christmas as the reason they were late ... even in some cases where payment should have been sent well before the holiday.
I recall asking one accounts clerk if they hadn't realised that Christmas was coming up and it had caught them by surprise. She had no answer, and I'm not pleased with myself for such a catty remark to some poor office junior. But, gee, there's such a huge amount of effort that goes into making excuses when SORTING OUT THE ISSUE would take less effort.