A free method

How to chase a late vendor

For owner-run shops. You do not need a purchasing system. You need a date, then a decision.

Most late purchase orders do not die in one email. They die in a thread. You asked if it shipped. They said soon. You asked again on Friday. The listing still says in stock.

A purchase order is the order you send a vendor when you buy stock. Call it a PO if you want. The job is the same.

Ask for a date, not a status

Status is “in process.” A date is Tuesday. Write this line and send it the first business day the confirm date is late:

Confirm a ship date for PO ______. I need a date, not a status.

If they give you a week, write the Friday. Vague windows do not go on the sheet.

Name a cancel date on the third day

If you still do not have a ship date, send one more note. Copy whoever pays the bill, even if that is you.

We will cancel the remaining quantity on [date] unless we have a tracking number.

Pick a real date, two or three days out. Do not threaten a date you will not keep.

On the cancel date, decide

Keep what already shipped. Cancel the rest. Or split the PO and log it. Do not wait politely into next month.

Example: PO 882 was due Tuesday, 48 units. Wednesday you ask for a date. Friday you name a cancel date. The next Tuesday, 20 units arrive. You keep the 20 and cancel the other 28. You log one row: late vendor, 28 cancelled.

When to write this down

Three late purchase orders in two weeks means this is the job, not a mood. Put the chase on one page. One owner. One done line: you have a ship date, a cancel, or a split.

If you have not ordered stock yet, write the three lines anyway. The first late vendor will not invent a process for you.

Why this works

The inbox rewards hope. A date on a sheet does not. You stop arguing with “soon” because soon is not a number.