The Personal Supply Chain

After 55 years of hard work, my oil-fired furnace is nearing its demise. As capital equipment goes, it is fully depreciated. Soon the clanking, puff-backs, and failed ignition sequences will be replaced by a state of the art system that promises to save me oil, provide copious amounts of hot water, and allow me to take advantage of a $1500 tax credit. Still, what seems like a simple decision came at the end of a long, oil slickened road.I consider myself somewhat of a sourcing expert after a career of chasing parts. Yet, sometimes my personal supply chain has some kinks. The oil company I am using now is the one that I used when I first moved into my house about 25 years ago. They were good, efficient, nice, and extended credit without so much as a glance. The previous owner of my house used this company as well and to them if he sold the house to me my credit must be good. We had a solid relationship for many years.

But I dumped them. Why? Their chief mechanic left them and formed his own oil company. He called and asked for my business. Who could resist? An entrepreneur who promised excellent service. I bit, and the relationship was good for a number of years until his success began to impact his service response times and his attitude. He couldn’t be bothered to handle the small furnace issues and I had to often call several days in a row to have him come out to solve my issues. He thought them too minor for a response. I don’t like lukewarm showers.

So I dumped him. Why? My college entered into a consortium with a large regional oil company that would lower my oil prices and improve my service. Sure, I had to pay for a service agreement but those savings would more than pay for it. Right? Not last winter when their lock in price didn’t keep pace with the falling market. I was able to leave the consortium but they penalized me. No refund on the balance of the service contract and I was banned as a customer until next year. Imagine your suppliers banning you as a customer…and yes my bills were paid on time. I even took a prompt payment discount! I was no longer worthy of being a customer.

So I dumped them. And I went back to square one and apologized to my first oil company for leaving in the first place. They graciously accepted me back as a customer and they have had to come and service the furnace three times to keep me going until the new installation, scheduled for next month. No charge for the last three service calls either as a reward for my new furnace business. And I checked with a plumber friend of mine. The price for the new installations is quite aggressive.

No wonder they’ve been in business for 75 years. Solid, dependable, cost effective and nice. Pretty much a perfect supplier, I’d say. It just took me 25 years to add them to my personal AVL.