I sent this letter to magazine distributor NDD last week in an effort to gain agreement on magazine supply terms. They have responded today in a most bizarre way.
NDD says that since my trading name has changed I need to compete a new credit application. While the trading name has changed, the economic entity has not. My legal and accounting advice is that there is no justification for demanding a new credit application and that the request may be for other reasons.
The NDD letter says they welcome the opportunity to formalise their trading terms but will discuss “business rules”, and by this I am guessing the content of my letter, only after I have correctly completed the Application for Credit Account and Guarantee.
The NDD letter also says that all discussions with them have to be conducted in the strictest confidence. This is unfortunate yet not uncommon in the newsagency channel. Keeping deals secret means that the broader newsagency community is less able to leverage its strength. They want me to agree in writing to confidentiality. They want me to stop blogging about their gross over supply. that means I could not talk about the Bargain Shopper mess when they sent too many, sent more, sent more and sent more again – all in a grab for my cash.
I am disappointed that NDD is playing a game on this by demanding accounts paperwork before discussing the far more important issue of the failure of their supply model to transact with my newsagency and other newsagents on an equitable basis.
Mark
Your letter to NDD was pretty blunt, if I received such a letter, I may also want to use “my” power to unsettle the writer.
Of course the smart response would be to try to help by communication and negotiation, not by the old unsaid “blackmail” distribution trick.
I do hope that some of your readers understand that you are also representing them. The problem is not with Mark Fletchers Newsagency it is with many Newsagents, NDD does not get it, so many different magazines with oversupply dumps on certain titles, not enough money to pay for them.
I dont think this is going to go away, and I would contribute generously to a legal fund that I feel should be set up, that response made me made for you!!!