A regular reader related his recent experience with factory visits, and especially with two visits. The supplier’s rep (probably a middleman) had rude manners.

I am pasting the description of the situation below. My two questions are:

• In this situation, does it make sense to spend more than 3 min with the supplier’s rep? Can something good come out of it?
• Is the supplier’s rudeness a clear signal that they are not interested in the purchaser’s business? Or are they just not watching their mood/behavior?

First factory (and a funny story):

The first bad/fake factory I visited. The guy was extremely rude, constantly rolling his eyes at me, getting short tempered with me and the whole time trying to get us ( me and my translator) out the door. The show room was very nice, lots of products on the wall, LOTS of sales people. When it finally came down to touring the factory I noticed a bunch of red flags that I was uncomfortable with. First thing I noticed was my contact was trying to push me out the door. I would stop and watch the workings on one of the 8 silicone machines and he would walk all the way (50-100 meters) to the door waiting for me to follow. I would turn around to ask a question and he would be nowhere and I would have to look to the door and summon him over to ask the question an then he was gone.

The workers were working too hard, too fast. I worked in a factory in the states for 10 years. I know how hard you work normally. They were trying to impress. It was impossible for a human being to work that fast all day, all week, all year. I noticed that place was clean, too clean. It was cleaner than an American hospital, which is spotless. I lived in China for 4 years now, nothing is clean. A brand new building stays brand new and clean for about a week. This place had perfectly white walls, perfectly untouched green floors, perfectly new boards and posters on the wall. It all looked set up. Then it really hit when I stepped forward and my foot stuck to the ground! I thought it was gum but the place was too clean. It was paint. The yellow lines on the ground around the machines were just panted a half an hour before I came. I still have that yellow paint on the bottom of my shoes.

At this point in time I was getting sick of him and already crossed him off my list and was walking to the driver to leave when I noticed a bulletin board on the wall, of course brand new looking. It was a process board with step by step process’ of the start and end of a product in the factory. It showed raw material, which I never saw, coming in the factory all the way to shipping. I asked the guy how old the factory is and he said 12 years. This placed looked like it was built the day I arrived, it was not 12 years old. But one of the pictures I recognized. I looked at it trying to figure out where I seen it before. I realize when I was just on the second floor packing room the scene was the exact same as that picture. Meaning the big bag of pink silicone parts that was on the floor to the left in the picture was still there in the same position in real time. I had just walked into that room. So either that picture was taken the day before or nothing was happening there.

I asked the guy were the workers lived as this place was attached to a resident building with old people walking around. He said the company pays for their apartments off company grounds. I never heard of that in China. But its possible. The driver he had for me was just a black taxi that he try to discreetly pass an invoice or something to.

It is possible that they just had renovations. But everything just didn’t seem right. And the fact that this guy was just very rude and unwilling to give me time or respect.

Second factory:

The second factory I went to visit. The lady emailed me the night before asking my room number of my hotel but I was out for diner and went straight to bed. So I missed it. The next morning she called me and said that I have to find my own way to her factory because she didn’t line up a driver because I didn’t answer her email even though we had this trip planned for a week and I confirmed once or twice in the approaching days.

She was very rude to me. Unbelievable. I told her that she was to send someone or I am not coming. This was my first time in Shenzhen and I don’t know where I am. I can understand Chinese a little bit and the address she sent to me was like the following: “Go to such and such district on such and such road. Drive for a half an hour until you see the orange building. Get out and walk down the alley way for 100 meters and turn left. Walk through the first door.” I was to give that to my taxi driver…

So I told her I was going to be at the airport and waiting. If she didn’t show up at this time I was leaving. That was our original meeting place. Well she called about five times reconfirming that was there and asking for an hour extension a couple times. Its ok, I was working on my computer so it was no lost time for me. Well she finally called and said she was on her way and arriving soon. She came walking up and we were to get taxi.

On the way to the factory she was talking with the taxi driver on the directions. She didn’t know it but I understood the two. They were both confused were the place was. I even noticed she was trying to hold back tears. Was she crying?! Weird. We finally get there. Have you even see the movie Lord of War with Nicolas Cage? Remember the part where he arrives in Monrovia, Liberia to check into his “five star hotel?” It reminded of that. Those directions would have killed me. Although once I got out of the taxi did notice the orange building. It was the factory even though it looked completely vacant and there were no words or signs on any of the buildings around. The road was a dead end with pill of trash and a bunch of hungry looking hyenas, I mean dogs, looking at me.

So we walked down this dusty path, no driveway, until we go into the back of the building. It looked like those pictures of the rebels in Syria making handmade bombs and guns on 1930’s era laths and injection machines. The very small one room factory was a joke. I asked all the usual questions and she couldn’t answer them or show me anything without asking a million people.

Now, even before I meet the girl I knew this was a fail and I would NEVER give my hard earned money to her or her “company.” But I am new to this so I was looking for adventure and I wanted to learn. In the showroom she didn’t want to talk about my custom product. She just wanted to sell me iPhone covers. In the factory I asked to see the silicone molding machines as my part was silicone not plastic. There was about 8 plastic injection machines there. She said they didn’t have any there. ?!?! What? She knew the whole time for the past 3 weeks that my silicone part was, well, silicone. She quoted me a very competitive rate for silicone molding. But she took me to “her” plastic injection plant. She said next time I come I can visit “her” silicone molding plant. Yah, ok.

So poke around more I started asking about their defect rate records. How each machine is doing. She told the record sheets of the machine, which looked like it was never used except to test if a pen was out of ink or not. She told me despite the fact this sheet was not filled out they had them. So I asked to see them. Then I couldn’t believe what happened next. She blew up on me. Yelling at me how I have no right to ask for such things, it was their secret companies records and they can’t show that secret information to me. Just yelling at me. That was it, fun, learning and adventure was over. I asked if he driver was here, he was, and we left.

On the way back she tried to be nice to me ask she could tell I wasn’t happy because I wasn’t talking. She would ask me questions like, why are things cheaper in American vs. China even though they are made in China. I decided to play along an try to be nice. I explained that China has very high taxes and basically supply and demand. The iPhone has a much higher demand in China. Then she got angry again and said no that is not why. Okay… She told me about America selling lots of food products in China and it is very expensive. She asked if there is a lot of Chinese made food in American and if it is expensive. I said Chinese food can’t be sold in America as it doesn’t pass the safety standards and the quality is too low. And the American people wouldn’t buy it either way. Again, I was wrong and she made a point of it.

At the airport she got out of the car and didn’t return to “her” factory. She has since emailed me asking when is the next time I visit “her” factory!

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