Last week one of our business service providers failed to deliver an order to our warehouse which was essential for a massive order that needs to go out. When it failed to arrive the excuses given did not add up and I guessed something had happened.
On Monday morning they were all apologetic and thankfully without them knowing had rescheduled my big order for later this week. If I hadn't of dome this there would have been financial penalties incurred and that is never any good throwing money away even when it is not your fault.
Last week we had some serous rain and it rained constantly for 3 days and the real story is the items got wet. The truck roof had a leak and most of the things inside were now water damaged. The items I needed were not high end value items and water would have no affect on the items as it was branded sellotape that is protected in plastic sleeve tubes inside the packaging box so I was not concerned.
The service provider was trying to buy time by hoping the boxes would dry out over the weekend and no one would be the wiser. They told me the truth which made me even more angry as they should have told me this on Thursday last week when the delivery was expected. In most cases coming clean and being honest is the best policy as the trust has been broken now and I cannot use their services going forward.
If they had been honest on Thursday I could have told them it did not matter as the product inside was not damaged and that is what counts. If I had not thought something was odd with their story and not rescheduled my delivery then they would be paying my financial penalties plus having lost a client.
I have been in similar positions in the past and there is no hiding from this so you tell the truth as soon as you know. One batch of items that was rain damaged was superficial and dried out within hours so it was not a problem.
I believe with experience these are things you learn and when and when not to be honest is one of those things. If you are not sure then be honest as that is the worst over with already and repair the relationship if it needs to be repaired. It does not matter how bad it is ,but by being honest is so rare these days it should buy you some brownie points.
I learned when and when not to lie back in the army days when I was found out for doing something wrong. I told the truth and it blew my superiors away and they said at the time this was the first time a junior rank had not lied to them and for that I was let off with a warning and a thank you for being honest. If I had lied the consequences would have been very bad plus the trust factor would have gone. I gained respect for owning up to my actions and owned them at the same time.
I do think lessons learned in life tell you what to do whether it is good or bad and if you tell the truth what is the worst that can happen? You have not burned a bridge relationship wise and people are more forgiving on an honest mistake than a lie.