July 31, 2008Poison Phrase ~ Industry Standard

Filed under: Poison Phrase of the Week by merylrunion |

It’s time for my annual reprinting of PowerPhrases. I print and pay for 20,000 – 25,000 copies at a time, so you can imagine what that bill looks like. Even so I don’t like paying for things I don’t need. That’s why I asked that the proofs not be ovenighted, since sometimes I have been billed upward of $100 for expedited shipping I didn’t want or need. The response was,

- It’s the industry standard to overnight proofs and to charge the customer.

I don’t contract the industry, I contract one supplier. This phrase suggests that policy and procedure trump customers. Had she given me some good reason for the procedure, I would have felt more accepting of the charges – particularly if the reason benefited me somehow.