# Sysco does it again



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Very frustrating day today.
Perhaps if you moderators would review your rules to include all people who wish to ask and contribute, this would alleviate any problems.

Have a afternoon crab boil this Sunday.
King crab lgs... 20# box about $360.00
Mussels
Clams
Corn on the cob
New Red Potatoes
Etc...

Went to meet the Sysco driver and my seafood was not on the truck.

Mind you these items were ordered 2 weeks ago. These items are 2 weeks out as Sysco calls it.
You wanna hear their reason?

Although my sales rep called in the order, their "go to" person was on vacation so the order never got placed.

Okay, so where does that leave me and my crab boil?

My sales rep seems to think her job ends when she pushes the "enter" button on her Sysco computer program.

She did not follow through... Plain and simple. This is an item that necessitated handling from order to delivery and she dropped the ball.
Unfortunately she will not be held accountable for this and neither will anyone else in the Sysco hierarchy.

So sad.
I had to take a second blood pressure pill today. This one has me livid .
Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to vent.
And now back you your regular programming...[emoji]128513[/emoji]


----------



## raibeaux (Dec 21, 2012)

Just wait, itsa gonna get worse.


----------



## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

When fecal matter is introduced at a great velocity to the impellor.....

It really boils down to two choices

1) Sysco goes

or

2) Seafood goes

All things considering, whatever is on the menu *makes* money, and whatever you order from Sysco *costs *you money.

I'd say the choice is pretty obvious.

The odds of explaining this logic to a Sysco rep and getting it comprehended, are about the same odds that the said Sysco rep is reading this thread and has "read" the writing on the wall.

Hey, it's not my fault!


----------



## raibeaux (Dec 21, 2012)

Only one example of many.  My US Rep Sold me some cupcakes at .75 ea.  Sold for 2.29.  They started selling really well.

Jacked price to 1.60.

My rep's answer?  Sell'em for the same amount, "you're charging too much", he said.  True story.

I've talked a few times to BEK.  They seem to be pricing just behind Sysco and US.   though they have some products priced less.  The doggy poop is about to hit the fan as soon as the merger is completed.  

It seems that just once, these people (distributors) would hire a rep that understood a little about the restaurant biz.  Mine is always winning vacations.


----------



## alaminute (Aug 22, 2013)

I'm still on the line and working my way up the ladder, these threads scare the hell out of me when I think about taking the helm. What will purveyors be like 7/10 years down the road if the climates changing like a boulder gaining momentum. What did you end up doing Chef Ross? Go to the grocer and buy out their supply at cost?


----------



## grande (May 14, 2014)

When I took my current job, my ONLY serious reservation was that they use sysco. Since I'm planning on relocating in a couple of years, I took it anyway. Now I get to watch the prices tick up every week...


----------



## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

I 86'ed Sysco from my place years ago for the same reasons mentioned in this thread.


----------



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

alaminute said:


> I'm still on the line and working my way up the ladder, these threads scare the hell out of me when I think about taking the helm. What will purveyors be like 7/10 years down the road if the climates changing like a boulder gaining momentum. What did you end up doing Chef Ross? Go to the grocer and buy out their supply at cost?


Surprisingly we were able to reschedule to August 2nd.

Hopefully (hopefully) Sysco will have what I need by then.

I have no other choices as Gordon Foods, US Foods or Rhinehart won't make the trip to our island.


----------



## gsuchef (Sep 30, 2012)

I find it hard to believe that Sysco doesn't stock those items in your area. I have ordered King Crab legs many times from Sysco (I Do Not support or agree with them) for the truck the next day with no issues. To me it sounds like your Sales Rep dropped the ball and is passing the buck on to the buyer who was "on vacation." It must suck that you are locked in to using only Sysco, why won't the other big truck companies come to the island?  Best of luck!


----------



## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

The culture of "service" has gotten horrendous in the last few decades.  I used to have sales reps that would jump through hoops to get my business and make sure that each and every delivery was correct.  And they made sure I got everything I needed, even if that meant that they had to run to the warehouse, pick it up, and bring it to me themselves, even if it was my fault for forgetting to order it.  Nowadays, even if it is their fault the attitude is "oh well, you'll have to wait for your next order."  Unfortunately, this doesn't just apply to Sysco, or sales reps in general, but it seems to be a problem in more and more service industries.

One thing we used to do, to keep our sales reps honest was to require them to bid out our buisness every week.  I would make out a list of everything I needed to order from the "big boys" (Sysco and US Foods), give each rep a copy every week, and they would give me the prices for the items.  I would then order based on who had the lowest prices each week.  Sometimes that meant ordering from just 1 of them and other weeks I'd have a truck coming from both. Yes it was time consuming, but it kept them honest and kept my prices down.


----------



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

But wait.....................there's more.

I get a phone call this morning from another restaurant here on the island asking me if I know anything about a 20# box of Alaskan Crab legs.

It was on their invoice and they would never order anything like that but know that I would so took the chance to call.

"Wow"....... is all I can say.

The crab now stays in the freezer until the 2nd of August anyways.


----------



## grande (May 14, 2014)

WOW


----------



## allanmcpherson (Apr 5, 2007)

Its something when your competition is more considerate than your "partners." Never liked Sysco. A fairly recent developement (within the year anyway) is that their reps are forbidden to transport product to their clients directly, only on their truck or refer courier. So even their motivated, hard working reps are left hamstrung.


----------



## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Keep in mind Sysco to a point is franchised each distributor is independent. Most of the sales people don't have a clue they are simply order takers. There are a very few who really know food.


----------



## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

> A fairly recent developement (within the year anyway) is that their reps are forbidden to transport product to their clients directly, only on their truck or refer courier.


 In this day and age I'm not surprised. In our law suit happy society I can see this as being perceived as a liability issue, which really sucks.


----------



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Perhaps in the larger cities, but here in small town America it is quite normal for the Sysco rep to pick up items and drive them to customer.


----------



## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

Glad to see that happening in some areas still.


----------



## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

I don't miss my relationship with Sysco one iota. My rep was okay, as long as you didn't ask for too much of his time, or minded the occasional screw up on his order entry. It was the upper layer at Sysco that was mind numbingly frustrating. Credits promised by sales managers that have to be chased for months. The constant pricing creep. Incredible gouging on anything but center of the plate. The order and pricing process was purposefully cumbersome and tedious.I switched to US Foods as my broad-service vendor and it's been night and day. Their systems are terrific and i can order on the fly from my cell phone or tablet. I like the ability to search a data base of like items with prices. With Sysco, you had to buy what the rep recommended or ask him to read line by line each option. My US rep services the crap out of me and often drop ships a much needed item to another store and picks it up and delivers it to me. And best thing is, my costs are 10- 20% less per case on many items. I hope the merger doesn't screw up a good thing!


----------



## chef reginald (Jan 22, 2013)

Screw sysco for seafood. Check out seafoods.com


----------



## dreamshards8 (Dec 2, 2013)

I was in charge of ordering at my last place of work. Sysco sucks plain and simple. We ended up phasing them out and ordering from Nicholas. If Nicholas forgot our 400 pounds of flour, the rep would drive five hours that day to pick up the shipment and drive five hours back to deliver it to us personally.


----------



## chef reginald (Jan 22, 2013)

Ya unfortunately My experience with sys Co reps were never good. I would always ask my reps if my products were gmo and tell them they need to find out that info before they tried to sell me there products. I ordered 10 boxes of fry oil and the stupid [email protected] sends me soybean fry oil seeing how almost 85% grown in the USA is gmo same goes with corn. Call him back and asked if he forgot are conversation we just had 15 min before I ordered. Oh I'll replace it with another gmo fry oil wtf. The thing is these big corporations no longer give a [email protected] about the needs of their clients they push off junk products at an increased price. You have to remind them they work for you and if they want your business they need to jump through hoops to get it. They hire clowns with no experience in food products and knowledge in costing. I gave up on big corporate and went to the local farms and local markets to source for the restaurant. The thing is the smaller guys are willing to give you what you want if they can. Even though you might have to go through 20 different farmers your still helping ppl to survive and pay the bills. And there grateful for every dollar you put into there business.


----------



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

chef Reginald said:


> Ya unfortunately My experience with sys Co reps were never good. I would always ask my reps if my products were gmo and tell them they need to find out that info before they tried to sell me there products. I ordered 10 boxes of fry oil and the stupid [email protected] sends me soybean fry oil seeing how almost 85% grown in the USA is gmo same goes with corn. Call him back and asked if he forgot are conversation we just had 15 min before I ordered. Oh I'll replace it with another gmo fry oil wtf. The thing is these big corporations no longer give a [email protected] about the needs of their clients they push off junk products at an increased price. You have to remind them they work for you and if they want your business they need to jump through hoops to get it. They hire clowns with no experience in food products and knowledge in costing. I gave up on big corporate and went to the local farms and local markets to source for the restaurant. The thing is the smaller guys are willing to give you what you want if they can. Even though you might have to go through 20 different farmers your still helping ppl to survive and pay the bills. And there grateful for every dollar you put into there business.


You're right Chef on this. Their sales people have no relevant industry experience unless

Chef or manager becomes a Sysco sales rep later on in life.

The really great sales people all get eaten up by the larger cities and small town America gets the leftovers.

In my area alone I have seen 7 Sysco reps in 15 years here.


----------



## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Hi Ross,

I guess this is a two pronged post, but I really want you to see things from a distance.

Firstly, suppliers:

I've never dealt with Sysco, but I have kicked out their reps from my kitchen on more than one occasion. My experinces with "X bros." a local broadliner, gave me, an um, shall we say a different perspective? So I deal with x-bros, everything from dish soap to strawberries, at the time I was doing well over 4K/ mnth minimum with them, not a big customer, but a steady one. Every 6 mths or so they'd change out reps on me: Middle aged women with no foodservice experience, 19 yr old guys with no foodservice experience. I had to "educate" them on why I was so P.O'd that my delivery contained a box with 6 bskts strawbs, 2 bskts, gooseberries,and 1 4qt jug of oven cleaner (highly caustic) all in the same banana box. Took me a lot of "educating" them, but I finally got my point across. Then that rep gets moved and new one comes. The next one I have to "educate" why I'm so P.O'd with my cream delivery:24 qts of whipping cream, 5 had a two week date, 7 had a 1 week date, 4 had a 6 day date, and the rest had an I-dunno date. Again, took me a lot of "educating" on my part, to get them to understand, then the rep gets moved to a new area. And so on and so on, with "Belgian" chocolate that comes in 25 lb (pound) cases, with "fresh" chkn brsts that had to have at least 25% pump in them. You get the picture. X-bros would get someone off the street, get the smaller accounts to train them up, and then move them to the downtown area and the choicer accounts. On one hand, I understand, it's business, big accounts get more money and the better reps should handle those accounts. On the other hand, I'm paying for the rep's salary and I'm not getting my money's worth. After about 4 years of this, I moved most of my produce to neighborhood grocers, dairy to Costco, and split the meats between poultry, beef, and pork suppliers. They almost never f'd up on me, and if they did, they'd sure kiss my butt to make up for it. It's business, and if I don't make a buck, I won't be around for the next delivery.

Conclusion: Foodpump's second law:* Giants play best with other giants.* In other words your monthly accounts with them don't garner you any respect because they are too small. You are what you are, and you are not going to change for some dip-sh*t broadliner. For the customner, yes, you bet, but not for the supplier.

Secondly, you.

We've been communicating on this forum for, oh, what?10 years now? We get along pretty good. We've never met in person, and have maybe 3 or 4 Pm's between us in those 10 years. This isn't the first time you've complained about Sysco and how they screw up.

So, I don't know if you own this business or not, don't know how big the business is or what it entails, don't know if your boss is in love with Sysco or has chosen the lesser of two evils, and I don't know how far away you are located from the ocean, or even what ocean. But I meant what I said in my first post on this thread: Final analysis is that either sysco goes or the seafood goes. From now until the next f-up Sysco makes, that is the only choice you have in the matter.

If you can't get fresh seafood delivered with a two week heads-up, you gotta drop it from the menu. If you are within driving range of the ocean, you gotta get some seafood contacts, local or whatever. Giants play best with giants, and dwarves play best dwarves. Not saying we can't all get along, but at the end of the day the dwarf who plays with a giant feels like they got shafted.

If Sysco is jerking around with drygoods and staples, you gotta ask yourself, how do the local retailers in your town--grocery stores, dry goods stores, and fruit+veg stores get their goods?, Then d use their sources in combination with Sysco, and then eventually drop sysco.

I feel for you, but if I ever had to run a kitchen with only one supplier to depend on, either I'd cultivate local suppliers, or walk.


----------



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

foodpump said:


> Hi Ross,
> 
> I guess this is a two pronged post, but I really want you to see things from a distance.
> 
> ...


Well then.

Hi back foodpump.

You are absolutely 100% correct in everything you just said.

Simply put, my geographical location makes it impossible to find descent food purveyors who

1. will make the trip to my location

(I live and work on an island in Lake Huron)

2. have at least, a working knowledge of their computer program.

(on several occasions I have snatched that laptop out from under her (highly illegal) hands and placed my order, handed the damn thing back to her to push the enter button.)

On top of that, my boss owns a resort here and because of this relationship I have no other choices but to use Sysco.

I see GFS trucks on the mainland all the time. Rhinehart too, but their company's will not send their trucks on the ferry to the island.

If I want fresh stone crab claws from Florida, it's impossible as next day air doesn't exist here. Tried it once. Plane delivered stone crab claws to local airport. Limo driver has already gone home for the day so my order sits on the floor of the terminal overnight and is delivered the next day. You can imagine the results.

On the other hand Sysco did this "sea to table" program that worked well.....if you ordered a minimum of 30# of product from one dock.

Product came in Styrofoam with ice packs.....perfect.

When I am in Chicago, I always stop at my fish purveyor and have him pack up quality product in same packaging and have that shipped to my boss' plane by taxi.

It then gets back here within an hour and a half.

I guess my rant with Sysco has a lot to do with logistics as this has been my thorn in the side with them for a long time.

I can only imagine what Chefs on Mackinac Island must go through having their product delivered by horse drawn carriage.

Cars or trucks are not allowed on the island to keep its' charm, but I'll bet is a nightmare for them.


----------



## matthew bauman (Jul 19, 2014)

Your provider should be an ally, and a partner to you and your business. They have a vested interest in your business doing well. Once that ally becomes a source of stress and costs you money you should start to reconsider being partnered with them. I am sure there are 2-3 more rep's out there drooling for your business.

I'd say it is time to start shopping for options.


----------



## thetruthishere (Feb 26, 2015)

They don't care about chefs. They want to sell you prepared crap because the margins are higher. The dont want Chefs to deal with because raw materials and commodities have lower margins. They just want some zombie jackass they can sell pre-made shit to. Also will work on owner to get on board with this. They claim they are Chef oriented, but they would love to put them all out of business and sell high margin shit. As far a vacations that is real. They will have brokers come in and set up sales competitions for their products. All of a sudden you are getting Cains mayo instead of Hellmans. You dont want Cains. "Oh sorry we are out of it" , so you take it. Its part of the promotion. He wants his trip to Vegas. Disgusting how the Sausage is made with brokers and distributors. They dont care about chefs. They laugh about it. Sysco soured me on the whole industry. They worship the Walmart template. Now they are trying to get even bigger. Better off going to the Supermarket at this point.  Seriously, price out a refrigerated truck. It will pay for itself in a year!!!


----------



## thetruthishere (Feb 26, 2015)

Run like hell kid. Try something else. You will thank me in the morning!!


----------



## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

I will simply add that my restaurant experience with Sysco was similarly bad all the way around. Charging more than the supermarket, unconcerned with my individual needs, delivery issues and on and on. The salesman was a nice guy but when I asked what tofu they carried he replied, toFU? How do you spell that?  He had no idea what it was even after I explained it. 

After too many trials and tribulations, I dumped them.

     I'd have to agree that they work best with other giants and don't care about small accounts although my current corporation uses them. I had an issue a while ago and the rep actually said "I'm not going to help you". I've left out the details but that was his last comment after hearing of my concern. Fortunately when I relayed this experience to my boss, he got together with his boss and called the Sysco sales manager to remind them of the millions of dollars in business our company was providing them. His tune changed fast but only temporarily. 

Sysco sucks no matter how you slice it.


----------



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

*....Sysco sucks*

Been my mantra for years. Even when I was in Chicago as a Banquet Chef, I stayed away from them as bet I could.


----------



## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

Chefross said:


> *....Sysco sucks*
> 
> Been my mantra for years. Even when I was in Chicago as a Banquet Chef, I stayed away from them as bet I could.


Best news this week was the FTC putting a block on the merger of SYSCO with US FOODs, who I happen to like. Hopefully the block sticks.


----------



## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Sysco  ==  All their  good sales people have left. Now they simply have order takers, kids that they pay less to, that know nothing.

 . They try and sub their brands for the national brands because they make more $ on them.

The distribution points are franchised and not really owned by the company.

They have at least 3 prices for everything they sell(depending on what you let them get away with) They are certainly not the most reasonable around. US foods is a little better. but not much.

If they are allowed to merge it would be a violation of Sherman Anti Trust Laws(monopoly).

    I threw them out when they tried to charge a surcharge for gas without telling me , and increased product cost weekly without telling me.  Proof is in the pudding, their stock price has not gone anywhere for years.


----------



## grande (May 14, 2014)

Are we having a sysco hate fest? Because I hate sysco too!


----------



## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

I 86'ed Sysco from my place, but because I am a slow learner it took a second time before it stuck.


----------



## alaminute (Aug 22, 2013)

Super bowl was in my city this year, day of they failed to deliver. Just didn't show. Then again on Valentine's. No sorry, no nothing. They just acted like we should be kissing their @$$


----------



## hj613 (Jun 23, 2015)

Well I worked as a Sysco rep and I can tell you that's they are a terrible company they talk the talk but can't walk the walk!!! They lie a lot to customers and their emoyees. I am not surprised with these testimonials


----------



## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

alaminute said:


> Super bowl was in my city this year, day of they failed to deliver. Just didn't show. Then again on Valentine's. No sorry, no nothing. They just acted like we should be kissing their @$$


No show? That's just their way of telling you that your order should have been bigger. So could you please kiss butt now? It's ust that they have bigger accounts to service and you're taking up time.

I dunno... the day I locked the kitchen door when I saw the Sicko rep walk in the dining room was probably the one of the best days I had in years.....


----------



## grande (May 14, 2014)

Last place I worked, they did dark drops. Sometimes, they would leave all the product outside the walk in- and right in front of the door


----------



## freddy12712 (Jun 1, 2015)

our company orders from sysco and we have problems all the time with our orders.


----------



## grande (May 14, 2014)

And your producys, I'm sure


----------



## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

Unfortunately, with all these companies merging, it will only get worse. I once threatened to pull my business from Cysco and five minutes later had the regional vice president on the house phone and the seafood purchasing manager on my cell at the same time. Those days I'm sure are long gone. I had enough and got out of this business a year ago. Not worth it, between idiot suppliers and people you can't train, I had it.


----------



## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

Chefedb, I thought U.S Foods and Sysco merged last year. Maybe it wound up not going through. I don't know, I quit the business right about that time.


----------



## chefross (May 5, 2010)

greyeaglem said:


> Chefedb, I thought U.S Foods and Sysco merged last year. Maybe it wound up not going through. I don't know, I quit the business right about that time.


Still in the works.


----------



## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

Chefross said:


> Still in the works.


Not really, thankfully. The good news is a federal judge has just sided with the FTC who blocked the merger many months ago. This new development will likely kill the deal for good. I happen to like US Foods. I can shop their entire inventory from my home computer, tablet and even my cell phone. My reps jumps through hoops for me. And I've saved over 20% over the exact same items from Sysco. The fact that this merger is now dead is good news for our industry.

If you want to read about it: http://www.wsj.com/articles/federal...ion-blocking-sysco-us-foods-merger-1435093324


----------



## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

CapeCodChef said:


> the FTC putting a block on the merger of SYSCO with US FOODs...


Interesting.

I was wondering how that was going to turn out, specifically for the reps from both companies who are gunning for the same accounts right now.

I had good experiences with Sys co in the past. In the late 90's I worked at a small place (~80 covers on a Friday). I got shorted on halibut on a Friday and the rep went to the grocery store and bought me halibut (and ice cream bars) out of his own pocket. I was pretty new when it came to food costing, so the owner did most of that, but I think that their prices were fair. Maybe my experience is an isolated one...?

I've been with FSA now for about 10 years, using 2 different reps (first one retired) and I think just one regional manager. The reps have consistently tried to help me find cheaper products that are of the same quality, and let me know when there is a great deal on a certain product. I have their order guide/FC program on 2 computers, so I just do the order myself and send it. Sometimes I walk through and do it with the rep when I'm feeling lazy. Sys co and U S food don't have these programs, though?

Last place I worked at, shook the Sys co reps hand and told him sorry, but your services are no longer required. I have an actual, mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship with my broadliner.

Sorry for sounding like a poster boy, but I can't believe how bad some of you have it. I can't believe that someone doesn't start a company like the one I am using in the mid west and east coast. Seems like there would be a market for it.... that the big guys would eventually buy out. :/


AllanMcPherson said:


> A fairly recent developement (within the year anyway) is that their reps are forbidden to transport product to their clients directly


Yeah, the way I heard it, one of the big boys' reps left unrefrigerated perishables in his car for too long and someone ended up getting sick. That's why I was told by my rep, anyways.

So now I have to get unscheduled truck deliveries ($8.00 fuel charge) when I eff up on the order.


----------



## capecodchef (Jan 19, 2014)

My last US Foods rep left to work for PFG, who would have benefited from the forced sell-off of some Sysco/USF regions. My current USF rep gives me the same service you describe and still drops off samples and drop ship items I forgot to order on my weekly. (And yes, I have my order guides/fc on-line so I place my orders directly 24/7.)

Sysco got sued when they got caught storing perishable food in unrefrigerated  outdoor storage lockers for hours before dropping them off at restaurants, hotels and schools in California. Brilliant After that, the reps couldn't carry anything due to a court ruling. Other companies have no such restrictions as far as I know. I just got two samples of 4 lbs of CK lobster (sweet!) just this week.


----------



## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

FSA stopped doing it because of that incident. At least in my region.

It's a bit harder/takes longer to get samples now that the rep can't just pick them up and bring them to me.

Never really dealt with USF.

There was a rep who was sniffing around for a while, but he finally gave up.

Kept bringing me samples of premade junk like desserts and BBQ ranch dressing. Not what my menu is about. At all. Ha!

I did have a rep for a couple months who would call me at night, drunk, to tell me that she really cares about me. That was pretty funny.


----------



## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

left4bread said:


> I did have a rep for a couple months who would call me at night, drunk, to tell me that she really cares about me. That was pretty funny.


Isn't that what answering machines are for?

You:

"If I don't get my price on 16/18 e/e bacon I'm going to release your "message" to the district sales supervisor Thursday....".

Not......


----------



## whiskytango (Apr 24, 2011)

sysco doesnt suck. the rep  you work with sucks. my sysco rep is great, he goes out of his way to help me. even paid for my trip to the sysco lab to give their commercial kitchen a go at my menu with great chefs taking apart my menu and helping me with suggestions as to how to prep better with my storage limitations. sysco is big, but really it depends on your rep...from my experience


----------



## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

The ordering system makes me crazed! I go down my order guide adding items, get to the review order page and inevitably items are missing.. My favorite is when they're out of stock on something and don't let me know or don't sub out for something comparable (like regular bananas for petit) or they do sub out and it's way wrong like ordering lean short ribs and huge racks of fatty brontosaurus ribs arrive, for Fathers Day I might add. At my wits end!


----------



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

chefedb said:


> Sysco == All their good sales people have left. Now they simply have order takers, kids that they pay less to, that know nothing.
> 
> . They try and sub their brands for the national brands because they make more $ on them.
> 
> ...


I think this total thread is based on what ChefEd states. Sales Reps ( gosh I hate those words )98% of them are *ORDER TAKERS*. I stopped using the words about 15 yrs. ago

THE SOONER THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY CHANGES THEIR JOB TITLE AND DESCRIPTION TO "*ORDER TAKERS*"THE BETTER OFF WE'LL ALL BE! Our expectations are

way to high of these people. I don't personally hate them, just their function. I am a very small account. I still require my order taker to show up weekly. I have a vendor bid sheet for both sysco and US Foods. I make them turn the sheet back to me the same day so I can place the order. The US Foods *order taker*, finally caught on at about 6 weeks, that I didn't use 3/4 of the products listed. I let him off the hook. I do enjoy Tuesday mornings when the Sysco* order taker* grabs the sheet runs to her car and sits till the list is done. It's been about 9 months now. I take the bid sheet and order the few things I need (usually the same every week) and tell her if I need something else on the sheet I will call her. I never do. I just feel it's a little pay-back for all the crap I delt with when in volume places./img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif


----------



## tingsoon (Jun 18, 2015)

I have only been using sysco for 2 years in my current company. Despite wanting to switch to FSA or a local company, one of the co-owners is invested in Sysco so we can't switch accounts.

Now re-named to Piss-co, Shitco, or Angry Groceries.

(Angry Groceries was our driver who used to be a rep but had to make ends meet and pay for his drinking habit. Habitually showed up 4-6 hours behind "promise time" and always red in the face plus the faint smell of hard liquor. Groceries were handled as well as a dingo on babysitting duty. Eggs crushed, fresh produce damaged, ripped packages of cheese thrown in with grill bricks and oven cleaner.)

Our representative constantly claims that their DC (distribution center) is having issues with in the warehouse with quality control, keeping up with scheduling, scheduling enough drivers, etc. And on the front door of their local HQ / DC there's a large "Now hiring drivers and warehouse staff - Little to no experience required!". 

Overall very disheartening.

Now for my favorite story--------------------------

Order a small ($800) order of fresh produce, meats, etc. for 7-10 AM delivery.

Our location is open from 5AM - 1PM

Sysco doesn't show up by noon.

Call the rep. She says, "Oh they'll be there in 30 minutes they had the wrong delivery address".

Wait.

Around 5pm I called the rep but got her voicemail. I assume she had gone home for the day. Called sysco customer service to let them no that we could no longer receive the late product and  left to work my other job which had started at 4 and I was now late for. Get a call during work but cannot answer or check to see who it is.

Check voicemail at 12AM when I am off my night job. It's Sysco letting me know they delivered my product but no-one was there to receive it.

Drive from my night job to work to put away groceries by myself at 12:45AM.

Cry.

Call in the morning to get a credit for the spoiled food and get harassed about how I should've informed them no-one could take the delivery.

Took over a month to get my credit and no apology when I followed up with my rep.

Cry some more.


----------



## raibeaux (Dec 21, 2012)

Sysco is paying $300 million to US Foods to end the deal.  It seems they would have been better served to invest that money into teaching a little foodservice knowledge to their clueless reps, rather than in forming a gargantuan monopolistic take-it-or-leave-it conglomerate.  Same suggestion goes for US Foods and others out there.

To be fair, can't say that USF is a whole lot better.  But they are somewhat better.

I don't understand why I never have a rep with foodservice experience.  Even six months line experience would be helpful.  Maybe they could open a restaurant at their corporate headquarters and require salespeople to take a 60-day "course" including everything from washing dishes to costing menus.  If not the salespeople, at least some district reps.

My all-time favorite example of "clueless" was when the salesman jacked up the price of an item by over 50% because it was selling so well (really happened!).  I took it off the menu.  When I told him it was off the menu because I couldn't sell it at such a high price, he replied, "just don't raise your prices and you'll still sell just as many".  <[ : ^ (

That's when I gave up trying to explain anything to them. Any of them.

The End.


----------



## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Read what I wrote at the top of this page, it all  still applies but even more. They are  the worst around and never tell the truth. This week The Feds turned  down their bid to join with US Foods.


----------



## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Tingsoon said:


> (Angry Groceries was our driver who used to be a rep but had to make ends meet and pay for his drinking habit. Habitually showed up 4-6 hours behind "promise time" and always red in the face plus the faint smell of hard liquor. Groceries were handled as well as a dingo on babysitting duty. Eggs crushed, fresh produce damaged, ripped packages of cheese thrown in with grill bricks and oven cleaner.)


I dunno, lousy service and representation is one thing, but the thought of someone driving a 10 ton truck around sh*t faced scares the hell out of me.

I really think an anonymous phone call to the cops from a "concerned citizen" with a description of the truck would be in order.


----------



## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

Maybe starting a foodservice company should be my next career move.


----------



## tingsoon (Jun 18, 2015)

I honestly think he got let go or found a new job. Fortunately he only delivered for us for around 6 months until we got a new driver.

@chefwriter count me in. Marketing experience + great customer service and tech skills /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


----------



## leeniek (Aug 21, 2009)

Interesting thread.  Our niece works at the new Sysco plant that opened in Woodstock ON and from what she says it's a great place to work.  She is in the office though so likely it's different than being a customer service rep or warehouse worker...


----------



## leeniek (Aug 21, 2009)

When I worked at the cafe, we had a great sales rep from our supplier.  Our busy time was summer because of the patio (the only one on the street at that time) so we would always make big orders but in the winter it was slower and we never met the minimum order requirement but she didn't penalize us for it as she knew it was going to change in the summer.   We ordered from them every two weeks and she would come and see us every two weeks and sit with me and go through what I had on hand and what I needed.  She also was always bringing in samples of products we might want to try out and see how they fit in with what we were doing.  

When I had my brief stay at the diner I tried to get the owner to switch to her company for our dry goods etc, and to the produce company we used at the breakfast place I went there from and he flat out refused, even though he would have saved money in the long run.  No... instead he stayed with the more expensive supplier (and it was the same stuff I was getting from the one we used at the cafe) and the produce company that also had a minimum order requirement (the one I suggested didn't and with it being a very small place... less than 25 seats.... it would have made sense) but no,  we just threw out alot of potatoes and somehow that was ok?


----------



## leeniek (Aug 21, 2009)

I wonder if it is suppliers do it again?   One of our major suppliers has run out of three key ingerdients we need for production.....how on earth does that happen?   They are importers and well should by now know the demand from us and their other clients.... and yet they are out stuff...    

When we finally can get our supplies we are in the kelp forest with how delayed we are and we have to catch those menu items up.....  Good news is management will never let us down and they well get in an army of temps to help out


----------

