Hi, I was wondering if anyone could shed a little light on my situation. Any comments are very much appreciated.
I own a small business manufacturing and wholesaling products. I have a company with whom I have been doing business for almost a year. Their buyer and I had a great relationship and she would e-mail me orders and then follow up with a purchase order from her accounting department as a formality after we had agreed on order size and delivery date.
In December, she placed a rather large order with me for delivery in January. This order was huge by my standards and I had to order extra inventory to cover the order. We agreed on quantities and delivery date and she would follow up with a purchase order shortly. She always had me start on orders before I received the PO because her accounting department was always slow with the paperwork and she wanted her goods on time. (Bad mistake on my part, in hindsight)
So, I ordered all the materials, and began on her order. In the meantime, a week or so went by and I followed up with her. She informed me that her company had instituted a new policy capping the dollar amount on purchase orders but not to worry because we could just split the order into several purchase orders. More time goes by, with no PO and I start to worry.
A few more weeks go by and the buyer contacts me to tell me she is no longer with the company but gave me the new buyer's contact info. I immediately let the new buyer know that we had these outstanding orders and she seemed to want to work with me on getting the product shipped to them. However, a few more weeks go by and now the new buyer is trying to tell me that they don't want the product originally agreed upon.
My question is this: Is the original e-mail from the first buyer considered a contract? Do I have any legal standing in pressing the issue with them? Or am I out of luck because they never issued an official purchase order for the goods?
Your expertise and advice are very welcome. Thanks in advance.
I own a small business manufacturing and wholesaling products. I have a company with whom I have been doing business for almost a year. Their buyer and I had a great relationship and she would e-mail me orders and then follow up with a purchase order from her accounting department as a formality after we had agreed on order size and delivery date.
In December, she placed a rather large order with me for delivery in January. This order was huge by my standards and I had to order extra inventory to cover the order. We agreed on quantities and delivery date and she would follow up with a purchase order shortly. She always had me start on orders before I received the PO because her accounting department was always slow with the paperwork and she wanted her goods on time. (Bad mistake on my part, in hindsight)
So, I ordered all the materials, and began on her order. In the meantime, a week or so went by and I followed up with her. She informed me that her company had instituted a new policy capping the dollar amount on purchase orders but not to worry because we could just split the order into several purchase orders. More time goes by, with no PO and I start to worry.
A few more weeks go by and the buyer contacts me to tell me she is no longer with the company but gave me the new buyer's contact info. I immediately let the new buyer know that we had these outstanding orders and she seemed to want to work with me on getting the product shipped to them. However, a few more weeks go by and now the new buyer is trying to tell me that they don't want the product originally agreed upon.
My question is this: Is the original e-mail from the first buyer considered a contract? Do I have any legal standing in pressing the issue with them? Or am I out of luck because they never issued an official purchase order for the goods?
Your expertise and advice are very welcome. Thanks in advance.