Vendors that give total support to their Solution Providers advance end–users customer service by recognizing the trusted and fiduciary relationship each Solution Provider has developed with its clients.  By pledging to these following principles, vendors enable such trust and, best practices as determined by ASCII for the end-users of our members.

Engagement Principles:

• We recognize that all commercial relationships are based on trust and when trust is lost, the business relationship will not inure, regardless of short term economic incentives.

• We acknowledge that in our industry there are many different kinds of relationships between manufacturer and solution providers on account of the value add each brings to the final solution for the ultimate customer in a particular transaction.

• We understand that manufacturers have the right and power to change at any time the business agreements between their partners, the solution providers and their ultimate customers – the end users, except where there is an agreement or understanding granting prior rights.

• We submit, however, that for practical, ethical and other reasons, manufacturers do not have the right to engage in unfair business practices that abridge the necessary trust, witch include the following:

• Employ sales people that tell customers not to purchase through the channel, or shift existing channel sales to a direct basis, with specific knowledge that the customer was a channel sales customer.

• Introduce a more favored reseller into an existing reseller account where there is knowledge of the pre-existing relationship; or, influence customer selection by recommending a specific favored reseller instead for providing customer choice where there is no knowledge of a pre-existing relationship.

• Provide sales support, tools, customer reps or other favorable terms and conditions only to a few select very large accounts at the expense of the broad channel.

• Allocate inventory, indirectly or directly to only a few select very large accounts that leaves the broad channel without product.

End User or ASCII Solution Provider Complaint

If you are an end-user or an ASCII Solution Provider that feels a vendor has violated these principles, you may report the violations using this form.

Please note that there are terms to which you must agree in order for The ASCII Group to process your complaint.