*NEWS*GEORGIA TOSSES OFFICE DEPOT …..

[Anonymous]

state of Georgia tosses office Depot contract
The state of Georgia is seemingly preparing to terminate its $60 million office supplies contract with Office Depot.
According to industry sources who have been actively lobbying Georgia state purchasing officials over alleged irregularities and mismanagement by Office Depot and its consultants, in an unprecedented move the state’s attorney is preparing a termination letter that would end Office Depot’s participation in the state office supply contract.Representatives from Georgia independent dealers were apparently due to meet with state officials today (11 February) at 9am EST to present evidence that Office Depot had overcharged the state by $1.2 million, but were informed on Friday 8 February that the meeting had been cancelled and that the state was preparing to end Depot’s contract

Below is Commissioner Douglas’ statement:
“The state had been working diligently with Office Depot to correct performance issues related to the contract, including incorrect pricing being charged with both overcharges and undercharges on numerous products. There were also some service issues as well as well as a lack of responsiveness to the State Purchasing Division. Due to the many hours expended to put this contract in place, the state gave Office Depot every opportunity to solve the performance issues, as we had hoped to salvage the extensive procurement effort behind this contract.

“Per the state’s standard contract language, a ‘cure letter’ was generated to Office Depot late last year demanding performance improvements. While some improvements were made and many of the overcharges were credited back to various state agencies and refunds for undercharges were not requested by Office Depot, as of last week, numerous issues remained with specific regard to incorrect pricing being featured on Office Depot’s statewide ordering portal. Accordingly, the state decided to terminate and place Office Depot on suspension for the next 120 days.

“In the interim, the state will not have a statewide contract for office products. We have instructed state buyers to purchase office supplies from any source they choose, including Office Depot. However, state contract pricing is no longer available as the contract has been terminated. The suspension placed on Office Depot does not preclude state agencies from purchasing from Office Depot during this interim period. It merely precludes Office Depot from participating in the next procurement cycle which we plan to implement within the 120-day timeframe.”there was no comment from Office Depot  regarding this issue.

[Author]

February 12, 2008 at 4:05 PM