STATE OF 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 4:07 PM