Keep Uncle Sam at Bay

Likewise, if you have a firm date for replenishment and you tell a customer the item will ship on that day, you must ship on that day or notify the customer otherwise. The 30-day rule is in effect only when you do not make a specific representation on the ship date.

Therefore, your phone reps should tell customers the item is on backorder, and you expect to get more product by a certain date. However, state that you will contact customers again only if the items have not shipped within 30 days. Then you haven’t promised anything that requires additional notification beyond the 30-day rule.