Proposal Due By End Of Day Still Awaiting Decision On Which Day

SATIRE / FICTION

This is an original fictional story. The characters, organizations, events and dialogue are invented.

A commercial roofing proposal remained on schedule Wednesday after the sales representative confirmed it would arrive by end of day without identifying which day was currently under consideration.

The customer had reasonably understood the original promise to mean Tuesday. The representative said Tuesday had been the day the promise was made.

“I wanted to give them a firm commitment,” the representative said. “I didn’t want to say sometime and leave them wondering.”

The estimator has been told the proposal is due today. Asked when that instruction was issued, the estimator said yesterday, but noted that the message had been forwarded again this morning.

A follow-up call established that end of day means before the representative finishes working. The representative sometimes finishes working after midnight, placing the deadline within a separate unresolved discussion.

The customer asked whether the proposal would definitely be ready for Thursday’s scheduled review. Sales confirmed that getting it over before the review was the priority.

“So, by end of day?” the customer asked.

“Absolutely,” the representative said.

“Sounds good,” the customer replied, without specifying what sounded good.