Buyer missed one option and got 1% of the cable they needed

Every Monday morning The Register kicks off proceedings by asking the same question - Who, Me?" - the title of the reader-contributed column in which you share your tales of the occasions on which you didn't quite nail the brief yet somehow found career relief. This week, meet a reader we'll Regomize as Terry" who told us that in the 1970s he worked for a defense-related company. I needed 100 meters of RG8 50 ohm coax cable, so ordered it from an accredited' supplier," he wrote. What I didn't notice was that there was an option for partial delivery'." Terry's order duly arrived, all one meter of it - plus paperwork explaining that the other 99 meters would be along presently, thanks to the partial delivery option. Needless to say, the one meter was not enough to span the distance between the two laboratories I was trying to link with an RF connection," Terry wrote. Offering the partial delivery option cost the supplier their accreditation. Terry later learned that a junior employer at the cable supplier was sacked over the matter, after admitting he thought sending one meter of cable was a jolly jape. I did not think it was a joke at the time," Terry wrote. Have you made a procurement error that ended up costing you, or your supplier? If so, don't short-change your fellow readers! Instead, click here to share your story with Who, Me? Our mailbag is a little short on stories, so contributions of any length are very welcome. (R)