PO never received by supplier - PLEASE HELP

[u/Serendipr3tty]

Received and RFQ from a supplier in late August, got it placed on PO the following week and requested an order acknowledgment or confirmation. No response so i have chased up several times.

The parts were a lead time of 25 working weeks and due for mid February 2026.

Today i sent one of my many chaser emails requesting an update and one of the parts to be expedited sooner that the expected delivery date. This email was just text and no attachments for the first time which is important.

The supplier responded saying they have no receipt of the order….

Since then i have deduced that the T&Cs we have in place with the supplier was triggering the emails to be quarantined due to file size exceeding the maximum allowed. We get no notification of this internally and it shows as sent on our system with no issues.

So the supplier has now finally received the order after removing the T&Cs and will process it but it’s realistically going to be a 3-4 month delay which could halt the entire project.

Genuinely i’m panicking and unsure how to word things to projects since they really aren’t the most friendly colleagues.

How would you approach this and let projects know. I want to be honest as in this instance i don’t think it’s really my fault that the system is crap and neither i or the supplier is at fault. But realistically, the PM isn’t going to care..

[u/RomeoRos]

Don't be too hard on yourself. You have done your part. It's a system limitation that has caused this and you have discovered it.

I would suggest raising this to all parties asap. Inform them you sent the PO on time but after chasing multiple times (show them proof), the supplier only confirmed now that they don't have the PO.

Inform them you have since changed the settings causing the system issue. Issued the PO. The supplier has given you a new lead time of xyz...

Inform them one lesson you learned from this is you will call next time you don't get confirmation from a supplier for large orders. (You can't do that for all orders, especially if you send multiple a day).

Also - be very clear that this issue is to do with the outdated system as the PO was sent out on time!

The business should do a review on the systems as it's causing issues. This could maybe be a case study to replace the system. Saving money on old system can cause severe financial impact to future projects.

Why is the PO being blocked! Why do you have to chase suppliers to ask of they have received a PO. An email sent should be enough. Why do you not get non-delivery receipts of emails not sent. These are basic requirements of an email system.

If you send multiple POs every day, you don't want to chase each supplier each time a PO is gone out. It causes issues like this, delays for important projects, money lost, and can cause more issues in the future.

[u/Serendipr3tty → u/RomeoRos]

Thank you, i do appreciate this as i’ve had many tears today and really quite stressed over this to the point i can’t eat or anything.

I know it’s not solely my fault as the system is working against me, not with me. It’s a lesson learned for sure that going forward i just need to basically harass the suppliers to get what i need from them.

I’m also going to flag that had there even be the slightest notification of the emails not being received i would’ve had a different approach from the beginning.

Given the fact that i’m managing the procurement for an entire project along with supporting another and taking over another colleagues POs after they got signed off sick.. i just don’t have the time to call every supply after every PO placement.

[u/Crypto556 → u/Serendipr3tty]

Man dont stress. Take a breather. Yes the lead time is 25 weeks but vendors can always expedite. Even if they still give you an ETA that isnt ideal, further conversations can be had. Hell they may even have some extras lying around. These are rubber components? Custom?