“Not much.I went to see Miles to find out if there were any issues with taking Valerie on a tour of their facility.I brought up some of the refunds for quality issues, and Miles suggested talking with you two and Marcus.”
“The last pieces we rented had cracks in the wood, and one piece was already broken.”Josh drummed his fingers on the table.
“What did they say?”Rustic should have a quality control department.I rubbed my chin, remembering it on the company structure reports.
“Nothing,” Dean chimed in.“They said it was a mistake and quality control should have caught it.”
“But they didn’t.”If this had been the first time, or even the second, it could have been passed off as simple error.Based on what I’d seen and what Josh and Dean just reported, this was a quality control issue that was—to all intents and purposes—being ignored.
“No, and when we pointed it out, all they would say was that it slipped through the cracks.”Josh waved his hands.“I’m not completely buying it.”
“How long has this been going on?”
“We’ve had a few different incidents.”Josh sat back in his chair.“Is this going to risk the acquisition?”
“I don’t know.Have you let John know about this?”While our president, John Boyd, was pretty hands off, this was something that should be brought to his attention.
“Outside of our meetings, no.We don’t have anything concrete.”Dean rubbed his eyes.
“I’ll keep an eye out when I go on the site visit, but I don’t like this.”Maybe it was time to talk with John to see if there would be major issues if this acquisition fell through.“Thanks, guys.”I left and took the elevator to the C-suite.
“Hi, Jackie,” I said to John’s executive assistant.
“Lucas, what can I do for you?”
“Is John available?”Usually I’d call, but I wanted to get it hashed out now before I took Valerie to visit Rustic.
“Yes, he is.”She stood and walked over to the closed door and knocked, then opened it.“John, Lucas from Finance wants to talk with you.”
“Send him in.”
“Thanks,” I said after she ushered me into his office and closed the door behind me.
“Lucas, what can I do for you?”John waved at me to sit down.
“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“Nothing but boring reports.”
I nodded.“How much do you have riding on the acquisition of Rustic Delights?”While I was in charge of Finance, John controlled company acquisitions.
John’s eyebrows rose.“We’ve put a bit of work into the acquisition, but we can back out if we need to.Do we?”
“I’m hoping not, but there are some concerns.”
“The forensic accountant already found something that you didn’t see?”
“Yes and no.Valerie is good, and she said the books seem off.Sometimes they balance and other times they don’t.Plus, the P&L doesn’t contain things it should.In my initial overview, I found things missing but not to this extent—which is why I wanted the forensic audit done.”
John frowned.“What else has happened to make you concerned?”
“Josh and Dean have mentioned that some of the equipment seems below standards.Not all the time, but a few instances.”
“I see.It looks like Rustic’s quality control is falling down on the job.When we started courting Rustic, it looked like their standards were as high as ours.We have a sterling rep for quality, whether it pertains to devices we develop or the materials we use in fulfilling fantasies.We never cut corners.Never.”John leaned back in his chair, his frown deeper, now combined with an aura of determination.“Tell me why you’re concerned.”
I was glad John took this seriously, not that I hadn’t expected him to.John was hands on and valued the input of his department directors.“Valerie and I are going on a tour of Rustic.She wants to learn more about the company so she can figure out what’s going on.Pieces of the puzzle aren’t falling into place the way they should.”
“Tour?She wants to see it?”John seemed surprised.
