Wiretap-One-Shots: Hard Sell
Allen ran inventory for a popular Phoenix dispensary, and he spoke with confidence about running this inventory well. The spoils of his well-run inventory was a tote container of samples that he often used to set the staff up with, or if he needed a pick me up in his week, he would dip in. The backlog of samples allowed him and some of the other managers to focus their sampling on the newest products to attempt entry onto the product shelves. One day, a new company, Oxmaul Extracts, came in with a known and familiar sales representative now working for them. Allen met with the rep, Myke, to see some of his wares which just happened to be some of earliest rosin cartridges on the Arizona medical market. Allen was genuinely impressed with the company and their offerings as he signed the trip manifest to intake the samples that came with Myke which included rosin cartridges, rosin, and a rosin moonrock named pu-pu rocks.
The products were picked over by management staff but Allen made sure to grab a rosin cartridge for himself. A half-gram of dark reddish rosin filled the new (at the time) C-Cell cartridge that Allen screwed into his work branded battery. Allen shares with me “When dispensary staff get new samples, the first thing we wanna do is try them! So I went to lunch following some of the other management staff who got their samples, and everything was a hit. That cartridge was smooth, strong, and I felt good that it was clean!” Allen returned and divided up the new samples to the rest of the staff in their goodie bags, and removed the amounts from staffs’ allotments. Allen emphasizes that he wanted sample testing to happen with everyone before making a decision to purchase anything from Oxmaul Extracts, but he took the time to enter Myke’s information from his business card, chuckling as he did so. Allen would know after a few days whether this company was worth a damn he thought; as he gathered his things and put them away in his backpack before leaving work.
The feedback poured in over the next few days, and the consensus was that everybody loved the cartridges, couldn’t taste the rosin, and hated the pu-pu rocks. Allen and the purchasing manager decided that it was time to call a meeting to see what sort of arrangements could be made for an order the following week. Allen says “Minds were made up before the weekend, including my own. Everyone was pleased to be trying the newest tech to hit the shelves, and we were just happy it was decent.” Allen had left a message for Myke, and was looking to meet with him first thing Monday. It was the week’s end and Allen was ready to go home. He gathered his things including his new rosin cart and put it in his easy reach pocket on his backpack. Allen checked on his staff, set up tasks for the weekend, and got the hell out, early on Friday too. His days off were a blur of sleep, pizza, groceries, bills, going out, and smoking weed before it was Sunday night.
Monday morning, Allen was excited to meet with Myke to see if a deal could be made. Allen was surprised to check his email, and find no response from Oxmaul Extracts. He decided to call, and when Myke picked up, Allen asked “Hey Myke, hope all is well, I was wondering when we could get together to discuss your products?” Myke says “I’m in Northern Arizona for a few days, but I will call you when I get back!” Allen was satisfied with that, and went about his work week while waiting for a call from Myke. Friday had come, and was quickly going when Allen realized he had never heard back. He put together a polite email, and CC’d his purchasing manager who had inquired again earlier. They talked about the touch and go service, but hoped for better results the following week. Before Allen knew it, another week had passed with no word from Myke, so he decided to send one more email. It was a Monday, three weeks later that Allen had not heard back and was wondering if the company was ever even real. Caught in his thoughts, reception walks in to let him know that Myke from Oxmaul Extracts was here to see him.
Allen, very excited, agreed to meet, and waited while reception brought Myke back to talk. Upon entering, Allen noticed that Myke seemed annoyed, and clearly had something on his mind. “Hey bud, I was wondering when you guys were going to order, and never heard back!” Allen, confused, responded “I’m sorry, but I reached out several times with emails since we last talked.” Myke, visibly confused, now aggressively says “Let’s forget it, and talk about getting our products on your shelves.” Allen, never getting flustered, doesn’t let his intentions slip, and tells Myke he wants to double check his business card for mistakes concerning their miscommunication. Allen insists, and makes it clear he holds the cards concerning placing any orders. Myke’s annoyance became apparent to Allen, who almost stopped so he could place the massive order but continued the motions to his backpack. He opened his backpack pocket to find the rosin cart had exploded, ruining his backpack along with everything in it, and sitting next to the blown out cartridge; a business card covered in rosin with only Myke – Oxmaul Extracts being legible. Allen explains that he made it clear that negotiations were in his favor, and included a new backpack before any orders took place.
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Adrian Ryan was born in New Mexico and attended school since elementary in Arizona, his time growing up split between the two states. He hopes to work towards recreational cannabis, enjoys reading, writing, film, music, and also writing music.
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