Doing business relies on people fulfilling the promises they make in the contracts they sign with each other. When one party fails to keep their side of the deal, it causes issues for the other party.
There may be valid reasons why one side cannot fulfill their commitments. For instance, this last year has seen a drastic shortage of bicycles. Manufacturers were unable to open, so they could not supply their distributors with bikes. These, in turn, have been unable to provide local shops as promised, and the shops have been unable to deliver to customers as promised.
How you handle a contract breach determines whether it becomes a dispute
When someone breaches their contract with you, consider what would be an acceptable solution. If you can sort out the issue quickly, then pursuing litigation may not make sense. Business relationships can take years to build, so good ones are worth preserving, even if it requires a bit of flexibility on your part.
If the other side refuses to recognize their fault or won’t commit to making it right, you may need to take things further. You might want to seek damages for the issues they have caused you.
A judge will look at any contract dispute on a case-by-case basis. They may award you compensation if the other party caused you financial loss. Yet, that might still not solve your immediate problem, which is the lack of goods you need.
Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. No amount of litigation in the world could help a local bike shop or customer get bikes that were not available. Remember that force majeure policies may exclude you from making claims in certain circumstances.