Escalation Path
A vendor support agent has not replied to a P2 ticket within the agreed response time. The service is degraded but not down.
Expected answer: Operational escalation
Strong action: Contact support lead, document missed response, request update.
Users report slow service, but the vendor dashboard is green.
Expected answer: Independent evidence collection
Strong action: Capture monitoring, timestamps, screenshots, user reports.
The vendor misses an SLA target and the contract defines a service credit.
Expected answer: Service credit claim
Strong action: Calculate credit and request application to invoice.
A vendor has one serious outage but responds well, communicates clearly, and provides a strong RCA.
Expected answer: Repair relationship
Strong action: Monitor corrective actions before considering exit.
Internal users are affected, but you do not yet know the root cause.
Expected answer: Preliminary communication
Strong action: Communicate impact, workaround, next update time.
The same vendor has missed response targets three times this month, but each incident was eventually fixed.
Expected answer: Management escalation
Strong action: Escalate to service manager and demand corrective action plan.
The vendor says the outage started at 10:30, but your logs show failures from 09:50.
Expected answer: Incident timeline
Strong action: Build timeline from detection, impact, vendor acknowledgement, restoration.
The vendor misses a reporting deadline, but the service itself works.
Expected answer: Non-service performance breach
Strong action: Document breach and escalate through governance.
The vendor keeps meeting minimum SLA numbers, but user complaints are rising.
Expected answer: Renegotiate measurement model
Strong action: Add degraded-performance and user-outcome metrics.
The vendor tells you not to inform customers until RCA is complete.
Expected answer: Client communication control
Strong action: Communicate known impact without speculating on root cause.
The vendor account manager keeps apologizing, but performance is getting worse and the QBR is two months away.
Expected answer: Accelerated governance escalation
Strong action: Call emergency service review before QBR.
A vendor claims the failure was caused by your network, but provides no proof.
Expected answer: Fault attribution evidence
Strong action: Request technical evidence and compare against internal logs.
The CEO wants termination after one major failure, but the contract requires three critical breaches in six months.
Expected answer: Termination threshold not met
Strong action: Explain limits, preserve evidence, issue formal warning if justified.
The vendor repeatedly fails but switching would take nine months.
Expected answer: Repair while preparing exit
Strong action: Demand improvement plan while evaluating replacements.
The CEO wants a public statement blaming the vendor immediately.
Expected answer: Controlled external communication
Strong action: Avoid blame until evidence is confirmed.
A critical outage affects customer transactions. Vendor support is active, but the vendor refuses to classify it as P1.
Expected answer: Severity dispute escalation
Strong action: Escalate using evidence of business impact and SLA criteria.
The vendor restored service but refuses RCA because “the issue is resolved.”
Expected answer: Root cause analysis demand
Strong action: Require RCA with timeline, cause, corrective actions, prevention.
The vendor breached a material obligation, but the contract gives them 30 days to fix it.
Expected answer: Cure period
Strong action: Send notice of breach and track cure deadline.
The vendor refuses transparency, disputes every incident, and provides weak RCAs.
Expected answer: Trust breakdown
Strong action: Begin exit planning and formal escalation.
A regulator may need notification if customer data was affected, but facts are incomplete.
Expected answer: Staged incident communication
Strong action: Notify legal/compliance and prepare conditional reporting path.
The vendor repeatedly fails during business-critical periods, executives are angry, and legal wants breach notice. Operations says switching now would be dangerous.
Expected answer: Executive/legal escalation with continuity planning
Strong action: Preserve rights, demand remediation, start exit assessment quietly.
A major customer threatens not to renew after repeated degradation that never crossed the formal outage threshold.
Expected answer: Business-impact evidence package
Strong action: Document customer impact, support load, revenue risk, operational disruption.
The SLA credits are capped at 20%, but business losses are much higher.
Expected answer: Remedy limitation risk
Strong action: Assess whether damages, renegotiation, or exit rights remain available.
The vendor is failing, but no transition plan, data export process, or replacement provider exists.
Expected answer: Exit-readiness failure
Strong action: Build transition plan before attempting termination.
Customers demand compensation, the vendor denies breach, and internal teams disagree on impact.
Expected answer: Coordinated crisis messaging
Strong action: Align legal, operations, customer success, and leadership before response.