"restrictive trade"? your opinion

[simplepeddler]

Here is the scenario

Contractor sends me a bid for a job, three contractors are bidding the job directly to the owner.....let's call them Plant T

during the bid process I am asked to bid a manufacturer that my competition had done the work on and specified, although I am also a distributor for that product.

So, I go to said manufacturer and asked for quote and was told I could not quote the job.
So I just took my published stocking distributor price and marked it up.

My contractor does not go even go to the distributor that specked the job for a price. That distributor is teamed up trying to help another contractor steal the job away from the contractor I am quoting.

Job gets awarded to my guy.
I go to place the order at the REGULAR in to stock every day normal one at a time price and was told I HAD TO BUY THEM FROM MY COMPETITOR AT A 35% PREMIUM!!!

is this restrictive trade? Price fixing? Collusion??
The plant specked the product, but the contractor is buying them based on the scope of their contract.

MY CONTRACTOR gave me the purchase order and now, although I am a stocking authorized distributor, these guys WILL NOT accept our PO.


What do you guys think?

Lawyers out there?
Our contract to the manufacturer does not have any situational restrictions in it.

But we were asked to stand down and we choose to quote it anyway thinking the other guys had a BETTER price so we went skinny. Happens every day and I would concur with that IF the end user was doing the purchase, but they sent out a hard money bid.