Document the shipment’s condition promptly and notify the relevant parties within the deadlines in the contract, insurance policy and applicable rules. Preserve evidence before sorting, reworking or selling affected goods; a universal 72-hour deadline should not replace the actual claim procedure.
What has to exist before a claim can be argued
A claim is a comparison between what was agreed and what arrived. If the first half was never documented, there is nothing to compare against and the conversation becomes an exchange of opinions.
The documents that make a claim arguable:
- The signed golden sample, or photographs of it if it was sealed at the factory.
- The written specification, including the defect classification list.
- The inspection report, if one was done.
- The order confirmation stating quantity, specification and packing.
Where these exist, a claim is a factual discussion. Where they do not, the factory's position — that the goods match what was ordered — is difficult to rebut.
Receiving inspection and prompt notification
In order:
- Photograph the container before unloading, including the seal number and the door-end stow. If damage occurred in transit rather than in production, this is the only place it will be visible.
- Photograph the cartons as they come out, with shipping marks legible and carton numbers visible.
- Do not sort, repack or rework anything until the evidence is complete. Sorted goods cannot be re-examined, and a factory is entitled to ask for the defective units as they arrived.
- Quantify. Inspect a defined sample using the same method the order specified, and record how many units were checked and how many failed. "Many units are defective" is not a claim; "68 of 200 checked show the same moulding flaw" is.
- Photograph defects against the golden sample in the same frame. A defect photographed alone is a photograph of a product; photographed next to the approved sample it is evidence.
- Notify the supplier in writing immediately, even before the investigation is complete. Contracts and insurance policies commonly contain notification windows, and a late notice can extinguish an otherwise valid claim.
Establishing where the fault arose
Three possibilities, with different remedies:
Manufacturing defect. Consistent across units, present from production. The supplier's responsibility.
Transit damage. Concentrated near the container doors or at the bottom of stacks, often with visible carton damage. This is a freight or insurance matter, not a supplier matter — and pursuing it against the supplier wastes the notification window that the insurer requires.
Specification gap. The goods match what was ordered, but what was ordered was not what was needed. Commercially awkward, and worth recognising honestly, because pressing a claim that has no basis damages a supplier relationship that may otherwise be good.
The pattern of defects usually distinguishes these within an hour of looking, and reaching the right conclusion early determines whether the next month is productive.
Settlement structures that get agreed
Ranked roughly by how readily factories accept them:
- Discount on the current shipment. Simplest, fastest, and the most common outcome for a defect rate the buyer can work around.
- Credit against the next order. Costs the factory less in cash terms and preserves the relationship. Good where you intend to continue.
- Replacement of defective units in the next shipment. Practical where the defect rate is modest and the goods are not urgently needed.
- Free replacement shipped separately. Expensive for the factory in freight terms, and usually reserved for serious failures.
- Full refund and return. Rare. Return freight often exceeds the goods' value, and most disputes settle before this.
A workable opening position is usually a discount proportional to the measured defect rate plus the cost of sorting. It is specific, it is calculable, and it is the settlement most likely to be agreed without escalation.
Claim risks to evaluate
- No golden sample and no written specification. Nothing to compare against.
- Goods already sorted, reworked or partly sold. The evidence is gone.
- Notification months after arrival. Outside any reasonable window, and the factory can argue the goods were fine when shipped.
- Passing pre-shipment inspection. A passing sample under an agreed plan does not establish the defect percentage of the whole shipment or automatically settle a later claim. Assess the observed defects, contractual specification, warranty and agreed claim procedure.
- Complaints about aspects never specified. A colour that was never fixed against a swatch is difficult to claim on.
Preventing the next one
Most claims trace back to a step that was skipped at order stage: no golden sample, no defect classification, no inspection, or an inspection whose result was ignored because the shipment was urgent. Each of those steps costs a small amount at the time and is what a claim is later argued from.