Let me rant first: a receiving discrepancy is at its most infuriating not when goods go missing, but when you were standing right there and signed the problem away yourself. The driver is waiting, trucks are lining up behind, the crew is urging you to hurry, and one signature later you have confirmed, in writing, that everything arrived complete and in good condition. The next morning, a count finds cartons missing, and the answer comes straight back: "But you signed for it." You have lost the argument before it starts.
This article is not about receiving goods with no purchase order. That is a different problem. The premise here is clear: a purchase order exists, the goods were supposed to arrive against it, and something does not match — the quantity is short, something is damaged, or the model is mixed up. The logic is simple: lock down the evidence before you sign, and argue about money afterward. Get the order wrong, and everything after it is uphill.
Don't Sign Yet: Count Against the Purchase Order First
My rule now is rigid: when the truck arrives, do not sign first. Count first. Counting does not mean opening the whole truck carton by carton — the driver would hate you, and the warehouse would burn a whole shift. I work in two layers. Layer one is pallets and cartons: if the pallet count is off, stop right there. Layer two is spot-checking suspicious pallets — a deformed outer carton, a seal that looks wrong, a pallet that feels clearly light — and opening one to look. The person who counts and the person who signs should ideally be two different people. Two pairs of eyes catch far more than one.
I learned this the hard way during a peak season a couple of years ago. A shipment of several dozen pallets arrived after dark, the driver pressed us to sign quickly because he had another stop, and my brain slipped. I signed first and let the truck go. The next morning the crew found a couple of pallets missing. The supplier said its outbound paperwork showed a full shipment. The carrier said the signed receipt said everything was in good condition. Neither was lying. The mistake was my signature. Since then the rule is fixed: even for a night delivery, we count the pallets before signing, and we handwrite the actually received pallet count next to the signature.
One detail many people miss: count against your own purchase order, not against the delivery note. The delivery note is written by the other side. Copy their mistake and you have made it official. Work down your own order line by line and flag every mismatch. A wrong model is worse than a short shipment, because wrong-model stock that reaches the shelves gets picked and shipped to customers, and the return cost lands entirely on you.
Photos, a Discrepancy Note, and a Hold Area: Your Receiving Discrepancy Evidence Kit
When the count turns up a problem, three things have to happen before the truck leaves. First, take photos. Photograph the overall arrival scene, each pallet's seal and markings, close-ups of damaged outer cartons, and the inner goods once a damaged carton is opened. Ideally the photos show the time context and the truck in the background. One lonely photo of a broken box proves nothing — you need a set that reconstructs the scene. Shoot in order: wide shot, then pallet, then the problem spot, and archive the photos the same day, not in one person's phone until nobody can find them.
Second, write a discrepancy note. It does not need to be formal, but four elements are non-negotiable: the order number, the gap between received and expected quantities, a description of the problem, and a signature or acknowledgment from the driver. What if the other side refuses to sign? Write "counterparty declined to sign," take a photo showing them present, and it still counts. The key is that this note must be created before or at the same time as the signature, not afterward. Signing a clean receipt first and mailing a discrepancy note the next day is basically worthless.
Third, move problem goods to a hold area. A short shipment leaves a gap you cannot hold, but damaged, wrong-model, or suspect-quality goods must never go straight onto the shelves. Once they mix into normal stock, nobody can tell which cartons are bad. Use a small marked area near receiving, tagged with the order number, the problem, and the date, until you decide whether to return, replace, or accept a discount. Record it separately, never mixed with sellable inventory.
A second case shows why this matters. Once we received a shipment whose outer cartons looked perfect but whose inner goods were crushed. The crew nearly put it away, until a spot-check pallet gave it away. Fortunately we had photographed the whole unboxing, and the discrepancy note recorded the intact outer cartons and the damaged inner quantity. The supplier agreed to reship, and although the carrier argued for a while because the outer cartons were undamaged, at least the supplier side was settled first and our stock never ran out. If we had shelved the goods to save time, we would either have shipped them to customers and earned bad reviews, or quietly written them off ourselves. Both endings lose money.
Signed Already? How to Book and Chase a Receiving Discrepancy
If the signature is already on the paper, is it too late? No, but the difficulty and cost jump a level. Every receiving discrepancy follows the same rule — the earlier the evidence, the cheaper the outcome — so first work out which row you are in:
| Situation | Do this first | How to book it | Who to contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Found before signing | Photograph, write the note, hold problem goods | Book only what arrived; gap stays pending | Supplier and carrier, same day, per contract |
| Signed, found same day | Photograph scene and stock, write a supplementary account | Gap stays pending; never absorb into normal stock | Same day, with signed receipt and count records |
| Signed, found days later | Reconcile order, outbound paperwork, and stock records | Adjust to the verified quantity, reason written clearly | As soon as possible; push for discount or reshipment |
| Outer intact, inner damaged | Keep packaging and inner goods; photograph unboxing | Hold area only, never the shelves | Supplier first, then carrier per contract |
Behind this table sits a counter-intuitive judgment: spending an extra half hour on evidence at receiving is far cheaper than spending half a month arguing afterward. Many people think documenting a problem is picking a fight with the supplier. In practice it is the opposite. A well-documented note is faster for the supplier to process, because their own claim process needs evidence too. A vague claim bounces around until nobody wants to own it, and you eat the loss.
Booking matters just as much. A short-shipped gap must not be booked as a full receipt, because the system will then show phantom stock and you will oversell. Nor should it simply be written off, because that means absorbing the other side's loss. Book what actually arrived, carry the gap as pending, and clear it when the reshipment arrives, or when the supplier confirms no reshipment is coming and you have agreed a discount or refund. The entry must be traceable: order number, discrepancy note number, and where the photos are stored. If the same supplier shorts you repeatedly, that ledger is your evidence at renewal time.
For notification deadlines, follow whatever the contract says, and where nothing is specified, follow the carrier's terms and the latest official policy. My internal rule is to send it the same day — the timestamp on that first message is your protection. Wait several days, and the other side can fairly ask how anyone knows you didn't damage the goods yourselves.
Three reminders to finish. First, never leave the signature box as just a name — write the actually received quantity next to it, because a blank receipt box is a back door left open for the other side. Second, do not rush to throw damaged goods away, because throwing them away throws away the evidence; keep the original packaging and inner goods until the case is closed. Third, do not worry about annoying the driver — an annoyed driver costs you half an hour of waiting, while a wrong signature can cost you a whole shipment. This trick actually works, and I have tested it myself: ever since counting, photographing, writing the note, and using the hold area became a fixed routine, we have never had a shouting match with a supplier over receiving again.
By Ah K, E-commerce Seller (5 yrs)
