Delivery discrepancy report template, and how to send one that gets answered
A printable discrepancy report, the five things a supplier needs before they can act, and the wording that turns a complaint into a credit note.
In short
- A report that says what you want to happen gets a decision. One that only says what went wrong gets a reply asking what you want to happen.
- Same day matters more than complete. A short note today beats a thorough one on Friday.
- Photographs taken before anything is moved are the part nobody can reconstruct afterwards.
The gap between noticing a problem and telling somebody who can fix it is where most of the money goes. Not because anybody refuses to help, but because a week later the pallet has been broken down, the wrap is in a bin, and the conversation becomes two people describing different memories.
Delivery discrepancy report
Fill it at the bay. Send it the same day.
Report no.
Date raised
Supplier
Purchase order no.
Delivery date and time
Carrier / tracking
Delivery note no.
Raised by
| Item / SKU | Qty ordered | Qty received | Difference | Type | Photo ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type: short / over / damaged / wrong item / not on order
Noted on carrier paperwork? (Y/N)
Goods held or put away?
What we are asking for (credit / replacement / collection)
Needed by
Sent to (name and email)
The five things a supplier needs before they can act
- 1The purchase order number. Without it your report lands with somebody who has to find the order before they can read the rest.
- 2The item, ordered against received. Both numbers, on the same line. “We are short on the brackets” starts a conversation; “ordered 40, received 34” ends one.
- 3Whether it was noted on the carrier’s paperwork. This decides whose problem it is. A shortage noted on the delivery receipt is a different conversation from one discovered after a clean signature.
- 4Photographs, taken before anything moved. Wide enough to show the pallet, close enough to show the damage, and one of the label.
- 5What you want to happen. Credit, replacement, or collection. Say it. A supplier reading a list of facts with no request attached will pick the cheapest interpretation, and they are not wrong to.
Wording that works
Short, factual, no adjectives. The version that gets a credit note reads roughly like this, and it is deliberately boring:
Put another way
PO 4471, delivered 14:20 on 3 September by Regional Freight, delivery note 88214. Line 3, part BR-40: ordered 40, received 34, six short. Shortage noted on the driver’s paperwork and signed by him. Photographs of the pallet as delivered attached. Please raise a credit for six, or ship six on the next run: either is fine, we need them by the 12th.
What makes that work is not politeness. It is that every fact somebody would have to ask for is already in it, and the last sentence removes the decision they would otherwise have to come back to you about.
Worth knowing
Do not put away goods you are disputing until you have said so. Putting stock away is one of the things that can look like accepting it, which weakens a rejection you may want to make later. The mechanics of that are in what signing for a delivery actually commits you to.
DockCount does this job on a phone at the bay: count a delivery against the order it was placed on, photograph anything wrong, and the record writes itself. receiving reports you can send to purchasing.