Most claims that fail do not fail because the buyer was wrong. They fail because the evidence was gathered three days late, in a warm loading bay, with a phone camera and no reference to the lot code. A claim is a document, and it is either built properly in the first twenty-four hours or it is an argument you will lose politely over several weeks. Here is how we ask our own customers to handle it.
Open the pallet before you sign anything
Sign the delivery note with a reservation if the pallets show any external sign of a problem: leaning stacks, wet or stained cartons, broken corner boards, a missing or broken seal. A clean signature on the CMR or delivery note is the first thing that will be quoted back at you. Note the reservation on the paper copy the driver keeps, not just on your own.
The evidence that actually carries weight
Five things make a claim supportable, and all five need the same date and the same lot reference.
- Pulp temperatures taken with a calibrated probe on at least three cartons from different positions in the load, recorded with the reading visible in the photograph.
- The full temperature trace downloaded from the logger, not a screenshot of the last day. Our note on what to do in the first 24 hours at your warehouse covers the sequence.
- Photographs showing the carton label and lot code in the same frame as the defect. A photograph of bad fruit with no label proves nothing about whose fruit it is.
- A counted assessment: how many cartons were checked, how many were affected, and to what percentage within each carton. Percentages without a denominator are opinions.
- The date and time of every step, from container opening to the last photograph.
The deadlines
Three clocks run at once and they do not stop for each other. Your commercial claim against the supplier is usually contractual and short, commonly three to seven days from delivery. A claim against the carrier for a reefer malfunction is governed by the bill of lading and is often three days from delivery for visible damage. A cargo insurance notification runs on the policy wording, which may allow longer but expects prompt notice. Notify all three in writing on day one even if your assessment is incomplete, then follow with the detail.
What a credit note covers, and what it does not
A supplier credit note is compensation for the goods, and on a part-load it is normally calculated on the affected cartons at the invoiced FOB or CFR value, not at your intended selling price. It does not usually cover your freight on the whole shipment, your handling and disposal costs, the margin you expected to make, or the customer you lost. Those sit with cargo insurance if you carried it, which is why the distinction matters and why the cover on a groupage load is worth understanding before rather than after. See our guide to insuring an Egyptian part-load.
Where the defect is a condition issue that developed in transit rather than a grading failure at packing, expect the discussion to be about the cold chain and the transit time rather than about the specification. Where it is a size, count or class deviation, the specification on the order confirmation is the whole argument, which is the strongest reason to define it precisely at the quotation stage.
Keep it commercial
A well-documented claim settled quickly is a normal part of a working relationship and usually improves the next order. A vague claim, or one raised after the produce has been sold, damages both. Send us the evidence set above and we will come back with an assessment rather than a negotiation.
To discuss an arrival or set up a part-load with a defined arrival specification, message us on WhatsApp at +20 10 9911 1918.