Potential Receiving Problems

If all goes well, you will receive exactly what is written on the Waybill (WB), and that will be exactly the quantity and quality you expected.

But sometimes it won’t happen that way.  Sometimes you’ll have situations where:

1. There is no Waybill
2. Items on the WB are not in the delivery
3. There are extra items in the delivery, items that we did not order
4. Items in the delivery are damaged
5. Items in the delivery are different from what we ordered
6. The trucks you are expecting never show up
7. You can’t send back items we reject with the delivery truck

This page deals with these problems.

Keep in mind that you should always involve the Requester as soon as there are any problems with a delivery – especially during an emergency response.  That person must be involved in making decisions about what to do next. 

1. If there is no Waybill
   1. Compare the contents of the shipment to the Purchase Order, Contract, or Dispatch Notice to make sure we got what we ordered.
   2. List the number, type, and condition of the items delivered on the Goods Received Note.

      Note that you should do these two things for every shipment that arrives, not just those without a Waybill.

2. If items on the WB are not in the delivery

   1. Inform the Requester.

   2. Write the number we actually received in the receipt sections of the WB and GRN.  We will only pay for the quantity we received.

3. If there are extra items in the delivery, items that we did not order

   Write the number we received on the WB and GRN.  We will only pay for the quantity we ordered.  If the Supplier wants to take back the extra items, he can, but he must pay for the costs.  Work with the Purchasing Staff to communicate with the Supplier about this, and get the Supplier’s decision in writing (email is fine).

4. If items in the delivery are damaged
   1. Write down on the WB and GRN how many of which types of items are damaged.  (We will return them to the Supplier, and the Supplier should replace them, at his own cost.  See step b below).
   2. Inform the Requester and ask what he/she wants to do.  In an emergency, if the items are not too badly damaged, the Requester might want to keep them anyway.   Replacements might take too long to arrive.  Keep the Requester informed of what happens as you take the next couple steps and make sure you have his or her agreement with the solution you propose.
   3. Inform Purchasing Staff about the issue so they can communicate with the Supplier.
   4. If possible, and if the Requester agrees, send damaged items back to the vendor immediately, with the same driver who brought them.  (However, sometimes this is not possible.  Click here for information on what to do in this case.)
5. If items delivered are different from what we ordered

   For example, if we ordered bamboo poles that are 2 meters long, but they deliver 1 meter poles, we might have a problem. 

   The first thing you must do in this situation is call the Requester, or someone else who knows the purpose of the items that we ordered. Only those people will be able to make a decision about what to do next. We list some possible options below.

   1. If the items are completely wrong and we cannot use them, we must send them back to the vendor. The Requester will make the decision about whether or not we can use the incorrect items. He or she should document the decision in writing for the WO.
   2. If the items that arrive perform the same function, but are of a higher quality than what we ordered, inform the Requester immediately.

      In normal circumstances, the Procurement Department would notify the Supplier who would then decide either to replace them with the right quality (at his cost) or allow us to keep the higher quality items at the (lower) cost of the goods we actually ordered.  But during an emergency, when speed is important, we have to think about two things:

      1. The time it will take to replace the wrong items with the right ones.
      2. The cost of the higher quality items (if we cannot convince the Supplier to allow us to keep them for the price of the lower quality items).

      You must involve the Requester in the discussions with the Supplier.  When you’ve got a decision about what to do, make sure you get confirmation in writing from the Requester and the Supplier.  Emails from them will be fine.

   3. If the items that arrive perform the same function, but are of a lower quality than what we ordered, ask the Requester to decide whether we can accept the lower quality goods for the project. Get his or her decision in writing.
      1. If the Requester accepts the lower quality items, ask the Procurement Officer to contact the Supplier and ask for a revised quotation for the lower quality goods, or to replace them with the right quality.   We must make sure not to pay for higher quality goods than we receive.
      2. If the Requester does not accept the lower quality items, or the Supplier will not give us a fair price for the lower quality items, return the goods to the Supplier with an explanation.
6. If the trucks you are expecting to arrive never come

   Sometimes trucks just won’t come.  If this happens, you can do the following to start looking into the problem:

   1. Call the driver, if you have a cell phone number for that person.
   2. Call the trucking company or truck owner.
   3. Call other agencies to see if they received a shipment on behalf of CRS, or received an unexpected shipment of the things we were supposed to receive.
   4. Ask at logistics cluster meetings if any other agencies have received shipments that they were not expecting.
7. If you can’t or don’t send rejected goods back with the Delivery Person

   If you can’t or don’t send rejected items back to the Supplier with the truck that delivered them, record the items in our inventory as rejects, and store them in a separate but secure location of the warehouse.  You should do this even if we will only keep them temporarily.

   Make sure to write on the Waybill and/or GRN the quantity of rejected goods, the reason for rejection, and the place where we stored them.

   If, for any reason, we cannot return damaged goods to the Supplier with the same driver, the Warehouse Manager informs the Purchasing Department to contact the Supplier and ask what they would like to do with the rejected goods. We list some options below.  The first option is the best for CRS, and the last option is the worst one for us.

   1. The Supplier arranges for salvage or alternative use of goods at Supplier’s expense, and CRS pays a discounted price for the salvaged goods
   2. CRS arranges for salvage or alternative use of goods at Supplier’s expense, and CRS pays a discounted price for the salvaged goods
   3. Supplier arranges for the return of the goods at his expenses. CRS only pays for goods received in good order 
   4. CRS arranges for the return of goods at Supplier’s expense. CRS only pays for goods received in good order