Checking a Delivery Properly Before You Accept It
By The Velocity Wear Team
Deliveries usually get counted and shelved. That is enough to catch a shortage and nothing else. A structured check finds the problems that matter while they can still be raised, which is a much shorter window than most buyers assume.
Check on arrival, before anything is moved
- 1**Carton count and condition.** Damage, water marks, crushing. Photograph anything wrong before opening, since a damage claim depends on evidence at receipt.
- 2**Total quantity** against the order and the packing list.
- 3**Size breakdown,** which is where errors concentrate — a correct total with a wrong split is a common and easily missed fault.
- 4**Style and colour** against what was ordered, not against what you remember ordering.
Sample properly rather than checking everything
Inspecting every garment is impractical above small quantities. The standard approach is to inspect a sample drawn across cartons rather than from one, since problems often affect part of a run.
Formal inspection standards exist and define sample sizes and acceptable defect numbers by lot size. Whether or not you use one formally, the principle is worth borrowing: pull from multiple cartons, inspect a consistent number, and decide in advance what defect rate you will accept.
What to inspect on each sampled garment
- **Measurements** against the approved specification at key points, with the agreed tolerance.
- **Decoration** — placement measured from the neck seam, size, colour, and edge quality.
- **Construction** — seams, stitching, loose threads, anything skipped.
- **Labels** — correct neck label, care label present and accurate, composition correct.
- **Colour consistency** across the sample, ideally against your sealed reference garment.
- **Cleanliness** — marks, oil from machinery, packing dust.
Compare against the sealed sample
This is what the approved sample is for. Keep it unworn and unwashed, in a bag, and use it as the reference. Comparing bulk against memory is not a comparison.
Raise problems immediately and specifically
Photograph everything, quantify it — how many pieces, what proportion of the sample — and reference the specification point that was missed. "Some of them look a bit off" is not a claim anyone can act on.
Do it quickly. Claim windows are short, and a supplier can act on a fault reported in week one in ways that are impossible in month three.
Decide the remedy before you need it
Agree at order stage what happens if a proportion of the run is defective: replacement, credit, discount on the affected pieces, or return. Settling it in advance turns a dispute into an administrative step.
