Received the wrong goods: the claim, the paperwork, and the stock you're stuck with

The carton label matched the purchase order: 240 units of NTBK-A5-DOT, the dotted A5 notebooks that sell steadily every month. But the weight felt wrong on lifting, and inside were 240 phone stands — a SKU from the same supplier's adjacent line, packed by a warehouse that grabbed the wrong pallet. Nothing damaged, nothing missing, everything wrong.

That's the wrong-goods incident: right supplier, right quantity, wrong items. This guide walks the first hour (quarantine and documentation), the same-day claim sequence, an evidence checklist you can reuse, the disposition options for stock you're stuck with, and the arithmetic of deciding what to do with it. If your problem is the right item in the wrong quantity — fewer units than ordered — that's a shortfall, handled separately in our short-shipment guide.

Rule one: nothing enters stock until the SKU matches

Wrong goods that get binned are the expensive version of this incident: they masquerade as inventory until a customer order fails, and by then some may have shipped. Catching the mismatch happens at the door, by counting each line item against the packing slip — the intake checks themselves are covered in our receiving verification checklist.

If the wrong goods are already binned and you've discovered them later, pull them to quarantine now, before anything else. Selling units you know are wrong turns a supplier's shipping error into your returns problem, and refunds to customers rarely get reimbursed as cleanly as a supplier claim.

The claim, in order — same day

1. Quarantine. Marked, separated, nothing opened that doesn't need to be photographed. The carton is now evidence.
2. Photograph before repacking. Carton exterior with the label visible, the packing slip, the actual items with SKU or barcode readable, and a wide shot showing full quantity.
3. Email the claim the same day. Reference the PO number, packing slip number, SKU and quantity ordered versus received, and attach the photos. Send it to the contact that handles orders, and cc whoever invoices you.
4. Ask for the disposition, don't just report the problem. State what you want: a return authorization, a replacement shipment, or a credit. Open-ended complaints drift; specific requests get answered.
5. Set the follow-up date. Five business days, written into the same email. Claims without a clock attached are claims that stall.

The timing matters beyond good manners. Under UCC Article 2, rejection of non-conforming goods must happen within a reasonable time after delivery or the buyer is treated as having accepted them (accessed November 2026). A same-day email is your timestamp — and most supplier terms mirror that principle with even shorter windows.

The evidence checklist

One packet, saved with the claim email:

• Carton exterior — label side, shipping condition, any tampering
• Packing slip — the full sheet, not a crop
• SKU close-up — the received items, barcode or SKU readable in frame
• Quantity proof — the full contents in one wide shot
• Your PO — the line item the shipment was supposed to match
• Weight note — if the carton label's weight disagrees with the contents, that detail strengthens the case
• Dates — received-on and photographed-on, visible or noted in the email

And the claim email itself, five lines:

Subject: Wrong goods received — PO [number]

PO [number], received [date]: ordered [SKU, quantity], received [SKU, quantity]. Photos attached. Please confirm by [date] whether you will send a return authorization with freight on your account, replace the goods, or issue a credit for [value]. The goods are held untouched in quarantine pending your instruction.

The stock you're stuck with: three dispositions

The arithmetic, illustrative throughout. Say the phone stands carry an estimated cost of $4.10 each: 240 × $4.10 = $984.00 (estimated) of stock you didn't order.

• Full credit, supplier pays freight: net recovery ≈ $984.00 (estimated), minus any restocking fee — 10% would be $98.40 (illustrative), leaving about $885.60.
• You pay return freight: estimated freight of $18 (illustrative) brings net recovery to roughly $966.00.
• Keep at 40% off cost: you'd pay $590.40 (illustrative) for goods with $984.00 of cost value — only rational if phone stands fit your catalog and will sell at normal margin, because cash and shelf space are now committed to a product you never planned.

Two levers do most of the work: restocking fees and who pays freight. Both are negotiated in the claim email, which is why the disposition request belongs in the first message, not the third.

If the claim stalls

• Second message, referencing the clock. Restate the goods, the dates, and the reply-by date you set. Keep it short and factual.
• Dispute the invoice line. Don't pay for goods you didn't receive — but pay in full for anything you did receive and are keeping, so the dispute stays narrow and credible.
• Carrier claim, only if the carrier is at fault. If the wrong goods trace to a carrier error on an interstate shipment, claims fall under the Carmack Amendment (49 U.S.C. § 14706), and carriers customarily require claims to be filed within nine months of delivery (accessed November 2026) — if that's your situation, file early and separately from the supplier claim.
• Last resorts. Credit hold on future orders, then the payment channel used, then small claims. Most wrong-goods claims never get that far when the evidence packet is complete.

Preventing the next mix-up

• PO lines carry descriptions, not just SKUs. A SKU the supplier's picker has never seen invites substitution; a description and barcode make the mix-up visible before it ships.
• Confirmations before shipment. A one-line "please confirm SKU and quantity" on unusual or first-time orders catches most swaps.
• Check by SKU, not by carton. Carton counts match on nearly every mix-up; line-item checks are what catch them. Shopify's variants support up to 20 barcodes each, as of November 2026 (Shopify Help Center, accessed November 2026), so a scan-at-receipt habit against the packing slip flags a wrong SKU in seconds.

Common questions

What should I do first when a supplier ships the wrong item? Quarantine the goods untouched and photograph the carton, packing slip, and items the same day. Then send a written claim referencing your PO, asking for a specific disposition — return authorization, replacement, or credit — with a reply-by date. Nothing enters sellable stock.

Do I have to accept wrong goods and claim later? No. Under UCC Article 2 you can reject non-conforming goods within a reasonable time after delivery. Even if they've already moved, identify, quarantine, and claim immediately — acceptance happens by delay, which is why the same-day email matters.

Is a wrong-item shipment the same as a short shipment? No. Short shipment is the right item in the wrong quantity — fewer units than ordered. Wrong goods is a different SKU entirely. The paperwork overlaps, but the resolutions differ, and the shortfall case runs on its own timeline and fixes.

Can I charge the supplier for return freight on wrong goods? Usually yes, when the supplier is at fault — freight on corrected or returned goods is normally negotiated to their account. Get the answer in writing with the return authorization before shipping anything back, then file the receipt with your claim packet.

What if I already sold some of the wrong goods before noticing? Refund or replace those customer orders promptly and include them in the claim with order numbers attached — most suppliers credit orders affected by their error. Fix the customer-facing orders first, then continue the claim for the remaining stock.

Next step

Save the claim email template above into your drafts today, then check your most recent delivery's packing slip line-by-line against the PO — a mismatch found at the door costs minutes, while the same mismatch found in a failed order costs the order, the refund, and the count cleanup. The surplus-quantity version of this incident is covered in the overdelivery decision table.