What to Do When a Pre-Shipment Inspection Fails

A failed inspection is the system working. The problem was found while the goods are still at the factory and the balance is still unpaid. What you do in the next 48 hours decides whether it costs you a few days or the season.

First, read the failure correctly

• Which class failed? One critical defect means the affected goods don't ship. Major and minor failures leave more room.
• Where are the defects? Concentrated in one SKU, one colour, one line or one range of carton numbers points to a fixable cause. Spread across everything points to the process or the material.
• What kind of failure? A product defect, a packaging or label problem, a short quantity, or a failed test such as a leak or drop test.
• Against what? If the defect breaks the agreed spec or golden sample, you can insist. If it's something you never specified, it's a negotiation, and a note for next time.

Failure type	Usual fix	Typical time
Cosmetic: scratches, stains, marks	100% sorting; clean or replace units	2–5 days
Workmanship: burrs, loose parts, gaps	Rework on the line	3–10 days
Packaging, labels, barcodes	Relabel or repack; reprint if the box itself is wrong	1–7 days; a reprint takes 2–3 weeks
Short quantity	Produce the balance, or ship what's ready	Depends on the shortfall
Wrong colour or material	Remake	Weeks; may miss the window
Function or safety failure	Find the root cause, remake, retest	Weeks

Within 24 hours: put it to the factory in writing

1. Send the report and photos, and ask for the root cause and a corrective plan with dates.
2. Agree that the whole lot is sorted, not just the units the inspector saw.
3. Don't open with a discount. First decide whether the goods can be made right.
4. Confirm who pays for the re-inspection. If your purchase order says the factory does, say so now.

Your options

1. Sort, rework, re-inspect. The default for most major and minor failures.
2. Partial shipment. Ship the conforming cartons now and the rest after rework. Useful when a season or a launch date is at stake.
3. Accept with a price reduction. Only for cosmetic or minor defects your customers will tolerate, agreed in writing on a revised proforma invoice. Never for critical or safety defects.
4. Remake. For wrong materials, wrong colours or functional failures.
5. Cancel the affected quantity. The last resort. How much of the deposit comes back depends on your purchase order and your leverage; a refund or a credit against the next order is usually negotiated, not litigated.

Re-inspection done right

• Same AQL, the same checklist, and ideally the same inspector.
• A fresh random sample from the whole reworked lot, not from a pile the factory has prepared.
• Check the specific defect that failed, plus the full checklist.
• Ask for the factory's own 100% sorting record.

If it fails a second time, move to options 3 to 5, and start qualifying a backup supplier for the next order.

Money and paperwork

• The balance stays unpaid until the re-inspection passes. It is your only real leverage.
• Write everything down: the report, the corrective plan, the new ship date and any price change, signed or confirmed in writing.
• Missed vessel or extra freight: who pays should already be in your purchase order clauses. If it isn't, negotiate it now and add it to the next PO.

Stop it happening again

• Update the spec sheet and golden sample with what you learned.
• Add a during-production inspection next time, timed to catch this defect early.
• Tighten the AQL for this defect, or move a recurring minor defect to major.
• Keep a record of each supplier's inspection results across orders. The pattern tells you more than any single report.

FAQ

The factory says every factory has this defect rate. The question isn't what is normal; it is what you agreed. Point to the AQL and the defect list in the purchase order.

Can I ship now and fix it at the destination? Sometimes for labels, which a warehouse can relabel, though at a much higher cost. Never for safety defects.

The failure was for something not in my spec. What now? Negotiate a fix or a price, then put that point in the spec for every future order.

If goods have already arrived with problems, see what to do when a China shipment arrives defective. To have inspections and follow-up handled for you, see our quality control service.