Two buyers, the same stevedore rain, the same transatlantic crossing. One photographed the wet cartons on the tailgate before signing anything, emailed a numbered claim letter with photos within a week, and was settled inside a month. The other unloaded everything quietly, shelved the stock, and raised the damage by phone a month later. Same water, same port, very different endings. In this trade, a claim is usually decided by how it was opened.
The 7-Day Convention
Trade practice, and it is convention rather than law, expects notification of a problem within roughly seven days of goods arriving, with photographs and a written claim letter. The convention exists because evidence decays fast. After unstuffing, the seal chain is broken, wet cartons dry into ambiguous stains, and short counts become hard to distinguish from pilferage at destination. A claim raised in week one arrives with its evidence intact.
The photo set that supports a first-week claim is short and specific: the container or tailgate before unloading, the seal number, damaged cartons in their original positions, opened cartons showing contents and packing, and close-ups of the damage itself. For container-level damage, a surveyor appointed through the insurer completes the picture. Photograph everything before disposal, because damaged goods are evidence until the claim closes.
Indian textile trade lives on WhatsApp, and buyers who run the channel well outpace those who wait on email. Thread discipline, photo evidence, time-zone rhythm and escalation etiquette, from our side of the desk.
Returns and Claims in Textile Trade — Fixing Problems Without Ending Relationships
In textile trade, the way a claim gets opened usually decides how it closes. The seven-day convention, claim categories, remedy logic and the insurance discipline that keeps problems from becoming endings.
Ajmera Export 5 Jul 20266 min read
The seal number deserves its own sentence. It is the hinge between "the supplier shipped it short" and "the chain after unloading lost it", and noting the seal's condition and number before the wire is cut is a thirty-second habit that decides which side of the hinge a claim falls on. Origin-side loading photos, which we send before every vessel sails, pair with the arrival seal record to close the loop from our gate to yours. When both sets exist, most disputes resolve themselves in the first exchange of emails.
Claim Categories and What Each One Needs
Short-shipment is arithmetic: carton count at unstuffing against the packing list, and piece counts inside opened cartons against the invoice. Photograph the shortfall in place, count the remaining cartons, and note the seal condition on arrival. Quality claims need the defect story: counts against the agreed AQL, photos against the golden sample, and shade drift documented lot by lot under the same light. Water and transit damage belongs to the insurance conversation, needs a surveyor, and needs the goods preserved. Delay claims are the awkward category: rarely recoverable unless the contract makes them so, which is why dispatch dates in a purchase order deserve genuine attention.
Writing the Claim Letter
The letter that settles fast is factual and boring. Facts, numbered. Photographs attached and referenced by number. Each category claimed separately with its quantity. The remedy you are requesting. A request for acknowledgment with a timeline. What ruins claim letters is heat: accusations, speculation about causes, and adjectives doing work that photographs should do. A supplier reading a clean letter can process it in one pass and forward it internally without translation. A supplier reading an angry one starts with defence, and everything slows from that moment.
Credit Note, Replacement or Refund
The remedy should fit the problem, and most problems do not need refunds. Replacement suits wrong-but-sellable situations and quality shortfalls within the season, with replacement pieces usually riding the next container rather than flying separately, which keeps freight proportionate. A credit note against the next order suits small quality deltas where you would rather keep the cash moving inside the relationship than pull it out. Refund belongs to irreparable, large issues, and both sides should treat it as a last stop rather than an opening position.
Freight on replacements is negotiable and worth negotiating quietly. A shared structure, replacement goods travelling with the next order, supplier-side re-work, keeps both margins alive. The buyers we have worked with for years are not the ones who never claimed; they are the ones whose claims were proportionate, evidenced and early.
Insurance for Transit Damage
Marine cargo claims run on their own discipline. Notify the insurer promptly and before disposal, and appoint a surveyor where the damage is container-level. The claim file needs the bill of lading, commercial invoice, packing list, survey report and photographs. Keep the damaged goods available until the insurer releases them, because disposal before release is the classic way a valid claim dies.
The quiet trap sits in freight terms chosen months earlier. Minimum-cover policies taken under CIF terms pay only for defined, dramatic events, and buyers who assumed all-risk cover discover the difference at exactly the wrong moment. If your goods move under CIF, ask what clauses the policy carries before the vessel sails. If they move under FOB with your own policy, you already made the better decision and know your cover.
The Supplier Who Handles Claims Well Is the One You Keep
Claims are where a sourcing relationship shows its bones. A supplier who investigates honestly, owns their share and remedies quickly has told you something no factory tour can. A supplier who stonewalls a documented seven-day claim has told you something equally important. The logic runs in reverse too: buyers who claim early, with evidence and proportion, get our best people and our fastest settlements, because their claims are workable. The ones who litigate by adjective get our most careful and slowest replies.
We keep one claim in the office memory. A monsoon-season consignment where our packing should have been better, and we knew it before the buyer finished her sentence. We re-packed the replacement order, changed the carton spec that same week, and that buyer's next five years of orders became the true return on handling the claim properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How soon must a textile import claim be raised?
Trade convention expects written notification with photographs within about seven days of arrival. Evidence decays fast after unstuffing, and late claims weaken both the negotiating position and the insurance file.
How do I prove short-shipment?
Carton count at unstuffing against the packing list, piece counts inside opened cartons against the invoice, photographs of the shortfall in place, and the seal condition noted on arrival. A packing photo set from loading, which we send as standard, closes the loop from origin.
Should I ask for a replacement, credit note or refund?
Replacement for wrong-but-sellable goods and quality shortfalls within the season; a credit note against the next order for small deltas; refund only for irreparable, large issues. Replacement freight usually rides the next container to stay proportionate.
How does an insurance claim for water damage work?
Notify the insurer before disposal, appoint a surveyor for container-level damage, and assemble the bill of lading, invoice, packing list, survey report and photographs. Preserve the damaged goods until the insurer releases them.
What should a claim letter contain?
Facts, numbered; photographs referenced by number; each claim category with its quantity; the remedy requested; and a timeline for response. Keep cause-and-effect speculation out, because the photographs carry the argument better than theories do.
What if the supplier refuses a documented claim?
Escalate once in writing with the full file, then weigh the relationship against the amount. A stonewalled, well-documented seven-day claim is itself information about future orders, and it usually justifies shifting volume to the supplier who earned it.
If you are weighing a problem with a consignment, ours or anyone's, and want a second opinion on how to frame it, our desk will look at the evidence and tell you plainly. And if you are evaluating us as a supplier, ask for samples, test our packing on a small courier order first, and judge the claim culture before judging the container size.
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