Letter To Vendor For Defective Goods Return

When and how to use this letter

Send this letter immediately after discovering the defects — prompt written notice is often a contractual requirement, and delays give the vendor room to argue the damage happened in your custody. Inspect deliveries on arrival as a matter of policy, photograph defects before anything is moved or used, and quarantine the faulty items separately from good stock.

Describe the defects with precision: quantities affected, the nature of each fault, and how they deviate from the agreed specification. Attach dated photographs, the delivery note, and the purchase-order extract showing what was promised. Specificity does two jobs at once — it proves your case and it tells the vendor's quality team exactly what went wrong.

State one clear remedy and a deadline: replacement, repair, or refund, with collection at the vendor's cost. Offering the vendor inspection rights shows good faith and removes their easiest excuse for inaction. Keep using or reselling the defective goods to an absolute minimum — doing so can be treated as acceptance.

A non-obvious tip: check whether your contract includes a retention or warranty-holdback clause you can invoke. Even without one, you are usually entitled to recover the extra cost of buying replacements elsewhere if the vendor fails to cure — but you must give them a fair chance first, which this letter documents.

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