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Part 2 of 7 · Damaged goods claimer series ~5 min read

How the evidence gets captured

The evidence for a damage claim exists for about an hour and then most of it is gone. Capturing it is not difficult; it is a matter of doing a fixed short thing at a moment when nobody has decided yet whether it matters.

Key takeaways

  • Five photographs, always the same five, always in the same order.
  • The carrier’s label must be readable in at least one of them.
  • Put a physical hold label on the packaging with the claim reference.
  • Annotate the delivery note before signing; the wording is generated.
  • If the driver will not wait, photograph and write ’unexamined — driver would not wait’.

The five photographs

The five photographs taken in order when damage is foundA vertical chain of five steps entered by a box labelled Damage noticed at the door. Step one: as delivered, on the vehicle if possible. Step two: the damage, wide, with the carrier label in frame. Step three: packaging opened, showing how the item sat inside. Step four: the item damaged, close up. Step five: the item's own label, showing code and batch. A note says photographs one and two are the ones that win claims, and four is the one everybody takes first.AWS ACCOUNTDamage noticedat the door1. As deliveredon the vehicle if possible2. The damage, widewith the carrier label3. Packaging openedshowing how it sat4. The item damagedclose5. The item's labelcode and batchOne and two are the ones that win claims. Four is the one everybody takes first.
Fig 1. The fixed sequence. It is prescriptive on purpose: a person under time pressure should be following steps rather than deciding what will matter later.

Why on the vehicle

A photograph of the pallet still on the tail lift, damaged, is close to unanswerable. It establishes the state of the goods before they entered your building, which is the single fact every carrier dispute is about.

It is often not possible — the driver has already unloaded, it is raining, the bay is full — and the sequence handles that by allowing a skip with a recorded reason rather than by leaving the step out. “Not photographed on vehicle: already unloaded” is itself a useful line in a claim.

The carrier label in frame

This is the small detail that converts a photograph of a broken thing into a photograph of a specific carrier’s broken thing on a specific date. The app prompts for it explicitly rather than hoping, because it is exactly the sort of thing that is obvious afterwards and invisible at the time.

Holding the packaging

How damaged packaging is held until a claim resolvesA horizontal row of five boxes. Claim opened: reference generated. Label printed: do not dispose. On the packaging, and on the pallet. Held until the claim closes. Released automatically on close. A note says a printed label on a crate is the highest-value component here by a wide margin.THE CHEAPEST PART OF THE SYSTEMClaim openedreference generatedLabel printed'DO NOT DISPOSE'On the packagingand the palletHelduntil the claim closesReleasedautomatically, on closeA printed label on a crate is the highest-value component here by a wide margin.
Fig 2. The physical hold. It is a printed sticker and it prevents the single most common reason a claim collapses.
  • Machine learning
  • Security & identity
  • Front-end & mobile

Carriers frequently want to inspect, and they want to inspect the packaging rather than the item. A claim where the response is “we disposed of it” is a claim that is over, regardless of how good the photographs were.

The release step matters too. Without it, damaged packaging accumulates indefinitely because nobody is sure whether it is still needed, and after a while people start throwing it away on judgement, which is where the discipline breaks down.

The delivery note

The generated wording, and what each part does

  • “Damage noted at delivery before signature.” Establishes the sequence, which is what a clean signature otherwise destroys.
  • “1 of 4 pallets, outer packaging crushed at one corner.” Specific and checkable.
  • “Contents examined: 3 units of BRG-4MM damaged.” Or, if not examined, say so explicitly.
  • “Photographed. Packaging retained.” Tells the carrier the evidence exists.
  • “Signed subject to the above.” The phrase that keeps the claim alive.
  • Driver receives the same words on their copy, which is what stops it being your unilateral note.

Nobody composes this in a doorway. The system produces it from the photographs and the counts already entered, the person reads it, and it goes on both copies. That is the entire mechanism and it is the difference between most successful and most failed claims.

When the driver will not wait

It happens, and the answer is not to give up on the paperwork. Photograph what is visible, write “received unexamined — driver would not wait for inspection” on the note, sign that, and record the time. That phrase preserves a great deal more position than a clean signature does.

It is also worth counting how often it happens, per carrier and per driver, because a carrier whose drivers routinely refuse to wait is making a choice that has a cost, and the count is the evidence for that conversation.

Next: how long you have.

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