THE QUICK ANSWER
Three moves, all costed. Accept, with the concession priced and written onto the order. Rework, and probably lose the booking. Reject, and have nothing to ship. Ask your forwarder for the cargo hand-over date first, because that date decides which of the three are still real. Then fix the cause. Inspection method, sample size, defect classes, acceptance criteria, report format and release authority are agreed before production, in writing. None of them carries a published default.
The three moves, and the date that picks one
You have three moves and no fourth. Accept as-is, with the concession priced and recorded on the order rather than absorbed silently. Rework, which means a second inspection visit, and probably the loss of the booking you are holding. Reject, which leaves you with nothing to ship into a delivery window you have already sold into. Put a figure against each of the three before you reply to the report. Then ask your forwarder, the day the report lands, for the date the cargo has to be handed over. That date removes options, not the argument with the factory. Work backwards from it. If rework cannot be finished and re-checked before that date, rework is not on your list at all, and the real choice is between accepting with a concession and rejecting.
What the inspector was given to measure against
An inspector counts against criteria. If the purchase order did not supply them, some other checklist has to be applied, and the factory never agreed to that one. That is the argument you are having now, with the goods already in cartons. A post that moves at the base joint is a defect to you and a tolerance to them, and with nothing written, neither reading is provably wrong. Photographs record a condition. They do not classify it. The dispute is over whether the photographed condition is a hold, a rework or a counted minor, and whether the sample drawn stands for the lot. Our own commercial terms name six things settled before production: inspection method, sample size, defect classes, acceptance criteria, report format and release authority. None of the six carries a published default. All six are agreed before production, in writing. That is the document that was missing.
Write the scratching-post criteria in measurable terms
A generic defect list does not tell an inspector what to do with a sisal post. Name the failure modes in the words the factory will read, and attach a judgment method to each one. Base stability: a lateral load applied at the top of the post, with the load stated as a figure. Our own sample review for this SKU is a tip test under lateral load, so put the same test and the same number into the bulk criteria. Sisal end retention: ends mechanically retained, not held by adhesive alone, which is again the check the approved sample already passed. Gap between turns: a maximum you state and the inspector measures, not an opinion about evenness. Assembly fit: bolt engagement measured against the depth written in your own assembly drawing. You name the classes and set the limits.
Set the inspection point, and ask the commercial questions in writing
Pre-shipment inspection is not a point in time until you define one. Write the trigger: what share of the order must be finished and packed, and what condition the balance must be in. This site publishes no figure for that share, so do not accept one verbally. Put the number you chose into the order. Name who books the inspector and who pays for the first visit, and ask what happens on a re-visit. Take that answer in the written quotation rather than discovering it after a fail. Every commercial term here is confirmed in the quotation, and re-inspection is no exception. Give the factory notice, so the inspector does not arrive to a half-packed floor. Reserve your right to attend or to send your own agent. If the order is produced in more than one run, state whether that is one inspection or two, and which one carries release authority.
Specify the report format before you ever see one
Specify the report format in the order, because a report you did not specify cannot settle an argument. Require a photograph of every finding, not a representative selection. Require the carton number each finding came from, so rework can be scoped to those cartons instead of applied to the whole lot. Require the measured value printed beside the criterion, so a short bolt is recorded as the measured engagement against the depth written in your specification, rather than as the word short. Require the sample size actually drawn and the acceptance limits you wrote into the order, both stated on the face of the report. Require the packed carton dimensions and the gross weight, checked against your quotation. That last line is not a quality check. It tells you whether the landed cost you quoted onward still holds. Set a deadline in hours, and a format you can forward to the factory unedited.
Agree the rework path before anyone needs it
Write the rework path into the order before production, not after a report. How many calendar days does the factory get. Who supplies replacement sisal, bolts or base boards. Are reworked units re-checked in full, or as a fresh sample drawn from the whole lot. Who books and who pays that visit. Then write the fallback, because rework can still cost you the sailing. Decide now whether partial shipment is acceptable, so passing cartons move and reworked cartons follow, and name who carries the second freight leg. Do not assume the remainder can simply go by express courier. These are light, bulky cartons, and base weight and carton cube are the two numbers this product turns on. FedEx explains that it compares a shipment's actual weight against its dimensional weight, which reflects package volume. Get the remainder priced on the cube, by your own forwarder, before you treat express as the recovery plan.
Release authority, and what to do if you accept the lot
Release authority is one of the six items settled before production. Name the person whose sign-off releases the shipment, and put that name in the order rather than assuming it is yours. Ask the same question about anything tied to the result on the payment side, and take the answer in the written quotation. That allocation is commercial, it is not published here, and it is settled per order. If you decide to accept a failed lot, do not accept it quietly. Record the acceptance in writing, state the finding you are waiving, and state the concession agreed against it, so the cost sits on the order record instead of disappearing into the season. Then leave enough days between the inspection date and the cargo hand-over date to run a full rework and a re-check. If the two fall in the same week, the rule you wrote is one you cannot use.
A useful comparison
| Finding on the post | How the inspector judges it | Class you name in the order | Decide this before production |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post moves at the base under load | Lateral load applied at the top of the post, against the load figure in your specification | Hold class: lot not released until resolved | The load figure, set with the approved sample |
| Sisal end held by adhesive alone | Sisal end retention check, the same one the approved sample passed | Rework class | Whether a mechanical end fixing is specified |
| Gap between sisal turns | Measured gap against the maximum written in your specification | Counted class, against your stated limit | The maximum gap, in millimetres |
| Bolt engagement short of specification | Measured engagement against the depth on your assembly drawing | Hold class: lot not released until resolved | The engagement depth, stated on the drawing |
| Base weight under specification | Weigh the base; compare against the specified base weight | Your call, named in the order before production | Base weight in kilograms, per size |
| Packed carton cube over quotation | Measure packed cartons; compare against the quoted dimensions | Commercial, not quality | Whether landed cost is re-priced before release |
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Sources reviewed 2026-09-14. Community excerpts are anecdotes. Manufacturer guidance applies to that manufacturer’s products. Shortlists are editorial comparisons without hands-on comparative testing or verified sales rankings.
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