Walmart code 28: Carton Damaged / Freight Bill Signed Damaged
Walmart code 28 is a damage deduction: merchandise was recorded as damaged when the freight bill was signed at the receiving facility.
Cartons arrived crushed, wet, or torn, and receiving noted the damage on the delivery paperwork. Who owns the loss depends on freight terms and on where the damage occurred.
Winnable when the freight was collect and the carrier was Walmart’s, or when load-out photographs show the cartons left intact. Prepaid shipments where your carrier caused the damage are usually valid.
Evidence that settles a 28 dispute
Most decisive first. A dispute filed without the first item on this list rarely survives review.
- 1 Freight terms on the purchase order establishing who controlled the carrier
- 2 Signed bill of lading and any driver exception notation
- 3 Dock photographs from load-out showing carton condition and pallet build
- 4 Carrier claim file where the carrier accepted liability
How to stop code 28 recurring
Damage claims are settled by the condition record at load-out. Photographs and pallet-build detail captured against the shipment, rather than sitting in a 3PL’s separate system, are what make the carrier conversation possible at all.
Endless keeps the purchase order, the pack, the ASN, the bill of lading, and the invoice on one record, so the documents that settle a Walmart deduction are already connected when the claim posts. EndlessEDI builds carton-level 856s against scanned SSCC labels and validates the shipment before it goes out, which is what moves the number down: brands on Endless report a 90% drop in retailer EDI chargebacks.
- Where to dispute
- Most AP deductions surface and are disputed in the Accounts Payable Disputes Portal (APDP) inside Retail Link. OTIF fines are accounts receivable deductions and follow a separate path with a shorter window.
- Dispute window
- Reported windows vary by claim type: roughly 12 months from the invoice date for shortage deductions and up to two years for general invoice disputes, against a reported window closer to 30 days from invoicing for OTIF. Confirm the current deadline in APDP before you plan a recovery batch.
Related Walmart codes
Deduction programs and dispute windows change and vary by vendor agreement. Figures marked “reported” come from third-party supplier resources, not a retailer’s published fee schedule — confirm against your current routing guide and supplier agreement before you file. See every Walmart deduction code .
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