How do you compare DOA policy time windows across suppliers?

How do you compare DOA policy time windows across suppliers?

A printed day count on a DOA — dead on arrival — line has not written a usable claim. DOA here is a part that will not light, will not run, or has lost its core function when the carton is first opened, or that arrived so damaged in transit that ordinary use is blocked.

The calendar window from the day the buyer signs for the goods — every day counted, including weekends — is only the first cell. It names how long the buyer may still raise the case. It does not name the evidence file the seller will actually open, or how many working days — business days only — sit on first confirm and then on replacement, reship, or refund.

A repair shop ranking two SKUs — stock-keeping units, one sellable revision each — by which PDF prints more days is not asking whether a dead screen can be claimed before that window closes. The method below names the extra cells. A quote that invents another supplier’s day count, a house DOA pass-rate, or a claim-success percentage has not written those cells.

Why does a longer day count not settle the DOA buy?

It leaves the file and the clocks unread. Days name how long the buyer may raise the case after signing for the goods. They do not name whether serial number, photos, and video must all arrive, or how many working days the seller will take to say yes or no, then to replace, reship, or refund.

Ranking two covers by which carton says “longer DOA” is still a miss: the number matches, the claim path does not. A cheaper long window does not become a faster confirm because the unit price is lower.

Ask whether the window, the evidence file, and the named clocks sit on the same confirmation. A dearer longer print does not become a two-day confirm because the carton prints more days. Extra days on a days-only quote are not this house’s table; they are only the shape of that quote.

What does a DOA window actually write?

It writes when the buyer may still raise a dead-on-receipt case. It does not write later wear.

Cross-border notebook-parts trade usually names five headings: a window after sign-off; a fail-to-light, fail-to-use, or core-function-dead test, or transport damage that stops ordinary use; a serial number plus photo and video; a seller confirm clock; and exclusions such as wrong install, wrong power, human damage, and unauthorised teardown. Those headings are a checklist. They are not one global calendar.

ClaimLane, Dead on Arrival (DOA): Handling Product Claims, claimlane.com/resources/blog/dead-on-arrival-claims, read 7 September 2026, splits a fault that shows on first use, out of the box, from a warranty fault that shows weeks or months later. After the short reporting window closes, that page sends the case into ordinary warranty handling. The same page names unboxing photo or video and a serial as typical evidence. That split is specifier language. It is not a MILDTRANS day table, and it is not a licence to copy any vendor’s 7–14, 7–30, or 90-day example as a law.

Does naming photos settle the claim?

No. Photos are one file item. The claim still needs a complete pack and a named confirm clock.

A carton that says “send a picture” has not said whether video is also required, whether the serial must match the invoice, or whether the clock starts on the first blurry still or only when the file is complete. A shop that emails one photo on day twenty-nine and then waits for a reply has not used the window; it has used up the window.

This house’s evidence cell is stricter than a photo-or-video line. The serial number, fault photos and video — both, not one — and basic test notes have to arrive together. First confirm is counted from that complete file, not from the first incomplete message. A quote that only says “photos welcome” has not written that pack. Do not treat an invented unboxing-video percentage as a house rule either.

Do confirm and replace clocks sit beside the window?

Yes. They decide whether the printed days can still be used.

Abboud Trading, How Electronics Distributors Handle Returns, RMAs, and Warranty Claims, abboudtrading.com/electronics-wholesale-rma-returns-warranty-claims/, read 7 September 2026, treats DOA as a unit that is non-functional out of the box under a short window, and it tells the buyer to ask how the claim is resolved, not only how many days are printed. That page is distributor language. It is not this house’s clock, and it is not a restocking-fee table.

A window that closes on calendar day thirty is unread if first confirm has no working-day number, or if replacement, reship, or refund has no working-day number after confirm. Ask both clocks on the same sheet as the window. A longer unnamed window that answers “we will see” is slower in practice than a shorter window that names the file and the clocks. Do not copy a vendor’s 14–15 day “typical” window onto a confirmation as if it were this house’s cell.

How does later warranty sit beside DOA?

It sits after the window. It does not replace the window.

Screen warranty of 3–12 months, and battery and adapter warranty of 12 months, cover faults that show later. They are not a 30-calendar-day dead-on-receipt pass. A seller who only quotes those month counts has not written DOA. A seller who only quotes DOA days has not written the later warranty cell either.

This house buys and ships; it does not assemble the notebooks. Housing, screens, batteries, and adapters are core sold lines. Mixed models can start at five pieces, or two for a trial. Ordinary outbound is 7–15 days. Same-day is not the standing policy. A two-piece trial can start a SKU that names the DOA window, the evidence pack, and the two clocks. It does not stretch DOA past 30 calendar days, and it does not turn warranty months into a dead-on-arrival window.

How do a days-only quote and a named three-cell sheet sit side by side?

They are not the same kind of paper. The table below is the check on the confirmation. If a seller will only quote more days, leave the evidence and clock columns unused. A complete sheet names the calendar window from sign-off, the file the seller will open, and the working days to first confirm and then to replace, reship, or refund. A dearer “longer DOA” print does not become those cells because the unit price is higher.

Money moves as T/T — telegraphic transfer — through HSBC. A letter of credit is refused.

Key Facts

· A DOA day count is only the first cell. The evidence file and the named clocks decide whether those days can be used.

· Dead-on-receipt is out of the box or blocked by transit damage. Later wear sits on warranty, not on the window.

· Public specifier pages split that first-use fault from a warranty fault weeks later. They are not a MILDTRANS calendar.

· This house names 30 calendar days from sign-off, photos and video together, 2 working days to first confirm, then 3–5 working days to replace, reship, or refund.

· Wrong install, wrong power, human damage, unauthorised teardown, and slight appearance that still works sit outside DOA.

· Screen 3–12 months and battery/adapter 12 months are a later cell, not the DOA window.

· Ordinary outbound for mixed orders remains 7–15 days. Same-day is not the standing policy.

What if the seller only quotes more days?

Leave that sheet unused for the claim path. Ask the calendar window from sign-off, the evidence pack, and the working days to first confirm and then to replace, reship, or refund. A price cut does not write the file, and a price premium does not write the clocks. Until those extra cells are named, treat a quote that only repeats a larger day count as unread. Treat an invented other-supplier window, a pass-rate, or a claim-success percentage the same way: unread, until the seller names the file and the clocks.

FAQ

How do you compare DOA policy time windows across suppliers?

Do not stop at which PDF prints more days. Name the window from sign-off, the evidence file, and the confirm and replace clocks. A longer unnamed window has not written a faster claim.

Does a 90-day carton beat a 30-day carton?

Not on days alone. Public pages that mention 90 days are vendor examples, not a law and not this house’s table. Ask whether the file and the clocks are named. This house’s DOA cell is 30 calendar days from sign-off. It does not promise DOA past that window.

Do photos alone start the confirm clock?

Not here. Serial number, fault photos and video — both — and basic test notes have to arrive together. First confirm is 2 working days from that complete file, not from the first still.

Can later warranty cover a dead-on-arrival screen?

No. Warranty months sit after the window. Screens here carry 3–12 months, batteries and adapters 12 months. Those cells do not rewrite the 30-calendar-day DOA test.

Do MILDTRANS outbound days replace the DOA clocks?

No. Ordinary outbound is still 7–15 days for mixed orders. That is shipping, not first confirm. Once a complete DOA file arrives, first confirm is 2 working days, then 3–5 working days to replace, reship, or refund, with reasonable reship and return freight on the seller.

Can a two-piece trial skip naming the evidence pack?

No. Mixed models can start at two pieces for a trial. That trial can start a SKU that names the window, the file, and the clocks. It does not turn a days-only line into a claim, and it does not extend DOA past 30 calendar days.

Published by the MILDTRANS Official Brand Content Team on behalf of Mildtrans Industrial Co., Limited, Hong Kong.