Order acknowledgement changed my purchase order

Hold the release and fix the comparison baseline

Tell the supplier that you have received the acknowledgement, identified discrepancies and withheld production authorisation pending resolution. Ask them to confirm that material purchasing, tooling work and production are on hold. Avoid replying with a bare “confirmed” or approving a payment request while the differences remain unresolved.

Save the purchase order as sent, its attachments, the quotation, the acknowledgement and the covering messages. Identify the exact revision of each drawing, specification, packing artwork and approved sample. Use the original order pack as your comparison baseline. For the underlying invoice checks, see reading a Chinese proforma invoice.

Compare every line, including omissions

Build a comparison sheet with the purchase order wording beside the supplier's wording. Check headers, item lines, footnotes, attachments and any terms linked from the acknowledgement. Mark each entry as matching, changed, missing or unclear. A missing attachment reference deserves the same attention as a changed price.

Record the proposed correction and the person responsible for resolving it. Separate a correction back to the original order from a change you might agree to negotiate. Do not let a revised description conceal a different material, component or packing arrangement.

Send a discrepancy notice the supplier can answer

Use a subject such as “Acknowledgement discrepancies: production authorisation withheld”, followed by your order reference. Attach the comparison sheet and quote the exact conflicting wording. Ask the supplier to respond against each entry, rather than send a general assurance that everything will be as discussed.

Suggested wording: “Your acknowledgement differs from our purchase order and attachments in the entries listed in the attached comparison. We have not approved these changes or authorised production. Please confirm the production hold, answer each entry and issue a corrected acknowledgement with the agreed attachments. Identify any change you cannot accept and its effect on price, specification or delivery.”

If the supplier introduces conflicting standard terms, use resolving conflicting purchase order terms alongside this operational check. If money has already been paid or work has begun, request the actual status of materials, tooling and goods, and obtain advice before making cancellation or payment decisions.

Obtain and recheck a corrected acknowledgement

Ask for a complete replacement acknowledgement with a clear revision reference, not merely an email saying “noted”. It should identify the purchase order and agreed attachment revisions, incorporate the resolved wording and explicitly replace the earlier acknowledgement. Keep the earlier version in the record but mark it superseded.

Compare the replacement against both the original order pack and the discrepancy sheet. Check that corrections have not introduced fresh changes elsewhere. Where you accept a genuine variation, record the authorised decision, amend the affected order documents and obtain an acknowledgement that matches them. Keep sample references aligned using the sampling guide.

Issue a separate production authorisation

After closing the discrepancies and completing your other pre-production checks, send a distinct written release naming the agreed purchase order, corrected acknowledgement and attachment revisions. State what work is authorised and any conditions still outstanding. If only sample work is approved, say so explicitly and keep bulk production on hold.

Ask the supplier's production contact to confirm receipt of the released pack and removal of superseded instructions from the production floor. Retain the comparison, notice, corrected acknowledgement and release together. Use the first-order checklist for the wider checks; agreement on the paperwork alone does not establish readiness to manufacture.