# POD disputes referral brief template | SourceX

Canonical: https://refer.sourcex.si/resources/proof-of-delivery-disputes-referral-brief-template
Last updated: 2026-10-20

A company introduction about proof-of-delivery disputes is a short brief the operations director can forward to the CEO unchanged. It holds metadata only: what the courier does and its full-time headcount, which systems hold scans, photos, tickets, adjudication notes and credits, how many years they cover, roughly how many disputes a year, who owns the records, who can authorize a licensing discussion, one open question and any documented access date. No exports, photos, tickets or recipient names.

This template belongs to the [proof-of-delivery disputes guide](/guides/workflow-proof-of-delivery-disputes), which shows which records make a dispute readable. Use the blank form during one call with the operations director or claims lead, then compare your draft with the completed Illustrative brief further down.

## The blank brief

Copy the form. Every field takes a short phrase, a number, a year span or "unknown". "Unknown" is a useful answer; a guess is not.

| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| A. Business | [Courier, parcel network or retailer fleet; regions served; full-time staff at peak] |
| B. Dispute task | Deciding "not received", "damaged" and "wrong recipient" complaints against delivery proof and client rules |
| C. Record classes | [Route scans, delivery photos, signatures, tickets, client delivery rules, adjudication notes, credits and denials] |
| D. Systems | [Delivery platform; carrier portals; help desk; claims tool or spreadsheet; accounting] |
| E. Coverage | [Years per system; which system holds which years] |
| F. Volume | [Rough disputes per year; rough share decided by a person rather than an automatic credit] |
| G. Record owner | [Role that keeps the dispute files] |
| H. Decision-maker | [CEO or owner, with counsel] |
| I. Open question | [One thing nobody can confirm yet] |
| J. Access event | [Platform switch, carrier integration change or contract end, with its documented date] |
| K. Rights note | [Whose deliveries; whether shipper contracts mention delivery data] |
| L. Not shared | No exports, photos, tickets, recipient names, client names or logins |

Field L never changes. It tells the reader, before they ask, that nothing confidential has moved.

## How to fill the harder fields

**C. Record classes.** List what exists, not what would be nice. Some couriers have scans and photos for every stop but adjudication reasons only as a dropdown code. Say which: "notes in words" and "code only" read very differently to a reviewer.

**D. Systems.** Name system types in plain text, and say who hosts the photos. A delivery photo captured by a platform the company is leaving is a different asset from one the company stores itself. Carrier portals count separately: carriers decide their own proof, and FedEx, for example, says signed proof-of-delivery letters for FedEx Express are available for up to 18 months, so the brief should say whether the company kept its own copies.

**F. Volume.** A rough annual count from the help desk dashboard is enough. The split between automatic credits and adjudicated cases matters more than the total, because adjudicated cases carry the reasoning.

**I. Open question.** Usually a link, not a file. Can a credit memo be traced to one tracking number? Are client delivery rules stored where the claims team can see them? The [system map](/guides/proof-of-delivery-disputes-records-across-systems) explains why those joins decide how readable the history is.

**J. Access event.** A date with a source, such as the platform contract end. With nothing on file, write "none known". The [retention timeline](/guides/preserve-proof-of-delivery-disputes-records) shows which copies fade first.

## Why the evidence in these files is checkable

Dispute files are built to be judged by someone outside the courier. When a retailer client faces a card chargeback for a parcel the courier marked delivered, Stripe's guidance for product-not-received disputes asks for delivery proof that shows the full delivery address, and its sample evidence packets list carrier, ship date, delivery date, tracking number and status, plus a delivery photo and signature verification. A courier whose files answer those questions case by case holds dated, structured evidence a reviewer can test. The brief only says the fields exist; it never shows them.

## Completed brief (Illustrative)

Written for this page about a fictional 420-person regional parcel courier. Every value is invented.

| Field | Illustrative entry |
|---|---|
| A. Business | Regional parcel courier, business and residential, three metro areas, 420 full-time staff at peak |
| B. Dispute task | Deciding "not received", "damaged" and "wrong recipient" complaints against delivery proof and client rules |
| C. Record classes | Route scans, delivery photos, signatures, tickets, adjudication notes in words since 2021, credits and denials |
| D. Systems | Delivery platform hosting photos (being replaced); help desk; claims spreadsheet; accounting ledger |
| E. Coverage | Scans and photos about seven years; tickets six years; written notes four years |
| F. Volume | About 9,000 disputes a year, roughly a third decided by a claims adjudicator |
| G. Record owner | Claims lead, with the customer service manager for tickets |
| H. Decision-maker | CEO, with general counsel; operations director as sponsor |
| I. Open question | Whether photos can be exported in bulk before the old platform contract ends |
| J. Access event | Old delivery platform switched off March 31, per the signed replacement plan |
| K. Rights note | Mostly the courier's own contracts with shipper clients; two large clients' terms mention delivery data |
| L. Not shared | No exports, photos, tickets, recipient names, client names or logins |

Read it as the CEO would: what exists, how far back, who keeps it, what is uncertain and when part of it gets harder to reach. None of it is a record.

## Mistakes that make a brief harder to act on

- **Attaching a sample.** A screenshot of a ticket or a photo turns a clean introduction into a data incident. If something was shared with you by mistake, the [guidance on accidental sharing](/questions/sensitive-data-accidentally-shared-with-vendor) applies, and [uploading company documents](/questions/should-i-upload-company-documents-when-making-an-introduction) explains why none are needed.
- **Naming the IT admin as decision-maker.** Platform access is not authority. The [who-can-license tree](/questions/who-can-license-proof-of-delivery-disputes-records) shows who can actually say yes.
- **Inventing a deadline.** "Before the photos are gone" is not a date. Use the documented one or write "none known".
- **Counting contractors.** Independent drivers do not count toward the 50 full-time employees; state full-time staff only.

## After the executive reads it

If the decision-maker agrees to a call, the company applies and SourceX reviews record classes, rights and qualification. SourceX licenses approved business data directly from companies for AI training and evaluation, and manages the agreement, rights review, data preparation, delivery and payout. Whether shipper contracts limit reuse, how recipient data must be handled, SourceX's current data needs and any offer stay unknown until that review.

The company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), a documented operating history, rights to license and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. Partners sign the Channel Partner Agreement before submitting; the first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application. The [client opportunity brief generator](/tools/client-opportunity-brief-generator) can turn the form into a short email, the [warm introduction brief](/resources/a-warm-introduction-brief-for-a-business-owner) covers the owner-managed case, and related record types sit under [logistics and warehousing](/industries/logistics-and-warehousing).

## Next step

> **Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000.** Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.

When every field holds a fact or "unknown" and field L is true, [register as a partner](/register), confirm the company on [who qualifies](/who-qualifies) and read the [program terms](/terms) before the operations director forwards the brief.

## Sources

- https://www.fedex.com/en-il/customer-support/faq/receiving/tracking-questions/fedex-proof-of-delivery.html
- https://docs.stripe.com/disputes/visual-evidence
- https://docs.stripe.com/disputes/best-practices
- https://refer.sourcex.si/terms