Generally, a business operates on the items supplied by its suppliers. The supplier is required to provide the purchased item to the company within a specific period. If the items are not delivered on time, they can cause a loss to a business.
Every business enters into a business agreement with its supplier. This agreement outlines several key terms and conditions. The supplier is required to comply with all company policies.
The warning letter is written to the supplier when the supplier’s careless behaviour becomes unbearable. It is essential to write a strong warning letter in a firm tone to impact the supplier effectively.
Guidelines for writing a warning letter to a supplier:
Here are a few guidelines to follow when writing a professional-looking warning letter.
State the purpose of the letter clearly:
The warning letter should clearly state at the outset that it is intended to serve as a warning. The policies related to warning may have been stated in the contract between you and the supplier. The supplier should refer to those policies.
Describe your problem:
Your letter should clearly explain that you are facing a problem due to the supplier’s carelessness in delivering the products to you on time. It should be described in the letter that the supplier is expected to provide the item on time.
Describe the consequences:
Once you have explained your concerns related to the supplier, you can state in the letter that if he does not improve, he will face serious consequences. Additionally, inform the reader that his late delivery may also result in his dismissal from the job.
Write appropriate policy clauses:
If you have established policies regarding the supplier and the supplier is aware of them, mention these policies in the letter. The purpose of mentioning those policies is to remind the supplier. Moreover, if the supplier has already given you an explanation on it, provide a reason why you found it to be inappropriate.
Sample Letters
#1
This letter serves as an official warning for your failure to deliver our order on time. The delivery of the requested materials was originally scheduled for (date). However, the consignment was received a week later after constant reminders.
Please be notified that any future delays will be subject to penalties. Frequent delays may also result in the termination of our business agreement.
Expecting your immediate attention to the matter.
#2
We are writing to address a serious concern regarding the frequent delays in the delivery of our monthly supplies. As per our contract, we must receive the supplies by the 5th of each month. However, this schedule has not been followed for the past few months, causing significant inconvenience to us.
You are advised to follow our delivery schedule strictly in the future. Failure to do so may result in the termination of our contract.
Looking forward to your cooperation.
#3
We are writing to discuss the delay in our shipment for March 20xx. Despite constant reminders, your company failed to deliver the requested supplies on time. We are highly disappointed with the poor service you provided.
We are, therefore, issuing an official warning. Any future delays will result in the immediate termination of our business partnership. In the event of any unforeseen circumstances that may lead to possible delivery delays, we expect timely communication from your end.
We expect improved service from you in future.
#4
I hope everything is well in your world. I want to inform you that we have been ordering materials from you for the past five years. However, over the last two months, we have been experiencing issues with late deliveries from you. This is a very alarming situation for us. The latest update is that we had to extend our contract deadline with our client and pay the fine for the delay in our commitment. This is not a good sign for us, as it exposes us to a reputational risk.
I hope you will understand the situation we are in, and there will be no delay from your side in the future.

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#5
After receiving our consignment last month, we placed the following order right then. As you are aware, our trading terms have already been agreed upon and outlined in the contract. However, it appears that you are not adhering to the rules. As mentioned in our order, we were looking forward to an urgent delivery. Late delivery is unacceptable in our business. It is a very fast-paced project, and delays can result in losses and penalties.
We received no apologies or notification of delays. This is very unprofessional. We would request that you fulfil our delivery urgently.

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