---
id: KB-LG-021
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/logistics/receiving-on-someone-elses-behalf
idioma: en
categoria: sector-logistica
subcategoria: paqueteria
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-LG-012, KB-LG-020]
citadoPor: [KB-LG-026]
---

# Receiving on someone else's behalf

_Someone at reception signs for something they never ordered. That signature counts, and from then on the clock runs for their company._

**Responde a:** who can sign for a delivery at a company · i signed a note that wasnt mine · receiving goods without checking · signing for a delivery on behalf of the company

A courier arrives at half past nine. Whoever happens to be on reception signs the note without looking and leaves the parcel in a corner. That signature is, to all intents, the company's — and from that moment the clock runs for saying something arrived wrong.

## What signing does, even if nobody thinks about it

**En corto**

- It accepts that it arrived, starting the clock for claims.
- It accepts that it arrived **as it arrived**, unless noted otherwise.
- It accepts on the company's behalf, even if the signer has no idea what it is.
- And often it accepts without anyone telling the department that was waiting.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Signing «received in good order» without opening anything is what turns transport damage into your problem.** You do not need to inspect the contents on the bay, but you do need to look at the outside: a knocked carton, a broken pallet wrap, an opened seal. Writing «package damaged» on the note before signing takes five seconds and is the only sentence that lets you claim later.

## The minimum, and it is organisational rather than logistical

1. **Whoever signs knows what to look at** — External condition, number of packages, and that your company is the addressee.
2. **Anything that does not fit is written down before signing** — After the signature, that same sentence no longer does the same work.
3. **Whoever was waiting gets told** — The parcel in a corner is cause number one of «this never arrived».
4. **And the note is kept, not binned with the packaging** — It is the delivery evidence, and it ends up in the bin surprisingly often.

> [!WARNING]
> One case is worth settling in advance at any reception desk: **the courier is in a hurry and pushes for a signature without a look**. It is not bad faith, it is their route. But the hurry is theirs and the consequences are yours. A one-line instruction to whoever is on reception —«if the package is damaged, note it before signing, even if the courier is waiting»— resolves ninety per cent of the claims that later cannot be sustained.

**Can anyone sign?**

In practice yes, which is why they should know what to look at.

**What if the parcel was not for us?**

Do not sign it. Hand it straight back.

**I signed and it was damaged — can I claim?**

Much harder. Report it immediately and in writing.

## Ejemplos

**A visibly knocked package is signed for with nothing noted, and a claim follows.**

- Writes «package damaged» on the note before signing

→ The claim stands because the arrival condition is on record.

**The parcel sits in a corner and whoever was waiting treats it as never delivered.**

- Tells whoever was waiting as soon as it is received

→ Material stops being simultaneously received and hunted for.

**The delivery note is binned with the packaging and no proof of delivery remains.**

- Files the note with the order

→ The delivery can be evidenced months later.

**Whoever is on reception signs without looking at what they sign.**

- Records who received each delivery

→ Half the disputes disappear.

**Something the company never ordered is signed for.**

- Checks the recipient before accepting

→ What does not belong is not accepted.

**A damaged delivery is accepted with no record.**

- Notes the incident at the moment

→ Acceptance does not close the door to claiming.