Red Stag Fulfillment invoice audit

Red Stag Fulfillment is known across ecommerce for two things: handling heavy, bulky, fragile or high-value products that standard 3PLs turn away, and backing its operations with published "100% Accuracy Guarantees" that pay you cash if they make a mistake. If an order ships incorrectly, Red Stag pays you $50 plus the shipping cost; if receiving takes longer than 48 hours, they pay you $50; if an item is damaged in the warehouse, they pay you the full wholesale cost. But behind those guarantees lies a contractual billing framework with strict operational triggers, pallet and container surcharges, and a short clock for claiming what is owed.

A Red Stag invoice is checked against two documents: your Client Agreement (with its Rate Schedule exhibit), which sets your custom storage and handling fees, and Red Stag's operational terms, which govern receiving rules, guarantee claim deadlines, and carrier pass-throughs.

What Red Stag publishes: guarantees, carton rules, and minimums

From Red Stag's published Service Level Guarantees, warehouse receiving guidelines, and standard client terms:

• The 100% Accuracy Guarantees are real, but you have to claim them. Red Stag does not automatically credit your account when a guarantee is triggered. The burden is on the brand to submit a guarantee claim in writing within 30 days of the incident. A missed SLA claimed in day 35 is forfeit.
• Receiving is billed by pallet or container, with mixed-SKU penalties. Red Stag charges a flat rate per pallet for palletized freight (typically $15–$25 per pallet for standard 48x40 pallets up to 60 inches tall). However, floor-loaded ocean containers (20-foot and 40-foot containers) attract substantial unloading fees (typically $350–$600+), and inbound shipments arriving with mixed SKUs on a single pallet trigger sorting and segregation fees billed at an hourly special-projects labor rate.
• Storage runs on cubic feet or pallets, with strict monthly minimums. Unlike apparel 3PLs that bill by small bin or shelf, Red Stag primarily stores freight on standard pallet racks or bulk floor storage. Most client agreements enforce a monthly account minimum spend (typically $1,000 to $2,500 a month), meaning your base order volume and storage fees must clear that floor or you are billed the difference.
• Heavy goods trigger carrier threshold surcharges. Because Red Stag specializes in items weighing 10 to 100+ lbs, parcel shipments frequently border carrier penalty zones: FedEx and UPS Additional Handling (length over 48 inches or weight over 50 lbs), Oversize Surcharges (length plus girth exceeding 130 inches), and Peak/Demand surcharges. Red Stag passes these carrier surcharges through, but the billed weight and dimensions must be audited against your product master.

Published rule / operational trigger	Red Stag standard terms
Receiving SLA Guarantee	Complete within 48 hours of dock arrival; $50 credit if missed
Order Accuracy SLA Guarantee	100% accurate pick/pack; $50 credit + shipping cost if incorrect
Inventory Accuracy Guarantee	Zero shrinkage allowance; 100% wholesale value reimbursed for lost/damaged stock
Dock-to-Stock SLA Window	48 business hours (excluding weekends and statutory holidays)
Guarantee Claim Deadline	Within 30 days of shipment date or receiving delivery date
Standard receiving unit	Standard pallet (48x40x60 in) under 2,000 lbs
Special project / VAS labor rate	Hourly rate set in Client Agreement (typically $45–$60/hour)
Monthly account spend minimum	Specified in Client Agreement (typically $1,000–$2,500/mo)
Invoice payment terms	Typically Net 15 or Net 30, with 1.5% late fee per month on overdue balances

Checks that follow from Red Stag's billing machinery

1. Every receiving line needs a dock timestamp and carrier BOL. When receiving is billed, compare the carrier's Delivery Receipt (POD) timestamp against Red Stag's Warehouse Management System (WMS) receiving completion timestamp. If receiving exceeded 48 business hours from dock delivery, not only should hourly receiving overcharges be disputed, but your invoice should also reflect the $50 missed-receiving guarantee credit.
2. Floor-loaded container unloading must match container size. Red Stag differentiates container unloads by container length (20ft vs 40ft vs 40ft High Cube) and whether the container was palletized or loose floor-loaded. Check that a 20ft container was not billed at the 40ft rate, and verify that pallet breakdown fees were not tacked onto a shipment that arrived pre-palletized and shrink-wrapped.
3. Audit mixed-SKU sort and segregation hourly labor. If inbound pallets contain multiple SKUs, Red Stag charges an accessorial fee to sort and palletize each SKU separately. Rebuild this charge from your supplier's packing list: how many unique SKUs arrived, and does the billed sorting time align with the actual carton count? An arbitrary 5-hour sorting charge on an 8-carton sample is an overcharge.
4. Reconcile billable DIM weight against the agreed product master. Because Red Stag ships heavier and larger boxes, dimensional weight pricing is the single largest line item. Compare the billed length, width, height, and scale weight of every shipped parcel against the master specifications confirmed in your agreement. If a product measuring 24x18x12 inches is billed at 26x20x14 inches due to packaging bulge, that dimensional creep increases the billable weight by several pounds across hundreds of shipments.
5. Carrier Additional Handling must meet the exact carrier tariff rules. Carrier surcharges for Additional Handling (Weight > 50 lbs or Length > 48 inches) are passed through on outbound invoices. For each line carrying an Additional Handling charge, verify that the billed carton actually crossed the carrier's published threshold. If an order weighing 42 lbs with a 36-inch length carries an Additional Handling line, the surcharge was applied in error.
6. Check the monthly minimum shortfall calculation. If your monthly fulfillment activity falls below the contract minimum, Red Stag bills a "Monthly Minimum Shortfall" fee. This fee should strictly equal the agreed minimum minus your qualifying order handling and storage spend. If your minimum is $1,500 and your qualifying spend was $1,280, the shortfall charge must be exactly $220. A full $1,500 billed on top of active charges is an arithmetic overcharge.
7. Storage calculations: verify pallet snapshot vs cubic footage. If your agreement bills storage by the pallet position ($18–$28/pallet/mo), verify the daily or month-end pallet snapshot against your inventory balance. Empty pallets cleared mid-month should not accrue charges for the full 30 days unless your SOW explicitly specifies a non-prorated monthly cycle.
8. Reimbursements for lost or damaged goods must reflect wholesale cost. Under Red Stag's inventory accuracy guarantee, damaged inventory must be reimbursed at your confirmed wholesale replacement cost, not at a discounted scrap salvage rate. Cross-examine credit memos against your supplier cost invoices.
9. Kitting and value-added project labor must tie to written work orders. Any line item for special labeling, boxing, or assembly must reference an authorized Work Order (WO) ID with stated hours and agreed hourly rates. Unscheduled labor lines with vague descriptions ("Warehouse Admin" or "Floor Handling") conflict with standard terms.

Raising a dispute with Red Stag

Red Stag assigns each client an Account Manager and a dedicated Client Success representative. When an overcharge or missed SLA is discovered, your dispute must be submitted in writing (via email or support ticket) with the invoice number, line IDs, and carrier tracking or BOL numbers attached.

Remember the 30-day clock: SLA guarantee claims must be submitted within 30 days of the incident date. Keep an internal register of disputed lines and ensure credits appear on the following month's invoice before paying the balance.

To: Red Stag Fulfillment Billing & Account Management
Subject: Formal Billing Dispute – Invoice #[INVOICE_NUMBER] – [MERCHANT_NAME]
Date: [TODAY_DATE]

Dear Red Stag Fulfillment Billing Department,

Upon line-by-line reconciliation of invoice #[INVOICE_NUMBER] against our executed Master Services Agreement (MSA) and confirmed Rate Schedule dated [CONTRACT_DATE], we have identified [COUNT] billing discrepancies totaling $[TOTAL_OVERCHARGE_AMOUNT].

Summary of audited discrepancies:
1. [Line/Ref ID]: Billed [Rate/Service] at $[BILLED_RATE]. Agreed contract tier is $[CONTRACT_RATE]. Variance: $[OVERCHARGE_AMOUNT]. (Ref: Contract Section [SECTION_NUM])
2. [Line/Ref ID]: Unauthorized accessorial surcharge [NAME] of $[SURCHARGE_AMOUNT] billed without prerequisite contract triggers.
3. [Line/Ref ID]: Dimensional weight (DIM) billed at [BILLED_WEIGHT] lbs vs verified packaging volume of [ACTUAL_WEIGHT] lbs. Variance: $[DIM_OVERCHARGE].

Per our agreement, this dispute notification is formally submitted within the contractual dispute window. 

Please confirm receipt and apply a credit memo of $[TOTAL_OVERCHARGE_AMOUNT] to our account, or provide a revised invoice within 10 business days.

Sincerely,
[YOUR_NAME]
[MERCHANT_NAME]
[ACCOUNT_NUMBER / MERCHANT_ID]