GENERAL GUIDELINES

Please contact your Sales representative(s) or Majestic Quality Assurance (“QA”) for product quality matters.

Please store and handle claimed material as if it were prime. Selling, scrapping, or returning any rejected/claimed material without authorization from QA may invalidate your claim.

We consider it improper to withhold payments to Majestic for an outstanding amount related to a claim.

It is critical to inspect material at the point of delivery and notify us immediately of nonconformity or damage. In-transit damage or quantity claims should be submitted within 3 days of receipt, and we may not accept claims for any reason after 120 days.

Unless otherwise specified, we consider the product’s top side as the prime side.

We work with our supplier partners to provide goods with a consistent visual appearance, but aesthetic variations do occur and are not a valid reason for a claim.

We treat claims on an invoiced-weight basis. Please do not make claims for weight accumulated on multiple invoices.

Per industry standard, when 98% or more of the rejected material is prime, we may not accept a claim.

Please run at least 10% but no more than 20% of the product affected by the nonconformance to determine if the problems continues into the coil.

When our steel supplier is determined to be responsible, we will issue a claim to the supplier, which could delay resolution of your claim.

IN-TRANSIT DAMAGE CLAIMS

Claims for Material damaged in transit from a common carrier must be made in writing within 3 days after delivery of Material to the point of delivery.

IN-TRANSIT CLAIM PROCEDURE

1. Claims for in-transit damage must be made to the Majestic Sales representative assigned to Customer, or directly to QA.
2. Customer’s notification of claim must include the following details for QA to conduct a proper investigation:

Date of receipt of damaged material

Date the damage was discovered

Detailed description of the damage, including but not limited to: type of damage, location of damage on Material, how the damage occurred (or likely occurred), why the damage renders the Material unusable

Majestic tag numbers and description of claimed Material

Customer’s P.O. number and Majestic’s invoice number for claimed material

Weight/number of pieces claimed

Street address at which damaged material is located

Sufficient evidence showing the in-transit damage, including a bill of lading signed by the driver describing the damage:

Example includes: Photographs of Material with torn packaging and exposed damaged Material.

1. 1. Majestic may request additional information and/or inspect claimed material, and Customer agrees to use its best efforts to accommodate Majestic for these requests. Failure by Customer to provide adequate information to support the claim may result in denial of the claim.
   2. Majestic will endeavor to timely resolve in-transit damage claims.  Majestic is not liable to Customer for delays in processing or resolving a claim, nor will any delay relieve Customer of its obligations relating to the Material at issue, including payment.

If Majestic accepts the claim:

1. Majestic will provide notice to Customer that it is accepting the claim and will identify the appropriate resolution, as determined in Majestic’s sole discretion. See the “Claim Resolution” section below.
2. Upon its acceptance of the claim, ownership of the Material immediately reverts to Majestic.
3. Customer will follow the applicable procedure outlined in the “Claim Resolution” section below.

If Majestic denies the claim:

1. Customer is obligated to retain the Material.
2. Customer must immediately pay Majestic for any amounts due and owing for the claimed Material.
3. Majestic may consider an appeal by Customer, which decision is in Majestic’s sole discretion.

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PRODUCT QUALITY CLAIMS

Any claim that the Material does not conform to applicable specifications and tolerances must be made in writing within 120 days after delivery of Material to the point of delivery.

Slight cosmetic imperfections, including but not limited to, light marks and bruises, spangle variation, coating sags, dross, rub marks, discontinuous surface appearance are commercially acceptable visual imperfections for steel product, and are generally not detrimental to the performance of the product and are generally not grounds for a claim.

PRODUCT QUALITY CLAIM PROCEDURE

1. Claims for non-conformance must be made to the Majestic Sales representative assigned to Customer, or directly to QA.
2. Customer’s notification must include the following details for QA to conduct a proper investigation:

Date of receipt of non-conforming material

Date the non-conformance was discovered

Detailed description of the non-conformity, including but not limited to: type of non-conformance, location of non-conformance on Material, why the non-conformity renders the Material unusable:

Marks, bruises and other surface imperfections often have a repeat distance corresponding to a specific source. Provide the repeat distance, whenever possible.

Shape issues should be presented in terms of wave height (deviation from flat) and distance between waves. Measurements must be taken with a single sheet on a flat surface (not on the bundle itself). Provide photos showing the sheet on the flat surface to capture the poor shape condition and the measurements of the deviation from flat and distance between peaks.

Majestic tag numbers and description of claimed Material

Customer’s P.O. number and Majestic’s invoice number for claimed Material

Weight/number of pieces claimed

Street address at which damaged Material is located

Quality claims for rust and/or water intrusion will only be considered if:

Material has been stored at the point of delivery for less than 30 days from the delivery date.

Material has not been moved from the point of delivery for any reason, whether for processing, shipment to its customer or for any other reason.

Customer provides sufficient evidence that it exercised adequate means to store and protect Material from water intrusion.

Customer provides sufficient evidence that the rust (or conditions causing the rust) existed prior to the time Material arrived at the point of delivery

Majestic will not accept claims for rust/water on the following items:

Hot rolled and cold rolled steel that was ordered by Customer as dry (no oil).

Coated product ordered by Customer without passivation (chemical treatment or oil).

Sufficient evidence offering reasonable representation of the non-conformity in the as-received condition at the point of delivery, including:

Samples of Material in the formed and un-formed state. Material samples of the non-conformance should be clearly marked with Majestic’s tag identity, lengthwise direction, and top/bottom side.

Photographs, video and documentation should be sent via email to your Majestic contact.

If two or more coils/sheets/sizes are subject to the claim, Customer should provide samples of each representative tag.

Material samples should be sent to:
Majestic Steel USA
Attn: Quality Assurance
5300 Majestic Parkway
Bedford Heights, OH 44146

1. Majestic may request additional information and/or inspect claimed Material, and Customer agrees to use its best efforts to accommodate Majestic for these requests. Failure by Customer to provide adequate information to support the claim may result in denial of the claim.
2. Majestic will endeavor to timely resolve product quality claims.  Majestic is not liable to Customer for delays in processing or resolving a claim, nor will any delay relieve Customer of its obligations relating to the Material at issue, including payment.

If Majestic accepts the claim:

1. Majestic will provide notice to Customer that it is accepting the claim and will identify the appropriate resolution, as determined in Majestic’s sole discretion. See the “Claim Resolution” section below.
2. Upon its acceptance of the claim, ownership of the Material immediately reverts to Majestic.
3. Customer will follow the applicable procedure outlined in the “Claim Resolution” section below.

If Majestic denies the claim:

1. Customer is obligated to retain the Material.
2. Customer must immediately pay Majestic for any amounts due and owing relating for the claimed Material.
3. Majestic may consider an appeal by Customer, which decision is in Majestic’s sole discretion.

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QUANTITY CLAIMS

Any claimed weight/sheet quantity discrepancy must made in writing within 3 days after delivery of Material to the point of delivery.

Majestic reserves the right to deny any quantity claim of 2% or less of the aggregate invoiced weight/sheet count.

Normal scale error may result in weight discrepancies between Customer-measured weights and billed weights for Material supplied by Majestic in coil-form. Majestic will not accept claims for coil weight discrepancies of less than +/-1% of the invoiced weight based on the agreed-upon billing method.

Majestic uses laser counters for sheet bundle piece counts, which are accurate to within +/- 1%. Majestic will not accept claims for sheet quantity discrepancies of less than +/- 1% of the invoiced quantity.

QUANTITY CLAIMS PROCEDURE

Claims for shortages must be made to the Majestic Sales representative assigned to Customer, or directly to QA.

Customer must provide Majestic with sufficient evidence of such weight or sheet-count discrepancy with its notice of claim. An example of sufficient, proper evidence would be photographs of measured weight (for Material in coil-form) or photographs of a measurement of stack height (for Material in sheet-form).

Majestic may request additional information and/or inspect claimed material, and Customer agrees to use its best efforts to accommodate Majestic for these requests. Failure by Customer to provide adequate information to support the claim may result in denial of the claim.

Majestic will endeavor to timely resolve quantity claims.  Majestic is not liable to Customer for delays in processing or resolving a claim, nor will any delay relieve Customer of its obligations relating to the Material at issue, including payment.

If Majestic accepts the claim:

1. 1. Majestic will provide notice to Customer that it is accepting the claim and will identify the appropriate resolution, as determined in Majestic’s sole discretion. See the “Claim Resolution” section below.
   2. Upon its acceptance of the claim, ownership of the Material immediately reverts to Majestic.
   3. Customer will follow the applicable procedure outlined in the “Claim Resolution” section below.

If Majestic denies the claim:

1. 1. Customer is obligated to retain the Material.
   2. Customer must immediately pay Majestic for any amounts due and owing for the claimed Material.
   3. Majestic may consider an appeal by Customer, which decision is in Majestic’s sole discretion.

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CLAIM RESOLUTION

Upon Majestic’ acceptance of a claim, Majestic will determine the appropriate resolution, which is Customer’s sole and exclusive remedy for the claim. In no event will Majestic be liable to Customer for consequential, incidental, special or punitive damages relating to or resulting from a claim.

Majestic may consider the following material dispositions and remedies, but Majestic will evaluate the circumstances surrounding each specific claim to determine the appropriate and final resolution:

Material Dispositions and Remedies

• Material Retained at a Discount: It may be suitable for the Customer to re-work and/or sell the claimed Material at a lower cost. The discount will be an amount agreed upon by Majestic QA and the Customer.
• Scrap Material: Majestic may choose to have the Customer scrap all or part of the claimed Material. Majestic will credit or refund the difference between the amount paid by the Customer for the claimed Material and its current scrap value, as determined by Majestic based on current published regional scrap rates listed in the American Metals Market or similar publication. Majestic will provide authorization to the Customer to scrap the Material.
• Return Material: Majestic may instruct the Customer to return all or part of the claimed Material. QA will prepare and send a Return Material Authorization (RMA) form to the Customer listing the claimed material to be returned and with specific instructions for the return. Material must be returned in the same condition that it was received by Customer, and secured with proper banding and packaging to prevent further damage or non-conformance. The Customer may not return material not listed on the RMA.

Credit or Refund: Majestic may issue a credit to Customer’s account, in an amount determined by Majestic, based upon the item’s purchase price listed on Majestic’s respective invoice, the disposition of the claimed Material, and the claimed weight or sheet quantity (as applicable). Should the Customer desire a refund, Majestic will consider providing a check to the Customer for the determined amount.
Material Replacement: Majestic may provide Customer with substitute Material to replace the claimed item(s), at its sole discretion. Majestic reserves the right to supply such Material from whatever source it deems appropriate. To ensure action can be taken to prevent recurrence of the nonconformance, replacement orders will be generated only after proper evidence has been provided to identify the source of the problem and the claim has been validated by QA, which may result in Customer’s return of the Material before the replacement order is entered.

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OTHER MATTERS

Prime Material Returns

In certain limited circumstances, Majestic may consider a Customer’s return of prime Material that is not otherwise subject to a claim.

For Majestic to consider these unusual circumstances, Customer must submit a request with their Sale(s) representative or Majestic’s QA Area, and provide all of the information requested by Majestic. Majestic reserves the right to make a determination of a prime Material return in its sole discretion.

If Majestic agrees to allow a Customer’s return of prime Material, Customer will be charged a 15% re-stocking fee and must reimburse Majestic for the cost of both inbound and outbound freight.

If Material returned by Customer is received in less-than-prime condition, Majestic may charge the Customer an amount to cover salvage of the material and/or any actual loss in its resell value.

The Customer may not return the Material without prior approval and authorization by Majestic’s QA who will send Customer a Return Material Authorization (RMA).

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