Walmart ASN chargebacks, explained by cause
An ASN chargeback is Walmart deducting money from your invoice payment because your 856 Advance Ship Notice was late, wrong, or missing. They're tracked in SQEP and the ASN dashboard in Retail Link — and nearly all of them trace back to a handful of mechanical causes.
The causes, ranked by how often they bite small suppliers
| Cause | What happened | Prevention |
|---|---|---|
| Late ASN | The 856 arrived after the truck (or after the transmission window) | Generate the ASN when the shipment is packed, not "later" — see the timing rules |
| SSCC mismatch | Barcode on the carton ≠ SSCC in the ASN's MAN segment | One source of truth: labels and ASN generated from the same data — check digits explained |
| Quantity errors | Item counts don't roll up consistently carton → pallet → shipment | Validate the hierarchy before sending — HL structure guide |
| PO mismatch | ASN quantities/items differ from the 850 (or the later 810) | Cross-check against the original PO — three-way match rules |
| Missing carton level | Pallet→item structure where Walmart expects cartons identified | Carton-level requirements |
What they cost
Deduction amounts vary by program and violation — commonly a percentage of the PO value or a flat fee per violation, taken directly out of your remittance. The pattern that hurts small suppliers isn't one big chargeback; it's the same mechanical error repeating on every shipment for a quarter before anyone connects the deduction codes to the cause.
Where to see them
Retail Link → SQEP dashboard (compliance scorecard) and the ASN dashboard (Walmart has been expanding 824 visibility there — the 824 Application Advice is the document that tells youwhy an ASN was rejected; always retrieve and read it).
Disputing one
Disputes live or die on records: the exact 856 you transmitted, when, and what Walmart's 997/824 said back. Suppliers who can produce the original file win the mechanical disputes; suppliers reconstructing from memory don't. Keep every document, timestamped, for years.