Written Notice to a Supplier in Default: Deadline and Letter

When a supplier misses a delivery date, a dated written notice does three jobs: it fixes the moment of default, it gives the supplier a final chance, and it prepares your choice among remedies. Under the Turkish Code of Obligations, a debtor of a due debt falls into default through the creditor's notice, and in a contract with obligations on both sides the creditor may set a suitable period for performance. If you run a co-living operation and bought content or listings from an outside agency, those two rules tell you what your letter must do. This is not legal advice.

A second problem arises when a deal was struck by phone or chat. Article 21 of the Turkish Commercial Code deals with a letter that confirms such an agreement and with the eight days a recipient has to object. Formal delivery channels, such as notaries or registered electronic mail, are outside this topic.

First step: confirming a phone or chat agreement

Article 21 of the Commercial Code (Opens in a new tab), third paragraph, says that a person who receives a letter confirming the content of statements made in a contract concluded by telephone, by any communication or information tool, by another technical means or orally, and who does not object within eight days of receiving it, is deemed to have accepted that the confirmation matches the contract or statements.

In business terms: you agree by phone that a supplier will deliver five listings by month end, and send a short confirming message the same day. If the supplier does not object within eight days of receipt, the message is treated as matching the deal. Whether the rule fits every relationship is for a court. The documentation has no further statement.

Wording the confirmation

• The date of the conversation and the medium used.
• The work, the quantity and the delivery date.
• The fee and how it is paid.
• Any special terms discussed.
• A closing sentence inviting a written correction if the supplier understood things differently.

The eight-day count

The period runs from the day the recipient receives the letter. Proving receipt is your task, and the documentation has no statement on how. Keep the sent copy, the time and any delivery or read trace.

Why a confirmation is not a notice

A confirmation fixes what was agreed. A notice demands performance and sets a period. They may share a letter, but they do different work. Practical suggestion: confirm first and notify later, which can reduce objections to the basis of your notice.

A confirmation letter does not add terms

Article 21, paragraph 3, speaks of a letter confirming the content of a contract already made, and of the recipient being deemed to accept that the letter matches the contract or statements. The article is about matching. The documentation has no statement on what follows when a letter adds an item that was never mentioned in the call. Practical suggestion: put only what was said in the conversation into the letter, item by item and in the same order.

When a supplier is in default

Article 117 of the Code of Obligations (Opens in a new tab) gives two routes. The debtor of a due debt falls into default through the creditor's notice. Alternatively, if the performance date was fixed by agreement, or fixed by one party through a proper notification under a right reserved in the contract, the debtor is in default once that date passes. The article also covers torts and unjust enrichment, which have no bearing on a supplier contract.

Defining a due debt

A due debt is one whose time for performance has come. The documentation has no statement on how to establish it where the order form is silent. Practical suggestion: write the delivery date into every order. If the date is missing, obtain a written confirmation of it before relying on it.

When the date was fixed by agreement

If the parties agreed on the performance day, the passing of that day puts the debtor in default. A written notice still helps: it records your demand, starts the clock on any extra period and removes later arguments about what you wanted. The documentation has no statement on the form of the notice, including whether email suffices.

Separate dates for separate items

A co-living operator may order listing copy for four properties, a neighbourhood guide and a newsletter feature. Each item can fall due on a different day. Practical suggestion: list the items in a table with their due dates and status so that the notice targets only what is actually late.

Giving the supplier a final period

Article 123 states that in a contract with obligations on both sides, once one party is in default, the other may give it a suitable period for performance or ask the judge to set one. The article says "suitable period" and gives no number of days. The documentation has no statement on length.

Picking a length for the period

Write the deadline as a calendar date and time rather than "as soon as possible." If your period is short, say why: a move-in season, a booking campaign, a fixed event. A bare short deadline invites the reply that no suitable period was given.

Why the deadline goes in your diary

Under Article 125, once the period given has passed without performance, the creditor's choice of remedies opens. Putting the deadline in your diary is therefore part of the process, not a courtesy.

Asking the judge instead

Article 123 also lets the creditor ask the judge to set a suitable period instead of setting one itself. The documentation has no statement on how that request is made or how long it takes. Practical suggestion: note in the file that both routes exist, so that a notice with a deadline is chosen deliberately and not by default.

Skipping the period: Article 124

Article 124 names three cases in which giving a period is unnecessary: it is clear from the debtor's situation or attitude that a period would be useless; performance has become useless to the creditor as a result of the default; or the contract shows that performance will no longer be accepted if it does not occur at a particular time or within a particular period.

Example scenario: a co-living operator orders a feature timed to a move-in weekend. The weekend passes with nothing published. A late article may now be worthless to the operator, which resembles the second case. Whether a court sees it that way is another matter. Practical suggestion: send the notice anyway. A letter costs little, and an argument that no period was needed is harder to win than one that a period was given.

Illustrating the three cases

The table gives example illustrations only. Whether any of them satisfies the article is for a court.

Drafting the notice

The documentation has no statement on required contents. The elements in the table are practical suggestions, meant to make it impossible for the supplier to say it did not know what was wanted, by when and why.

The demand-and-deadline sentence

The strongest sentence in a notice joins the demand and the deadline: "Please publish the two missing property pages by 14:00 on the stated date." If the demand is buried in a long complaint, the supplier can reply that it did not understand what was requested. Open with the demand and close with it.

Keeping the tone factual

A notice is a record, not a rant. Short sentences, dates and amounts, each backed by a document. Practical suggestion: let the draft rest for a day and cut every sentence that is not a fact or a demand.

The closing consequence sentence

The last sentence of a notice says which right will be used if the deadline passes. Listing all three Article 125 routes together weakens it, because the supplier cannot tell which one is coming. The documentation has no statement on how detailed that sentence must be. Practical suggestion: name the route you are actually weighing, and write the others in sentences of their own instead of a general reservation.

What to enclose with the letter

• The signed order or accepted quotation.
• The payment record, if you paid.
• The message that set the delivery date.
• A list or screenshots showing what is missing.
• Any earlier confirmation letter.

Stating the payment position

Article 123 concerns contracts where both sides owe something. If you have paid part or all of the fee, say so and attach the receipt. If payment is due only after delivery, say that too. Whether payment depends on delivery is a question for your contract; the documentation has no general statement on it.

Your routes when the period ends

Article 125 sets out three routes for the creditor when the debtor has not performed within the period, or when no period was needed.

The article adds that on withdrawal, the debtor who cannot prove it was without fault for the default also owes the creditor compensation for the loss caused by the contract falling away. The word "immediately" in the second route is a warning: a waiver of performance must be communicated at once. Decide which route you would choose before the deadline passes.

Monthly and other ongoing services

Article 126 covers continuing obligations that have started to be performed, such as a monthly service. If the debtor defaults, the creditor may demand performance and delay compensation, or terminate and claim for the loss from early termination. Whether a particular monthly contract falls within the article is for a court to decide.

Money claims: damages, interest and excess loss

Article 118 makes a debtor in default liable for the creditor's loss from late performance unless it proves it was without fault. Article 120 leaves the default interest rate to the contract, and absent that to the rules in force on the date the interest debt arises. Article 122 adds that if the creditor suffers a loss beyond default interest, the debtor must make it good unless it proves it was without fault.

Article 10 of the Commercial Code says that, absent a contrary contract, interest on a commercial debt starts running from the end of the due date, and if there is no fixed due date, from the day of notice. That sentence explains why the date of your notice matters. The documentation has no statement on the rate.

Evidence for a damage claim

Practical suggestion: before sending the notice, list what the delay has cost you with a date and a document for each item: a campaign date missed, an advertising budget wasted, a second supplier hired. A notice with no loss item carries only a demand for performance.

Interest after default: Article 121

Article 121 says that a debtor in default on an interest or annuity debt, or on a sum of money it had undertaken as a gift, owes default interest from the day enforcement proceedings were started or the lawsuit was filed. Agreements to the contrary fall under the rules on contractual penalties, and default interest cannot itself bear default interest. Practical suggestion: in the notice, set out the principal, the interest and any other loss in three separate columns so that interest is never counted on interest.

Example scenario: a co-living operator and a content supplier

Example scenario: a co-living operator asks an outside supplier by phone for four property pages and a neighbourhood guide before the autumn intake. No order form exists. The operator sends a confirming message the same afternoon. The supplier does not reply. The delivery date passes and only one property page is live.

Step by step for the operator

1. Keep the confirming message and its send record. No objection arrives within eight days.
2. After the date passes, list the missing items and the date each was due.
3. Send a notice with a calendar deadline, the reason for it and the right the operator will use if it passes.
4. When the deadline arrives, check what was published.
5. If items are still missing, decide among the three routes in Article 125.

Keeping a copy of every message builds the file in case the dispute grows. For a promotional post that was never delivered, see how the dispute process works when a guest post is not delivered.

If the supplier answers

If the supplier promises a new date for two pages, accept the date in writing and state that you do not waive the earlier deadline. If it says nothing is missing, ask for its evidence and compare it with yours. If it delivers part of the work, send a short follow-up listing the remaining items. For that situation, see partial delivery in a backlink package. A mistake in published content is a different matter, handled in sponsored post correction requests.

Item tracker

Second scenario: a monthly refresh service

Example scenario: the operator agrees with a supplier that every month, on the fifth, it will refresh the room availability pages and send a short report. In the third month nothing arrives and two messages go unanswered. Performance has begun and repeats monthly, so Article 126 comes to mind: it lists demanding performance and delay compensation, or terminating and claiming the loss from early termination. A court decides whether this contract falls within the article. The operator first sends a dated notice that lists the missing report and the missing refresh separately. It then waits for the deadline and names only the right it will weigh.

Proof of sending and a waiting routine

The legal weight of different delivery methods is outside this topic. The documentation has no statement on proving that a notice was sent. The table is a record-keeping habit rather than a legal rule.

Waiting for the reply

Practical suggestion: put the end of the deadline in your calendar, add no new demands before it ends, and write a short status note when it does: what remains, the date, the next step.

Decision rule: confirm, notify or move on

Rule: confirm what was agreed, then give a dated deadline, and only then use your remedies.

Checklist for deadline day

1. Is the exact day and hour of the deadline written in the diary?
2. Were the published items recorded with dated screenshots or addresses?
3. Was the list of missing items compared with the list in the notice?
4. Does the status note say which of the three Article 125 routes is being weighed?
5. If a waiver of performance is being considered, is a way of sending it without delay ready?

Questions to settle before choosing a route

The three routes in Article 125 lead to different results. Practical suggestion: answer each question in one sentence.

1. If performance is demanded, is the late work still useful to the operator?
2. If performance is waived, can the waiver be communicated immediately?
3. If the contract is withdrawn from, is it clear what was paid and what was delivered?
4. On withdrawal, will the loss from the contract falling away be claimed too, if the supplier cannot prove it was without fault?

A sentence skeleton instead of a sample letter

A complete sample letter would carry dates and demands that do not fit your case, so a skeleton is safer. Practical suggestion:

1. "Under [order or contract] dated [date], [work] was due on [date]."
2. "[Missing item] has not been delivered."
3. "Please deliver [item] by [date and time]."
4. "If it is not delivered by then, I will [state the right you will use]."

Fill the brackets with your own details.

Slips that weaken a late-delivery claim

Closing with all three routes

A consequence sentence that lists every Article 125 route leaves the supplier unsure which one is coming. Name the route you are actually weighing.

Reading "suitable period" as a fixed number of days

Article 123 gives no number. Pick a calendar date that fits the work.

Putting items that are not yet late into the notice

A notice should target only what is actually late. Check each due date before listing an item.

Assuming no period was needed

Article 124 lists three cases, and a court decides whether one fits. Practical suggestion: send the notice with a deadline anyway.

Leaving the payment position out

State what you have paid and what is due only after delivery, and attach the receipt where there is one.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a delivery date in the order replace a notice?

If the parties agreed on the performance day, the passing of that day puts the debtor in default under Article 117. A written notice still helps: it records your demand and removes later arguments about what you wanted. The documentation has no statement on the form of the notice, including whether email suffices.

Does Article 123 say how many days a supplier must get?

No. It speaks of a suitable period and gives no number of days. Practical suggestion: choose a calendar date that fits the work and explain it if it is short.

Can I ask a judge to set the period instead?

Article 123 also lets the creditor ask the judge to set a suitable period. The documentation has no statement on how that request is made or how long it takes.

What are my options once the period has passed?

Under Article 125 you may demand performance and delay compensation, give up performance and claim damages for non-performance, or withdraw from the contract. This is not legal advice.

How long does the recipient of a confirming letter have to object?

Article 21 of the Commercial Code treats the recipient who does not object within eight days of receipt as having accepted that the letter matches the deal.

Does interest on a commercial debt run without a notice?

Article 10 of the Commercial Code says that, absent a contrary contract, it runs from the end of the due date, or from the day of notice if there is no fixed due date. The documentation has no statement on the rate.

Conclusion

In short: confirm oral deals within the day, give dated deadlines in writing, choose your Article 125 route when the deadline ends and keep a copy of every message. This is not legal advice.

If you want delivery dates and records clear from the first order, see the backlink packages page.