[jkbyc]

"An IBM plant in Windsor, Ontario, is said to have ordered a shipment of components from a Japanese firm, specifying an acceptable quality level(AQL) of three defective components per 10,000 shipped. In a covering letter accompanying the shipment, the Japanese company apologized and said it had met with great difficulty producing these defective parts, and had been unable to understand why they were required. They wrote: “We Japanese have hard time understanding North American business practices, but the three defective parts per 10,000 have been included and are wrapped separately. Hope this pleases.”

This seems to be the oldest reference: Chris Taylor, (1995) "The case for customer satisfaction", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 5 Iss: 1, pp.11 - 14 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/09604529510081... but behind a paywall

...it is referred to for example by http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-287-429-0_3... "The Effectiveness of Service Quality by Jabatan Agama Islam Wilayah Persekutuan (JAWI) Towards Customer Satisfaction"

[sp332]

Funny, I heard it as AOL buying modems. Instead of a complaint, they got a shipment in two parts with a note: "We don't know why you wanted defective parts, but for your convenience, we packaged them separately."