How Furniture Delivery Works

Understanding the Costs & Rules of Furniture Delivery

We are going to share a lot of information with you here. We are hoping to put this information in an order so that is very informative for you and easy to understand. This is pretty much industry wide and applies to all furniture companies.

Furniture Orders

We start at the beginning and use simple math to make our points. You place an outdoor furniture order for $1,000. We process it. The credit card companies charge us a 3% fee  ($30). They would give us $970 on a $1,000 purchase.

Returns (Before it Ships)

You change your mind before we ship it.—Assuming it is a “cancelable “ item—not all are. we credit you the entire $1,000. The credit card company credits us $970. We lose $30. That’s just the way the credit card companies work. They keep their share no matter what. Losing money is not a good way to run a business. So please be sure before you order.

Returns (After it Ships)

If you want to cancel an order AFTER we have shipped the furniture, then there more charges. Not only the credit card fees, but truckers want to be paid the costs for bringing the products to your area AND to bring them back to us. These charges will range anywhere from $50 to $125 for smaller items that ship via Fed Ex to $300 to $500 for larger sizes items like our furniture. We pay the shipping charges from our profits if you keep the items. If you want to return them YOU are responsible to pay these costs.

At Wicker Warehouse, we keep our process low. We are unfortunately not able to pay for a customer changing their mind or ordering the wrong item.

A word about Free Shipping

In order to simplify your purchasing decision, we offer “Free shipping”. We both know there is no such thing as free shipping. We do not know of a trucker who does not charge. They pay salaries to all of their employees. Some may be in your family. They have to charge. So we pay the trucking costs and all other costs from the selling price.

We are a smaller business that owns our property. We are family run since 1978. We are efficient so we keep our overall expenses low and in line, therefore we can offer you a good price & quality products. We are not a large corporation with stock holders, investors, or venture capitalist that apply pressure for more & more revenue at the cost of profits, sustainability, and quality. FYI—read about some of the larger, more popular online sellers. Some are losing millions & millions of dollars. Be careful when they all of a sudden close down.

In order to keep our furniture selling prices attractive we have to keep our shipping costs in order. We pay for CURBSIDE DELIVERY to most locations in the 48 states. Our deliveries—smaller items—are made via Fed Ex.

Our larger deliveries are made with truckers. Truckers have to make money, everyone does. When our products ship on a large 18 wheeler truck there are lots of deliveries on that truck. All truckers need to take in “x” amount of dollars for the deliveries on their trucks so that they cover their costs and make a profit. By shipping our products via an 18 wheeler truck our truckers can charge us less for the delivery and we can charge you less.

The more service the customer requires or wants the more the truckers charge—the same as you would if you were doing the work.

Receiving your shipment

In this section, we want to go over the customers responsibility. We pay our truckers to call you to setup a day of delivery. They usually can estimate first half of the day or second half. MAKE sure to get the name & phone # of the person calling you to schedule your delivery. Lots of things can happen to trucks on the road. It is important for you to have a contact person. When the delivery comes you must sign the delivery papers.

FIRST—before you sign check to see how many cartons the delivery sheet says are being delivered. If the deliver receipt says 10 pieces and they only give you 9 you must sign saying you only received 9. If you signed for 10 pieces the trucker is no longer responsible.

SECOND---you must look at the cartons. Most deliveries are perfect & go smoothly. If a box is ripped, torn, crushed or has anything that makes you suspicious tell the driver you need to open the box & check the product inside to make sure it is perfect BEFORE you sign the delivery receipt.

Once you sign the delivery sheet you are releasing the trucker from responsibility. EG—we always help our customers, but if you sign your receipt saying you received 8 boxes and only received 7 that means you are missing something and the trucking company will not be replace it. Therefore, we will be unable to replace it as well.

If an item is damaged.

Take pictures of the damaged cartons and or damaged furniture. Then the trucker is responsible. You should call us immediately, while the trucker is there. We will help you. You will email us the pictures and signed delivery sheet (make sure to note the delivery sheet with the word “damaged”). We will make sure you receive new furniture in perfect condition.

We’ve been doing this a long time (since 1978 actually). We have this process as perfect as it can be. Our truckers are among the best in the industry and 99% of our customers receive their furniture in perfect condition with no issues at all. We write this article, just so your educated and know how to handle an issue should one arise. Nothing is more worry-some than an issue your unprepared for.

We hope this has been informative and helpful.

Remember, it is easy to count the number of cartons you are receiving and to check the condition to make sure something heavy like “ a refrigerator” hasn’t dropped on them.

Unlike those big companies, you can talk with a live furniture expert via phone 6 days a week—1-800-274-8602 to answer your wicker furniture questions.