A tight turn on the landing
The wardrobe is beautiful and it is in one piece, because that is how the client wanted it. The van arrives at a townhouse with a parking bay two streets away. The staircase has a tight turn on the landing that nobody measured. After half an hour of trying, the wardrobe goes back to the workshop to be made knock-down, and the day is gone.
Another week, the fitting team arrive to install alcove units and discover the client has not cleared the room, the floor is being sanded next door, and there is no power on that floor.
Delivery is treated as an afterthought
Makers design around the room, but the route to the room is often left to chance. The booking is a phone call that settles a date and little else.
- Access details, such as stairs, doors, lifts and parking, are not collected in writing.
- Piece dimensions are not checked against the route.
- Fitting requirements, such as power, clear rooms or other trades, are assumed.
- The delivery team gets a postcode and a name, and little else.
- Two-person lifts and extra help are arranged at the last minute.
The cost of a failed delivery
A failed delivery wastes the day for everyone who went, the van, and sometimes means reworking a piece. Damage risk goes up when a team is improvising on a staircase. Clients who took a day off are frustrated. And a fitting day that cannot go ahead pushes every other job behind it.
Delivery booking with site checks
- When a piece nears completion, the client gets a short online form: address, parking, route to the room, stairs and turns, door and lift sizes, and photos of the route, plus fitting requirements such as clear room, power and other trades on site.
- The largest dimensions of each piece, including packaging, are checked against the widths and heights given, and potential problems are flagged for you to review early enough to change how the piece is built or delivered.
- Delivery slots are offered from your calendar, taking into account van availability and how many people each piece needs.
- Everyone going gets a delivery sheet on their phone: address, parking, access notes and photos, piece list, fitting notes and client contact.
- The client gets a reminder with what they need to prepare, and can confirm or rearrange.
- On the day, the team records delivery with photos and the client's signature, attached to the commission.
| Detail | Collected today | With the booking flow |
|---|---|---|
| Stairs and turns | Rarely | Asked with photos |
| Parking | On the day | Asked in advance |
| Room ready and power | Assumed | Checklist confirmed by client |
| Team size | Last minute | Set by piece |
| Proof of delivery | Informal | Photos and signature |
Delivery days that go to plan
Access problems are found in the workshop, when they can still be solved by design. The team arrives knowing where to park, how the route looks and what to bring. Clients arrive at the day prepared. And the delivery record with photos is there if a question about damage or finish comes up later.
The same flow works for pieces going to a designer's site rather than a private house. Site contacts, delivery windows and any rules about parking or loading bays are captured in the same questions, and the delivery sheet tells your team who to ask for on arrival. Fewer surprises on the day means fewer return trips and fewer pieces handled more than they need to be.
Have deliveries gone wrong for you?
- A piece has not fitted through a door or up the stairs.
- The team has arrived to find the room not ready.
- Parking has cost you time or fines on delivery day.
- Delivery details are in a phone call nobody wrote down.
- There is no record of the piece's condition at handover.