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Thread: Some days you have to say "no"

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,889

    Default Some days you have to say "no"

    One of the most difficult things we have to deliver are Hancock and Moore dual power recline sofas - they are so heavy, around 330 to 350 lb. Most dual recliner sofas are about 100 lb less, because they are not using the solid maple frames and the high-spec Leggett and Platt mechanisms and motors. But that's also what makes them a Hancock and Moore and more durable than anything else out there. We have a difficult time delivering them and learned long ago to NEVER attempt to go up and down staircases with them even for my big, experienced guys on my delivery team.

    A customer came in on Friday and fell in love with this piece, and you can't beat the price or the leather its in and said "I'll take it - this is perfect":

    http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...strian-Truffle

    The first thing I asked was "Same floor delivery, yes?" Well, not really. It's an outside staircase to a second floor townhome with a 90 degree turn in the middle of the walk and tall iron railings. We would have to go up that outside staircase to get in the front door. I told her that I didn't think it was possible for us to do it safely and she said "Don't talk me out of buying this - you're not being a good salesman if you do!" To which I replied "You're right, I'm not a good salesman, I just want to make sure we can do this without injuring my guys or damaging the sofa." I asked them to measure their front door and they went home to do that.

    Google street maps is great. They show a street view so my delivery guys and I huddled around the computer to look at it and it appeared difficult. I had Jim, my lead delivery guy go over to their house and look at it in person. He came back and said "If we didn't have that railing we could do it., but it boxes us in so its a 2-guy delivery (We were planning on taking four of us to do it) and no way we can lift over the railing and then shoot in the door right from the steps."

    So I have to decline this sale. I think most stores would say "Let's try it", but we've been doing this over thirty years now, that's three decades worth of experience and you learn what goes and what doesn't. No sense hurting my guys or tearing up the leather on the sofa, we try to work smart. I know they will be disappointed, however if they want to find their own lifting crew we will be glad to deliver to their garage and let them take it from there.

    I remember when H&M first introduced these dual power recline series sofas about three years ago. I was in their High Point showroom with their CEO looking them over and bent down to pick the end of one of them up and said "They're too heavy, how are we going to deliver these? They need to be modular, so we can put them together once inside the home." I then asked "How many guys do you use to carry these in here?" The answer was Four. "But you can't have four guys walk through a 36" doorway, that's two men only through a threshold". And right then and there I knew these would be problem delivery pieces and can't go up and down most staircases unless four men can fit on the staircase, two on each end. That doesn't really work in most homes, unfortunately. Most important thing to me is not get anyone hurt. A sale is not worth ruining someone's back, it just not worth it.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Posts
    72

    Default Re: Some days you have to say "no"

    I agree Duane -- and I will add that most of your customers will never consider delivery issues when selecting furniture, so be kind to us. That said, we did exactly this in our TV room --heck we removed a wall in order to move furniture in, it was slightly crazy.

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