Re: Shipping & Damages

Two issues. One on delivery. Ordered Stickley cocktail/leather ottoman table and sofa from reputable dealer. Store called me. Shipment came in. Broken leg on cocktail table. Glad I had it shipped to the store. They said they reordered. I'll check it to make sure it's not just patched by a local repair person. Is a broken leg a big job? Next. At the time of my order, my wife didn't want the floor model on this white fabric sofa. Waited six weeks. It came in with the wrong arms. 3 1/4 club arms vs desired. 5 1/4 club arms. I checked the order. Salesperson put it down wrong. Told us the mfg sent the wrong item. I know they can't return it since the store ordered the wrong item. Though I really would prefer our made to order sofa, it would be another 6 weeks. Also, the store would have 2 almost identical sofas in stock. Same fabric. I wanted/ordered the identical sofa to the floor model. Would it be reasonable for the store to offer me an added discount to take the floor model? I don't want the new one with the 3 1/4 inch arms. I'll add, I originally received a 35% discount off claimed list. A few days later, they advertised a 40% off. We called, and they immediately gave us the extra 5% off. Thought they did the right thing to do. We also have on a later order, a Stickley Mission Recliner with ottoman, in semi aniine leather.

A broken leg is often catastrophic and non-repairable, but it depends on the piece and how its attached. Some can be replaced, others not. They can almost never be patched-up, however.

Mistakes can happen on ordering, it happens. Recently I neglected to order the power option for a customer on his Bradington Young Recliner - I just simply forgot to add it! He received the manual version, and I offered him a new replacement with power or he could keep the manual one, and I would refund the power add-on price along with an extra $ 100 for his trouble. He chose the latter. Every store runs differently, but generally its less hassle for everyone involved to adjust the price on a mistake piece so that everyone is OK with it rather than replacement

I'm confused by your post though - You say you don't want the one they delivered, but are asking if they should discount the floor model to you that is configured the same way? If the one sofa is already in your home they would not want to swap out, that's too much handling, labor and time. If you DO want to keep the one that was delivered, propose something on the order of a 20% discount off price paid to sign off and keep it. That would be reasonable on a 40% off MSRP piece.

I meant it was delivered to my local store. They called and told me the arm was the narrow size, not the wide arm we ordered. Both sofas are at the store.

Thank you for your incredible response time. About an hour on a Sunday morning. Someone besides me doesn't have a life. I'm reading about all these delivery issues. On one of your responses, you mentioned the option of shipping to a moving and storage place, and having them deliver the item. Wouldn't that give the original shipper another reason to avoid liability? Does the moving and storage place give that thorough an inspection?

HA! Working today...at the store trying to get caught up with Taxes, bills, etc...no time during the week it seems. So Sundays I lock the door and don't answer the phone so its quiet in the store - but I pop over to the forum to take breaks from all that accounting.

If both sofas are at the store, then you can negotiate a price if you want to. Again 20% off your best price is probably as good as you can expect for the 'mistake' sofa. Get the new one though, if you do that. The store wont' care and price will be the same on either.

The way shipping works in the Industry - all pieces are assumed to be brand new and in excellent condition with each exchange or handoff. If at any time in the transport process one of the receivers feels its not, its up to them to catch it. They assume liability on the handoff. So in your example, the Moving and Storage company assumes all liability once they accept and sign off on the contents, its up to them to inspect. And that's really the case in all shipping for that matter. From UPS to shipping a car, damage has to be noted or the delivery refused on acceptance of the delivery.