Plycon Van Lines - the best White Glove Delivery Service

We had Plycon Van Lines stop by today to pick up three orders in our store, these are all floor models that we had in the showroom in our store in Virginia. We had shipments of one chair / ottoman going to Florida, one recliner to Illinois and one recliner to New York City. With orders taking so long, there are customers around the country that simply don't want to wait for the production times and buy our floor models, which are often nicely discounted vs ordering new as well. However, how to get it to them? There are not many responsible blanket wrap carriers that will do small ships nationwide and do it right. We have used Plycon Van Lines for over 20 years and never had a damage with them, and these photos show why we have never had a claim. They put two pads on the floor, wrap the entire piece in plastic, then put two more pads on top, for a total of four pads, and fully wrapped. Heck, we don't even use four pads for local deliveries! They keep their employees as well, these two work out of their New York facility and have been with the company for a combined 9 years. You cannot beat experience in delivering furniture, and its obvious they are trained to a high level. And their rolling stock (trucks) are decent, too - they are new enough to not suffer breakdowns and don't have holes in the van body.

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So why don't we use Plycon exclusively? First, they are not inexpensive. Second, we cannot get instant quotes and have to fill out a lengthy form and wait a few hours to get a price. One recliner going to NYC is $ 640, the one going to IL is $ 660 and I'm not sure of the chair/ottoman to Florida cost as that customer booked direct with Plycon, but its probably around $ 800. We don't collect sales tax to any shipment outside of Virginia so that can help mitigate the cost somewhat. We get it that customers don't want to spend that much on delivery fees, and you can always go to www.uship.com and put it out for a bid and select from whomever responds, but we have had mixed experiences with those that book on Uship. Some are good, some are horrid (including one instance when the load was simply flat-out stolen by the low bidder on uship).

One school of thought that I personally subscribe to is "Do I really want to deal with damages or lack of communication when buying expensive furniture? How important is it to save a few dollars?" Plycon is the only carrier that we have never had a damage claim with - ever - and that's over 20 years of using them here and there. You pays your money, you takes your choice, we will ship with whomever you direct us to. I think right now, in today's Covid Climate, Plycon is the best in the industry. They are one of the few trucking companies that have long-term employees, and you cannot beat having experienced men on the job.

Duane, I would definitely have used Plycon if they were available to bring furniture to the Washington State. I am stuck with what is available which makes me nervous. Who knows who will be handling my long-waited for leather sofa.

Plycon does go to Washington State. They would be considerably more costly, however. About double the price.

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Originally Posted by drcollie

Plycon does go to Washington State. They would be considerably more costly, however. About double the price.

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Well that is a bit high for me. Already paying over $1,000 for delivery to WA. Not willing to go $2,000. (Although maybe I will regret it after I see what my leather sofa looks like after I get it delivered.) I long for the "old days" when it cost under $500 to deliver to the west coast and it was done by professionals. Let's see what happens.

Florida man here....the chair and ottoman were 765 to ship.

Communication was excellent and it took less than 12 hours to receive the initial quote. The communication was excellent and I got a response to have the quote adjusted in under 30 minutes.

I looked at Uship and while there were some potential options that were cheaper (most were within 150 dollars of Plycon)...I just didn't want to deal with the headaches....My wife and I just want the furniture...so we payed more than we could have for that peace of mind.

Duane was outstanding in his advice and very patient with me as I do ask more questions than is probably necessary but that's just how I'm wired.

Looking forward to posting some photos when our goodies arrive!!

I agree... Duane has always been outstanding. No BS, just his best knowledge being communicated... even if it is not pleasant sometimes.

The one thing I have always done is speak honestly, even when it's unpleasant news. Why? Because the Truth is never wrong and you never get caught in a lie. Plus, lies are hard to remember! People ask me how to be successful in a small business and its not difficult Work hard, don't get obligated to a debt load you can't service, be honest, and work on behalf of your customers, don't get into an adversarial position with them. And last but not least, never talk politics in the store, especially in the Washington DC area.

POLITICS- Members of our species (for the most part) find it uncomfortable thinking for themselves. They adopt a "team" early in life, accept those ideas and form loyalties at a young age when they have little knowledge and no critical thinking skills. All human behavior springs from three sources. Emotion, desire, and knowledge. Political bonds are formed early on. Plenty of emotion and desire. But no knowledge or critical thinking skill. None the less young people are now "bonded" to that team. They are conformists. They are advocates. They are loyal. They get very upset if their ideas are challenged. You dare not challenge their world view. They will fight to defend hastily adopted ideas. It is like being a sports fan. No matter how bad your team is you will still be loyal to that team and hate the other team. That is human nature. That is not going to change. It is always best to talk about the 90% we all have in common and leave the last 10% out of it.