Customer Feedback Needed.

[drcollie]

Here's where I would like to ask you YOUR thoughts and opinions on what to expect your local furniture store to offer in terms of delivery and prices paid for service. The reason I ask is for my store local deliveries, my guys are getting asked more and more to do 'extras' while there are there - and they're good guys, they never say 'no'. But extras are time and money and sore backs.

For example, this past weekend we delivered an Entertainment Center and the customer asked us to move the old one for him. Well, the old one was a 1-piece massive beast, that took nearly 30 minutes to get out of the room AFTER we spent 20 minutes taking out the old TV and all stereo components. My crew was exhausted hauling this 200 lb beast as it had to go outside the house, down the back deck and into the basement in the snow and ice. We didn't charge the customer a dime for doing that and the total charge for the day was only the standard $ 50 delivery fee. Add to that the 45 minutes to deliver the new unit and set it up and we had three guys on site for a total of around 5 man hours, a money loser for sure.

I just had a new gas cooktop installed today in my house, the installation charge was $ 810 for the unit and ventilator. I was told they would send two technicians over and they would be here for four hours, so I said .... eight man hours @ $ 100 an hour. A little pricey but OK. Well, only one guy showed up and he was done in two and a half hours. I'm all for paying a fair fee, but $ 810 for 2.5 hours work is too steep. I got screwed on that deal over and above the price of that unit (FYI, I will not recommend Bray & Scarf Appliance in the Washington Metro Area because of that)

So I'm thinking if they get $ 800 for a cooktop, why am I only charging $ 50 for our guys to deliver furniture and move other peoples stuff to the basement? this happens regularly, its not an isolated incident.

I'd really like to hear back from other forum members what they would consider to be reasonable LOCAL delivery charges for new furniture. Two guys and a truck. What's the dollar range you are comfortable paying for that service? And if you ask for extras such as moving old pieces to another room, what's a fair price to charge for that? Tips are not reliable, many people think $ 5 is good enough to hump a sleep sofa from upstairs into a basement.

I have to adjust my pricing for local deliveries, not to make it a profit center, but to be compensated fairly for the work performed. Reasonable fees for good service, what's fair?

[hglaber]

Keeping in mind I'm in a much different cost-of-living area, I would not think $50 unreasonable as a base rate - like a "bench fee" - the cost of showing up. But I also would not be turned off if there were a per piece handling fee if it were, say, under $20. Maybe wrap bringing in the first piece into the base fee. Then charge $15 or $20 for each piece the guys move (including customer's existing furniture).


Of course some people just insist on a "deal" so that per-piece fee will give you something to "throw in for nuthin" on the new items, without compromising your pricing model and while maintaining your leverage against moving that old 5 piece reclining sectional from the basement media room to the kids' treehouse for free.

[organic_smallhome]

In my neck of the woods, $50 is pretty cheap. Honestly? I'd suggest that you draw up a table of stepped delivery charges--with mileage worked in-- and post it on your desk at work. But to answer your question on the spot, for the delivery of a small entertainment center, I think $65-75 is fair (depending on distance; obviously, if the customer lives two blocks from your store, maybe not)--but again, a clear chart of delivery price according to mileage would set a simple standard. For the delivery of larger pieces of furniture, I think $150 is fair (again, depending on distance). If you want to offer customers the option of removing old pieces that will be replaced by the new pieces, I think it would be difficult to figure out how to work that. If the customer is an 80-year-old woman who lives alone and no one can help her, maybe a minimal charge that you can work out with her in advance? Otherwise, I think I'd just make it policy that the delivery guys don't move furniture. Period.

I always tip delivery guys $20 each. People who work that hard deserve at least that much, I think. In any case, it's usually all I can afford.

[Riddle]

In my city the medium to higher end furniture stores do not charge a separate fee for local delivery. It's baked in to the price of the item. I'm sure they must have a distance limit. They are pretty specific that they will unload, unwrap, place in one location, install shelves, doors, level, etc. They won't move your existing stuff or try out the new items in half a dozen spots for you. One place will remove the piece being replaced (no beds, mattresses, electronics) if it's in suitable condition to be donated to charity.

Since your delivery fee is a clear line item for the customers, I suspect they feel freer to be sure that they "get their money's worth." "Can you believe it was $50 to walk in, set it down, remove the wrapping, fluff the cushion and walk out?" rather than "Wow, when you think about the cost of insurance, maintenance, fuel, labor for 3 guys, $50 was a steal!"

I wonder if people are less apt to ask for extras if they perceive the service as "free". I don't know, because I'd pretty much rather die than ask for help.

I'd probably go the "free" delivery route within a certain area and build the cost into the price of the item. Be willing to give a discount if the customer picks it up. To move existing furniture or connect/disconnect electronics, I'd charge a fee in 15-minute-or-portion-thereof increments to cover the entire crew. You can always waive the fee for something like moving a large chair a few feet for a frail customer.

[dynodean]

Charge by weight / prorate by delivery area - 50 mi, 100 mi, 250 mi etc. Too many stores across the USA lose on the back end and struggle. Cause is to look at cost on the front end - purchase price, price at time of sale to cover. This puts you in a bad competitive position. Insurance, equipment, labor should always be covered. We don't pay customers to take the furniture!

[aaron]

Part of the issue is what your competitors charge. (Not that you're supposed to go around to find out what your competitors charge and set your prices that way, but it seems like "everybody does it".) Around here, the furniture stores seem to charge $50 for delivery regardless of what they're delivering or set-up time. Where there's a haul-away fee, such as with a mattress, that's typically disclosed (and charged) up-front or built into the price. I haven't tried the "While you're here, can you move the old furniture out of the house" routine, but I wouldn't expect it to be free. (Emphasis on "I"; the guy with the entertainment center may have had a different conception of what "delivery" means.)

If the convention in the business is to charge $50 for delivery within a standard delivery area, it's difficult to charge more. I was at a local furniture store recently and the customer was complaining that another store had charged her sales tax on a delivery - but that's actually required under Michigan law. A 6% tax on $50 = $3, but she wasn't expecting it so she felt cheated.

These rules don't seem unreasonable:

• Prior to our arrival, please remove old furniture and clear pathways to ensure unobstructed access for our delivery team.

• Our delivery teams are restricted from moving any electronic equipment or existing furniture already in the home (upon request we will be happy to remove and dispose of old mattress if in sanitary condition).

Blame the insurance company.

Furniture removal services, these days, raises issues such as bedbugs. Moving furniture raises issues of time and possible injury to an employee.

As for the cooktop, I would have more faith in them had two guys in fact showed up. What does "installation" include? If it's a customized service for each customer, and at that price it should be, they should have a decent idea of how long it will actually take. If it's a flat fee, and covers everything from a relatively simple installation like yours to the guy who needs a gas line run up from the basement, the issue would appear to be one of averaging - although that doesn't seem like a good way to keep customers happy if they have your experience.

[Dgw9]

Charge 75.00 for a flat delivery and placement and 75.00 for additional work. When the customer asks your delivery guys for extra service, have them advise that the customer will have to contact you to get the delivery paperwork changed to show the additional charges and to arrange for the additional payment. That will cut down on requests because the customer won't exactly know how to phrase his request on the phone without incurring a 75.00 charge for something he hoped to get for free--even though it is not included.

It's not the same as washer and dryer delivery and removal. Those are pretty compact and relatively light.

Locally, for someone with a pickup truck, some blankets, and a friend, a delivery charge wouldn't even be an issue.

Alternatively, pay your delivery guys a flat rate and see if they become fast and polite instead of slow and polite.

[jarrodsmorton]

My vote is that you put in your delivery document that you do not mess with those things. What would have happened if the delivery guys dropped the TV or damaged the wall unit they were taking out? You are putting yourself in the moving business instead of the furniture business. It is great to service customers, but there will be an instance or two where you will be in over your head. Although, if you have great insurance, go for it.

[jriley]

A furniture delivery charge of $50 in the Tucson area is pretty typical, although some stores will deliver free within the city limits. It sounds low for the DC area, where the cost of living is much higher.

I would never expect delivery guys to move out old furniture as part of the delivery service. I think your customers should know that you don't routinely provide that service, and that you expect the room to be cleared before your guys arrive so that they can do their job, put the furniture in its correct place, and move on to the next scheduled delivery. It's hardly fair to those other customers to be kept waiting extra hours for something that isn't their doing.

There may be cases where customers need help with the removal. They need to understand upfront that there will be an additional charge for that, and they need to agree in writing, AT THE TIME THE ORDER IS PLACED to pay for it when the order is delivered. It's up to you, of course, to decide the additional amount you charge.

I suspect if you make this policy clear at order time, the vast majority of your customers will find a way to get the old stuff out beforehand, and most of your problem will go away. Most people, as you no doubt have noticed, are cheap.

[simplyjeff]

Hi Duane,

Most of my shipments go out of state but we still have a few each week that go to local customers within 50 miles of the factory. The Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point region is not usually considered a high price area but I had no trouble getting $100 for a white glove delivery.

A few months ago, however, I switched to free delivery. I discovered that my customers were much happier paying $1000 for a sofa with free delivery than they were paying $900 for a sofa with a $100 delivery charge.

Jeff