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I have had a number of pieces delivered, and never had a problem.

While Yellow Trucking, based in NJ (for NYC deliveries at least) is extermely inconvient (its like waiting for the cable guy, only worse) the stuff i get delivered always comes in good order. Most furniture companies seem to use them.

You just have to be sure to inspect the package when it arrives, and not feel bad about "making the driver wait."

I used to work for Customer Services at a major furniture retailer. We used UPS Commercial Services for shipping larger items to people who didn't have access to the store. It was a nightmare. The problem is they use forklifts. A forklift usually hits a box a few times before the operator can get it under the load. A piece of furniture, no matter how well packed, can not endure this. I can't tell you how many times I had furniture sent back to me in pieces, with forklift holes punched several times through the box. Or worse, they fall off the top of a load and end up shattered. And UPS usually made it impossible to collect the insurance on the item.

UPS spells oops for a reason.

Yeah, I've had some bad shipping luck. By far Overstock was the worst and their customer service was no help whatsoever. AND when I tried to post my negative comments about the experience, as well as about the product (which was not as advertised), curiously my warnings never made it onto the website. Hmmm.

Also, I recently dealt with a company that shipped for both Ikea and a shop in Soho. It provided very different levels of customer service, depending on which store you purchased from (oh the elitism). At first I was told in a very "don't bother me" tone that I was stuck with the damaged sofa that was delivered and to take it up with Ikea at such-and-such phone number on Monday. But when I clarified that it was from the Soho store and asked for their number, boy oh boy was the red carpet unraveled. They were effusively apologetic and took care of everything right their on the spot. Incredible - I still feel a little sore from the whiplash...

I've had pretty good luck with furniture, but I bought two floor lamps from CB2 that showed up complete nightmares. They basically just put a lamp (with the shade on) in a big box that was too small ... put another open box over the top of that one and stapled both together. Worst part is they didn't even put in any packing materials. So by the time they got to me via UPS, they were a wreck. The shades were smashed and the top part that holds the lightbulb (on both lamps!) were broken off and dangling by the cords. They said I could return of course, but said by the time I got them back to their warehouse, they would probably be sold out and couldn't send replacements. Long story short, I adored the lamps, so I kept them and bought new shades and I have to use two hands to turn them on (or else the top flops out of the base.) Ugh.

Incidentally, years ago someone bought me a large mirror as a gift and it was sent (from the store) via UPS. When the driver - that I knew pretty well from frequent deliveries - dropped it off, he said: "Are you nuts?? Why would you trust a mirror to UPS???"

UPS frequently leaves damaged packages for me nowadays. I do not understand why they are allowed to leave a box that hads holes ripped in the sides. The drivers should be held responsible for leaving damaged boxes, even if they don't cause the damage. They should report them as damaged and not deliver them. I guess they're hoping that you don't bother complaining.

Wow ... Lourdes, that's nuts!

I did have a good experience with an armchair I bought last year from Urban Outfitters (yes, Urban Outfitters!) I had to wait quite a while to get it, however, the week after it was delivered, both the shipping company (wish I could remember the name ... I think they are affiliated with Bekins, or something, though, based on their voicemail system) AND Urban Outfitters both called to follow up on whether or not my chair was satisfactory and if it had arrived safely. I believe the shipping company also asked if the delivery men were courteous and prompt! (Which they were)

UPS is terrible. Just don't use them.

Re: Lourdes

I would bet that Ikea negotiates a very low shipping price because they have such high volume, while the (presumably) smaller Soho store probably pays more and may request a higher level of service. Try asking the Soho store how they manage to get such good shipping service (I'm sure they'll be flattered with the feedback).

Ridge, it's all so random. Not 1 week ago, I received a floor lamp (the double dip) from CB2 and had the exact opposite experience. It was overly packed (like Fresh Direct-overly packed) and arrived in perfect condition, which I was doubtful of, especially the shade. I expected that to arrive all dented. I'm so sorry for yours :(

Jackie, I was so impressed that I did tell the Soho place about the positive stuff. What I haven't done yet is contact Ikea and suggest that no matter what their shipping deal is with that company, their customer service rep. could use a little more training. I'm writing that on my 'to do' list now...

I think a lot of it depends upon how the item is packaged. I bought dining chairs on ebay that were triple boxed, rolled in thin foam sheets and then stuffed with an ungodly amount of mattress-like foam pieces. I don't think even the forklift could have hurt them since there were so many layers. Another time I bought an antique vanity which wasn't particularly well-packed (though not horribly either) and by the time DHL dropped it off it looked like it had been attacked by an army of bears. I ended up keeping it and getting DHL to pay for a new mirror. It de-valued the antique, but it wasn't particularly valuable to begin with and I was actually happy to get a new mirror. Retail-wise I've had good experiences with Pottery Barn -- especially with mirrors. I ordered a medicine cabinet from them that was encased in its own specially made foam armor. Large furniture from them was also delivered in tact.

I haven't had much trouble. Items from Pier 1, Target/Amazon, Staples, Jennifer Convertibles and soon Brocade Home.

The mirror from Pier 1 was a real worry, but after a year of missing it in the store I had to take a shot at it. Good call because it was the last time that mirror was offered. UPS came at 5:20pm when I wasn't yet home. The driver came back at 8:30 because he was in the area. Box was dinged up but the mirror was absolutely fine!

Staples once delivered me a broken task chair. I kept it. They had rescheduled delivery on my already and it wasn't worth the hassle. I just got a full assembled dining table from Target/Amazon. Regular delivery company. It was totally fine.

I wonder if it makes a difference if the items are flat-packed. I ordered a couple of items this year and they all arrived fine, even the glass doors on a bookcase were intact; since everything was pretty much just pieces of wood or bags of hardware, the overall package was pretty sturdy. Of course, by the time I assembling everything myself the furniture still ended up with plenty of dings!

Lady J, I'd really love to hear your Brocade Home experience once your stuff comes. There are three items in there I have been eyeing, but I don't know anyone who has used them yet and am waiting to hear some reviews. (Of the shipping AND of the items themselves.)

I bought a sofa once from a relatively high-end place. It took months for the thing to be made in Italy and shipped here. Once it got off the boat some crappy trucking company was to ship it to me. The company sent one dude in the truck. How this one guy was supposed to move a sofa I have no idea. Thankfully I live in a building with elevators and may wife was able to help him get it off the truck and onto a dolly (she's stronger than she looks).

I had a good phone conversation with the store that evening about finding themselves a new shipping company. A new shipping company with an understanding of how many people it takes to move a freaking sofa.

so far, so good... ordered furniture from z gallerie, arhaus, eurway, room store, and spiegel. have not had a problem (knock on wood). arhaus was the best... the movers actually came in the house and put the table together!

ridge., you're on.

Also, I've had good experience ordering from Stacks & Stacks,

I agree with Jackie. UPS IS terrible. While I've never used them to move furniture, they have broken electronic equipment that we were shipping.

DWR has phenomenally expensive shipping, but the guys who delivered my bed did an amazing job of getting the bulky pieces up 3 flights of narrow stairs(something not everyone could have done), and took less than 20 minutes to put the thing together.

I've had stuff delivered from Ikea as well, without a glitch.

Although I like them a lot, I just remembered a bad experience I had with Crate & Barrel ... they too sent just one guy to deliver my desk (an old guy, too!) and once he got here, he decided the steps were too much for him alone and left the desk down in the hallway. My dad (who is in pretty good shape, however is 65 years old) carried it up the three flights all by himself before I could even get my shoes on.

C&B has great customer service, however. I got a huge lateral file/hutch combo and upon putting it together realized I was missing a part. The hutch was now out of stock, yet they spent four days scouring the warehouse for a return that they could pull the piece from and called me back once a day to let me know the status. Once they found it, it came overnight.

Room and Board had pretty good delivery too, although a really strange delivery man.

Always open and inspect.
Always refuse it when damaged.
Always - always be nice to the delvery guys the moment they arrive (offer coffee or a soda).
Try to have a couple in-shape friends around for big pieces.

My worst experience was a major fight with Kohler over a shattered sink - took three months to resolve. I should have unpalleted it before signing.

I bought a sofa a little while ago from Conran. I live in Boston and was surprised at how reasonable the shipping was (less than 3% of the cost of the sofa). They told me they only had two left. When it arrived, one of the feet was split. I called them and they said, send it back. 3 days later, I had new one (presumeably the other one). I remain incredibly impressed. They used a private shipping company and the sofa was delivered and unwrapped in my apartment for me!

Once upon a time I was walking down Spring St. and watched as boxes of golf clubs where thrown javelin style into the back of a UPS truck. I imagine such care is given to most items. So, there ya' go!

I've had great experiences with Crate & Barrel . . . they have fantastic customer service.

I've had furniture shipped from Room & Board, Pottery Barn, Staples and J.C. Penney with no problem. R&B is particularly good, they unpacked and assembled/set up both a bunkbed and some living room furniture, and the shipping price was reasonable as I remember.

I had some Bonde shelves delivered from the Elizabeth IKEA (into Manhattan) a couple of years back. I know better, but I didn't insist on opening and inspecting. A few of the pieces were damaged, the boxes were torn too, and the delivery guy stacked them with the damage facing down - I'm sure he was trying to hide it from me. I just let it go, since the shelves were going to stand together most of the damage is hidden. Lesson learned.

We had an aluminum Muji table delivered from the MoMA store via UPS--it was packed in a flimsy cardboard box, arrived with an enormous dent, as though it had been shot at close range by a cannon, and we had to go through a huge song and dance to get a replacement.
And can I sneak in a little praise for Room and Board? One of their tables arrived without some essential little rubber spacer-thingies and when we called the store the manager himself came over the next morning and installed them.

Lourdes, I've had the same problems with Overstock. Damaged furniture, terrible customer service, and a mysteriously missing negative comment.

UPS delivered my Sleep Number bed, and the guy could barely muster the energy to get the boxes into my front door. I had to specifically ask him to at least move them away from the threshold once he brought them inside (after I asked)

Target's delivery service isn't bad. The guy brought the chairs in, insisted that we open them to check if they were okay(as one of the boxes was ripped a bit) and put them right where they were supposed to go. No set-up, but that was okay with me.

Crate and Barrel gets points also. No troubles and will call all the stores and warehouses to make sure something is available. Delivery is a pleasure too.

jwh - thank you, i couldn't remember the name of the soho store i wrote about above. it was z gallerie.

As Chris in Annapolis said, always open, inspect and refuse if damaged. i didn't do that with my sofa and thought i was sunk. I've learned tho' and always make the delivery guys wait while i carefully inspect.

Jackie in Phoenix - what a racket, no? such a shame.

Anyone ever get delivery from Sears? I'm shopping for a new exercise machine and in all honestly, I think I'll pick where I buy it based on who has the best delivery situation. (Sears has the one I want.) I don't want to get stuck lugging that thing up the stairs, and although Amazon is cheaper, they will only ship it via UPS to the downstairs door.

Also, same question for a washing machine... anyone have delivery experience with any New York stores for these?

My overall experience is that shipping significantly lags behind internet shopping capability.

I buy furniture on line for two reasons, selection and convenience.

Selection is wonderful. I have found many things on line local stores don't carry.

Convenience is illusory. Yes, most web sites are easy to use, open 24/7, and have reasonably accessible tech support when needed. Unfortunately, what on line ordering gives, delivery takes away. As many have noted, UPS is a real pain. UPS and FedEx Ground in my area at least do not deliver on weekends or late enough weekdays. Big ticket items like my sofa come via livery services, which have even smaller delivery windows than UPS or FedEx Ground.

I always wind up having to take a large block of time off work, because the delivery people only give at best a 3 hour window when they can show up. A real hassle.

To Ridge: Surprisingly, Sears was among the best delivery service experiences I ever had. I was able to set a weekend morning delivery (believe it was a three hour window) on line. I got a reminder e-mail the day before, and an automated call when the truck was getting near my place. The delivery people appeared well trained, installed my appliances quickly, and gave me a number to call directly in case there were any problems.

When it comes to large items like furniture, be sure to read whether it is "in-home" delivery. In-home delivery costs a lot more, but the delivery service will unpack, set up, and inspect the item for you. Otherwise, you are just getting standard delivery, with none of the extra perks.

I have had in-home delivery from Crate & Barrel as well as a Broyhill outlet store. Both were great, but I have no idea who they hired for the delivery. I bought a dining table and chairs from the Broyhill store, and they did a great job with a difficult assembly. After they left, I discovered a small but conspicuous nick on the top of the table (where the leaf fits). I called Broyhill, and they sent a repair man to fix it. He had all these fancy tools, and he touched it up in just a few minutes. I haven't had any problems with it since then, and he explained everything really well. The Crate & Barrel delivery was also great.

I ordered a large mirror from Pottery Barn that arrived with no damage. It was packed so well that it could have survived a major earthquake, and it took me forever to unpack it. One time, I ordered a lamp from them, with lots of little crystal pendants on it. One of the pendants was the wrong size (it belonged on the floor lamp, instead of the table lamp). I called Pottery Barn about it, and they told me that I would have to ship the lamp back. I had spent about half an hour unpacking the lamp because the pendants were all individually wrapped in bubble wrap. I didn't want to return it, and I finally got someone to locate an extra pendant to send me from a sample. They were really nice, but it took a lot of persuasion on my part. One thing that the customer service rep explained to me is that the lamp had been packed by the manufacturer (not Pottery Barn). So keep in mind that, regardless of where you order something, you are also most likely dealing with a third-party manufacturer. This sometimes explains why people have varied experiences with deliveries.

Oh, and UPS, for all of their problems, is really nice, at least on the delivery end. When I am not home for the delivery, they give me a number for "will call" to go to the warehouse after hours and pick up the shipment (the warehouse is open just two hours a day for customers to pick up items if they miss the delivery). I go around to the side of the building, and it's like this other world. Obviously, this won't work for large items, though.

ridge, i too had a great sears delivery experience. my treadmill was delivered early - a first - and assembled quickly. the delivery guys were very nice, helpful and made sure it worked, i was happy and that every scrap of packing material was cleaned up.

just a quick word about the exercise machines that sears carries...maybe it was just my bad luck, but my tready broke down twice in less than 2 years. get the service contract. good luck.

I work for a major shipping company ( think purple) and I can tell you that furniture is never packaged as well as electronics. Its more cumbersome and not center weighted. Legs, fabric and glass all need extra care. I once tried to deliver a statue coming from Argentina. I felt so bad because this open Air crate, I could see that the arm had been broken off already and all that was "protecting" this piece was some hay. Needless to say they didn't accept the package.

I had great experiences with both Crate and Barrel as well as with Ethan Allen- both on time, and in perfect condition.
Gothic Cabinet Craft- not so much- did not deliver when they were supposed to, and fell apart 3 months later.
Had shelves delivered from West Elm- but box came with a hole in it and shelves were dinged up- I called them and they sent out new ones right away at no charge- never even had to send the dinged ones back.

I ordered two Annex chairs from CB2.com and they arrived roughly two weeks later (yesterday) in beautiful shape. I had an 8:15AM - 10:15AM delivery window and they the Crate and Barrel truck arrived at 8:20. I also ordered to floor lamps from Target.com last Sunday and they arrived on Thursday in perfect condition. The lampshade wasn't exactly the color I thought it would be, but it will work.

Thanks, guys! Looks like I will definitely try out Sears for the new stuff. I'm having a hall closet converted to a mini laundry room and was dreading the comparison shopping for the washer/dryer. If Sears has what I need, I'm just gonna get it there, since it sounds like they'll do a good installation.

Oh, this is kinda off topic (although we're comparing furniture chains, so it was on my mind), but I was really sad to see Storehouse go. I hadn't yet ordered anything from them, but had been coveting some striped slipper chairs for a year now. And oh how I miss Hold Everything still ... who incidentally I had always had great delivery experiences with also. I got most of my home office and studio stuff from them. Ho hum.

This isn't really about furniture, but it's a sort-of amusing story about UPS. Once, I shipped a bunch of equipment overnight to Orlando for a tradeshow for my company via UPS, ahead of when I was arriving there. All the boxes had my business card taped to the side. I got a phone call the day they were supposed to arrive from a random stranger walking down International Drive (a big, busy street in Orlando), who watched one of my boxes bounce off the back of a UPS truck. This good samaritan dragged the box out of the street and gave me the address of where it was after calling the number on my business card. It took me the rest of the day frantically calling to get someone from UPS to retrieve it. Fortunately, there wasn't much major damage (it was a really hard plastic case), and it made there on time. Still, scary!

It's also important to note that in many cases shipping is highly local - so different subcontractors may handle delivery for the same company in different cities, making it hard to generalize.

In the NY area, I can also verify that Sears is reliable - I purchased a stove from them and they did both installation and haulaway (although I have since heard they may have discontinued haulaway in NYC).

Although not perfect, UPS is way better than (shudder) FedEx Ground, whose local NY operations are horrendously rude and disorganized. I recently had a computer crisscross the country three times and ultimately had to pick it up myself from their depot in Brooklyn (which is close to the train at least, but I would NOT suggest going there at night). I was told a different story every single time I called to enquire.

Another thing to watch out for is unexpectedly high fees for in-home or "white glove" delivery in NY. Internet retailers that do not deliver regularly to New York may charge significantly more for bulky items due to the need to have higher insurance against damage to the common areas/elevator of the building. When I was pricing out plasma TVs, the price difference was often well over $100 over curbside delivery.

And for those of you doing renovations, suppliers for heavy things like tile often will only do curbside delivery, period. So make sure to coordinate with your contractor in advance!

A sculptor friend who ships things has found that with UPS, if there IS a problem with the item being damaged, UPS calls HIM to alert him and his insurance claims end up being processed quite quickly. When he used the USPS and had a problem, it took about 18 months to get a settlement, which really cured him of ever using them.

In my own experience with Ballard Design in ordering an ENORMOUS computer armoire for the "Bibilophilic Balletomane" pictured in one of the sets of photos when you click on my name, they charged kind of a lot of money for "white glove service" and it was absolutely maddening that I actually took a whole day off of work to help wait for the item and when they arrived, they decided they couldn't deliver it, because the company hadn't sent enough men.

But on the re-scheduled day, once they DID arrive, they sent four truly enormous truly patient, kind men with the patience of saints, considering we had mis-caluculated the feasibility of getting this thing up a narrow brownstone stairwell.

Some of them actually wanted to give up, but once I un-screwed the bottom cabinet doors, we managed to get it up, although seriously, the huffing and puffing and struggling and ALMOST getting it up there the first time, and actually gouging the stairwell wall (about which my friend was saying, "Don't worry about that! I'll get my super to fix that!") made it quite the challenge.

And I really wish I could remember where it was that I found my own beveled-glass-oval art deco coffee table (but methinx it was eBay -- but it wasn't used), but it was made in China and packed VERY well, and the glass and everything arrived just fine. It WAS the kind of thing that was flat-packed, and I had to assemble it, but it was pretty simple, and I just love it. Anyway... I think THAT came UPS and that worked out just fine. But I also must say that I had it delivered to (what was then known as) Mailboxes, Etc., USA address, and the people there are pretty good at figuring out what to accept, etc.

Every piece of furniture I have ever ordered from Target.com has shown up chipped and beat to hell. No more orders for me...

fed ex ground is made up of independent contractors, which makes service inconsistent.

Really, Lourdes? I never knew that. I have to say I've never had a problem with FedEx (ground or express) deliveries unless you count the torture of having them come at 8am to deliver my new Apple (which I was so excited for, I couldn't stand it!) then having them realize it was buried and would have to come back. They didn't come back until 4:45!

I have issues with their outgoing service, however. Do you know you can't take a ground package to a FedEx location (even the main hub in Manhattan) unless it is before the mid-afternoon cutoff for shipping that day? In other words, you can't take it in to be shipped out the next morning. I found that out the hard way after dragging a 50 lb box for ebay all over the city then ultimately having to take it back home again.

My UPS Store that is now opened by me accepts packages all hours of the day ... even after last pickup. Weird.

yep, there are a bunch of fed ex lawsuits involving the employee v. indie contractor issue.

that is weird about fed ex's cut off time. good to know tho', especially this time of year. thanks for the info and sorry for your shlep.

I had an absolutely horrific experience a few years ago with Sears. I ordered their top of the line HE3t front-load washer at the store. The first sign of a problem was I would have to wait 2 weeks for delivery to my town in NJ. The delivery people brought the washer, set it up, then subsequently discovered there was a problem with its operation. Instead of taking it out immediately, the delivery person convinced me the problem was minor and could be resolved in a day or two. He called their central office, whose representative claimed a repair person would be there the following Monday.

The repair person comes, and announces that the machine is profoundly broken and must be replaced. The store then arranges for delivery of another washer with pick up of the broken one. Another two weeks goes by waiting for delivery. The truck arrives and before they can get the new washer off the truck, I notice that the inlet connector is broken. So they take the washer back, then refuse to pick up the other one still broken in my apartment. While the truck is at the apartment, I contact Sears and nobody wishes to cooperate on removing the broken washer. So the truck leaves, I'm stuck with the broken washer.

By this point I'm incensed. I call the company's customer service, store manager, regional management, headquarters in Chicago, president's office, demanding a refund and removal of the washer, they refuse to remove the washer for another 3 weeks and until it is removed, no credit or refund.

I finally called WABC Channel 7 in NY and NBC Channel 10 in Philadelphia. After talking to both, within about two hours I received a telephone call from the Sears Vice President of home delivery promising pick up of the washer the following Saturday. Another crew was sent out and the damaged machine was finally removed. I eventually bought the equivalent Whirlpool Duet Ht from Hendricks, the appliance store in my town with the same features for $300 less.

The lesson in this is NEVER accept any item from a delivery service that is even slightly damaged or malfunctioning. Sears and some other retailers' strategy for dealing with damaged items is to convince the consumer to keep the item. If they take the item back, you can go somewhere else and buy a replacement, then they loose the sale. By getting you to keep the item, Sears effectively prevents you from purchasing the same item elsewhere because the Sears appliance is occupying the space.

As a result of this experience, I stopped shopping at Sears and on the rare occasion I must buy something there,(tool), I never buy anything from Sears that cannot be carried out of the store.

John

Ouch.

I'm sure this is opening a can of worms, due to the amount of bad complaints I've read on them, but I hear that this is Jennifer Convertibles' MO also ... they often get you to take delivery of bad-quality or bait&switch items by offering a small discount after you complain. A guy I know who used to work at their office told me they figure this into their margin upfront ... in other words, they expect to often deliver a cheap and/or faulty product, then count on the amount of people who WON'T complain and will accept the goods based on how much of a hassle it will be to return. For those who do put up a stink, they have already accounted for that "discount" in the price of the item. I will never ever buy from them, although they did have a really cute sleeper a year back when I was shopping for one. ;-(

Bravo, anyway, to John for really sticking to it until he got his money back ;-)

ridge., I believe I bought that sleeper you're talking about. It was $299 in tan microfiber and $399 in light brown corduroy. Have to say I love it. I was very wary of Jennifer considering they've been successfully sued three times by the states of NY and NJ. Wouldn't make a habit of buying from them, but this purchase turned out fine after they extended the due date of my sleeper by nearly a month. It did come on the second scheduled date, guys carried it in, put the legs on and were out in 10 minutes.

Fedex is such a pain in the ass because they will leave anything at the damn door if you're not in. Every time I order from Target, Fedex leaves the package on the doormat. The super hates this and pushes the package inside for me. But what about when he's not here?

I have had one bad experience with an IKEA consignment. On all other occassions I have received furniture in a perfect condition. At times it was packed so well, it took quite an effort to get it unpacked.