Behind the Scenes: The Smitty's White Glove Delivery Experience
Buying furniture or appliances is the easy part, but managing the logistics of delivery – from expert handling of the item to smooth transfer and subsequent placement in your home – is where things get tricky.
Most stores consider their job done once they’ve sold you a piece of furniture or appliance. However, things are a little different at Smitty’s – we take our commitment to safely delivering store-bought items to our customers’ homes seriously. Our Red Carpet Delivery Service is designed to provide premium and hassle-free delivery, leaving you to fully appreciate and enjoy your newfound purchase.
But what exactly does our Red Carpet delivery service entail? In this post, we give you the full rundown of this experience, from what you can expect to how to prepare for delivery.
What Red Carpet Delivery Means at Smitty’s
Our premium delivery program is designed to go above and beyond basic delivery. This means that instead of simply dropping off the furniture at your door, Smitty's skilled delivery team does the heavy lifting and handles the minor details so you don't have to. Here are some of the important features of our delivery service:
Delivery and Guided Placement: Based on your guidance, we place the furniture exactly where you want it in your home. Likewise, appliances are transferred as close to your preferred target location as possible, after neatly unpacking them.
Want a sectional sofa angled toward the fireplace? You got it. Prefer your refrigerator to be left in the entryway? Just point us in the right direction.
Set-up: Many vendors ship pieces that require fine-tuning before they are properly set up. Furniture often ships with protective pieces attached to it that need to be removed safely (think plastic circles nailed into the feet of wooden chair legs). There are often minor set-ups that are part of the final step to enjoying your product, such as adding the drawer pulls on a dresser or linking the power cables on a power recliner. Our team provides these finishing touches so you can immediately enjoy your purchase.
Packing Removal: Our crew meticulously removes packaging materials, including cardboard, shipping bolts, protection film, and other wrappings, so you don't have to deal with reams of bubble wrap and debris. This service ensures these materials are taken to nearby recycling hubs. We're also happy to leave the item in its original packaging if you prefer.
Removal of Old Items: If your new item is replacing an old one, Smitty's will remove it for you if it is safe to do so — for an additional cost. You may also request a one-for-one appliance removal as long as the old appliance is fully disconnected or drained and safe to remove. In case of mattress deliveries, you do not need to purchase a mattress bag for mattress removal, as our crew will repurpose the new mattress cover to remove the old one.
One-Year Service Guarantee: If there is something not 100% right with your purchase, don’t worry! Our Red Carpet Delivery Service includes a one-year service guarantee, where our experienced technician will visit your home free of charge to assess the issue and resolve it for you. If the matter cannot be resolved within this process, we will work to make it right without any additional costs to you. Our goal with our One Year Service Guarantee is that you can focus on your furniture without any hassle.
Additional Design Services: If you’re concerned about where to place a recently purchased item in your house and require expert design advice, please get in touch with our interior design experts.
Where & When Our Delivery Service Applies
To guarantee that both our delivery staff and customers are on the same page, we'd like to be upfront about the standard operating procedures for our delivery service:
Limited Delivery Zones: We serve our customers throughout Southwestern Ontario, typically within 100 kilometres of our specific store location, i.e., Barrie, Hanover, and Kitchener. Unfortunately, we are unable to deliver to addresses outside of the province.
Thoughtful Scheduling: Our delivery crew will contact you to schedule delivery once your purchased product arrives at the warehouse or is ready to ship. We will also contact you one business day before your scheduled delivery date to reconfirm your appointment.
To maintain flexibility, we typically provide an estimated two-hour delivery window. This procedure allows us to respect the schedule of both our customers and our delivery team.
No-Delivery Days: To better manage logistics and team schedules, Smitty’s does not make deliveries on Sundays and Mondays.
Limited Storage Window: Once your merchandise arrives in the warehouse, you have 30 days to schedule a delivery or arrange for collection. If you are unable to pick up the item within this time frame, we can store it at an additional cost.
What You Should Do to Prepare For Delivery
Help our team deliver your items in the best possible manner by taking care of minor preparations on your end. Here’s how to make delivery day a breeze:
Keep the Pathways Clear: Our goal is to ensure timely and secure deliveries so you can start enjoying your new purchase right away. For this reason, we ask that you keep hallways, stairs, and entryways clear of any obstructions or clutter that could interfere with the delivery. Rugs, heavy furniture, and plants should all be removed to prevent delays in delivery and potential damage to the items in your home.
Keep Measurements Handy: To avoid surprises and delivery concerns, measure your doors, hallways, or staircases in advance. This guarantees that entryways are large enough for the delivering object to fit through. If you are concerned that an item will not fit through an entrance, speak with your sales representative prior to the delivery date.
Prep Old Items (if Any) for Removal: To guarantee a swift drop-off and pick-up, make sure you've properly disconnected, drained, or emptied old appliances before the crew arrives.
Decide Where Things Go: We recommend that you plan where you want to place a certain appliance or piece of furniture in your home ahead of delivery. This can help reduce delays and allow our crew to deliver the item as close to its intended location as possible.
Be Available: Since our delivery staff reaches out to customers to confirm delivery and finalize details, we request that they be responsive in the days following their purchase. Also, having someone at home when the team arrives makes the delivery process smooth and hassle-free.
What’s Not Part of Our White Glove Delivery Service
While we strive to make deliveries as stress-free as possible for our customers, understanding what our service doesn’t provide can help prevent last-minute frustrations. Here are a few things that are not included in our delivery service:
- Smitty’s does not carry out installations, especially those that require gas, electrical, or water supply connections, as they’re beyond our sphere of expertise. Our staff is also not equipped to install anti-tip brackets or stack and drill holes for washers and dryers. We strongly advise you to engage a qualified service or installer who is well-equipped to handle such installations.
- If you need assembly services for outdoor appliances such as smokers or BBQs, we request that you arrange them at the time of sale. Unfortunately, our delivery team is not qualified to set up outdoor natural gas, electrical, or propane connections.
- Old item removals, though possible at an additional charge, are subject to certain conditions, such as the condition of the item, its cleanliness, and safety concerns.