What to Check Before You Sign the Delivery Slip
What does that signature actually mean? On most delivery paperwork it means you received the item in acceptable condition. Once it is signed, a scratch discovered that evening becomes a much harder conversation than a scratch noted while the crew is still standing in your living room.
Give it four minutes. Here is what to look at.
Before the wrapping comes off
Look at the packaging itself. A crushed corner or a torn edge on the carton tells you where to look closely once it is open. If the box took a hit, say so before it is unwrapped, not after.
The five checks that catch almost everything
Run your hand along every surface you can reach, including the back and the underside edges. Scratches on the back panel are the ones nobody notices until the piece gets moved two years later.
Check the colour against what you ordered, in your own light. Showroom lighting and a living room with a north-facing window are different environments, and a fabric that looked grey under fluorescents can read brown at home. This is not damage, but if it is wrong it is far easier to resolve immediately.
Open and close every drawer and every door. A drawer that binds or a door that does not sit flush is a manufacturing or transit issue, and it is visible in ten seconds.
Sit on it. Seating that creaks, rocks, or feels uneven on a level floor has a frame problem. Do this before you sign, not on day three.
Count the hardware. If the item ships with a bag of bolts, legs, or shelf pins, open the bag and count against the instruction sheet. A missing part discovered mid-assembly on a Sunday evening is the most avoidable delay in this entire process.
If something is wrong
Write it on the delivery slip before signing. Specific words: which panel, which corner, what kind of mark. "Damaged" on its own is close to useless later. Photograph it while the crew is there, with something in frame for scale.
Do not refuse the whole delivery over a minor mark unless you want to wait for the full replacement cycle. A noted defect on a signed slip usually resolves faster than a returned item, because the piece is already in your home and the fix can be a part, a touch-up, or a partial credit A defect noted on the slip goes to us the same day and is usually resolved with a part, a touch-up or a credit rather than a full swap.
If something is wrong on one of our deliveries, telling the crew at the door is faster than any process that starts later. They are our own people, not a national freight contractor, and a note on the slip reaches us the same day. One thing that is not damage: furniture delivered in winter arrives cold, and cold surfaces attract condensation in a warm room. Let a piece acclimatise for a few hours before judging a finish. Wipe standing moisture off wood rather than letting it sit.
Every delivery we make in HRM is by our own crew, which is why raising something at the door is the fastest route to a fix.
delivery information. Related: how packaging quality affects furniture transport and transport damage and warranty limitations.
