You waited for weeks in eager anticipation of your brand new outdoor patio furniture set… and it arrived damaged. Who is at fault? Do you fix it or send the patio furniture back? Do you just send back the part, or the whole thing? Whatever you do, always keep your cool!
Accepting Shipment of your Outdoor Patio Furniture
Your first line of defense was when the outdoor patio furniture was delivered to you. If you haven’t received your order yet, or want to be prepared for the next time, then read about receiving shipment of your patio furniture. The remainder of this article assumes you have possession of your outdoor furniture.
Calling the Patio Furniture Retailer – Keep Your Cool
So, let’s say your patio furniture has been delivered and while you are unpacking it, you realize it is damaged. Maybe a joint cracked. The first thing to do is call or email the retailer you purchased your patio furniture from. Keep your cool. It is really hard to want to help a customer who calls you an incompetent moron. Of course, some companies will only help the squeaky wheel, and that is unfortunate. If you can, start out nice, and save your ugly for when it’s necessary… like when the customer service person calls you an incompetent moron.
Taking Pictures of the Damaged Patio Furniture
Many times the retailer will simply ship a new part, have you throw away the old part, and that’s that. In our experience as a patio furniture retailer, that was the case the majority of the time. Sometimes however, circumstances warrant sending photos. If that’s the case, then read about taking pictures of your damaged patio furniture.
Getting a Discount on your Patio Furniture
It is definitely worth asking for a discount on your outdoor patio furniture when you experience damage that is clearly the result of the retailer’s or manufacturer’s negligence. I hope I don’t ruin it for other outdoor furniture merchants out there, but we frequently offered discounts to our customers, even knowing the manufacturer wouldn’t reimburse us. But before you go demanding some money back, keep in mind that we actually gave bigger discounts to nice customers than to jerks. Nice customers are the ones we want back, so we decided to give them bigger incentives to come back. I can’t tell you what other patio furniture companies do, but you probably want to keep that in mind.
Rating the Patio Furniture Company’s Service
When all is said and done, rate the service you got. If you have the time, provide feedback to everyone who helped you with your patio furniture purchase, and note for yourself whether you were satisfied with the lengths the retailer went for you. If you did, then they are the ones you want to shop with again the next time you are in the market for patio furniture. I can’t say this enough… it’s the bad orders that reveal the best places to shop!