Remember the tale of our recent mattress purchase back from the July 4th holiday? The delivery for which we had a date set and calendared? We were in waiting mode — the gestation period, as we had taken to calling it.
As the delivery date inched closer, good things appeared on the horizon. The date was moved up three days earlier. That’s always a good thing: under promise and over deliver. So, we settled back in to wait, knowing it was coming soon. I liken it to the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas as a kid. There usually isn’t more than a month between the two, but man, oh man, does it seem like forever.
The day had arrived. I can’t say I’d been this excited about a purchase in a while. We had stripped our old mattress, said our goodbyes to it, and set it and its foundation on its side in our room. Then we ran the Dyson across the floor for good measure … and waited.
The text alerting us that the delivery team was on its way came in at 11:22 a.m. It promised the crew would arrive within the hour. The truck arrived, and the ever-so professional team got to work unloading. Up the stairs with the new, and down the stairs with the old.
But wait, we’ve hit a wrinkle.
The mattress doesn’t look quite right. It’s askew on the base, and it doesn’t align properly. It’s quite wonky looking. Dan pulls it toward his side; and I toward mine, almost as if we’re trying to stretch the mattress to fit.
Then, the realization sets in. We have a California King resting atop a king foundation. Exasperated, I toss this mess to Dan to figure out. The truck was still in front of the house, so he ventures out to chat with the delivery guys. They come back in, take a look, go back out and look in the back of the truck. Nada, nothing, zilch. No king mattress to be found.
They backtrack their day and call the warehouse. They have misdelivered our king mattress to a consumer who ordered a California king. No worries, they say, we’ll go get the mattress and swap them out. Back in a flash.
However, that wasn’t amenable to the other consumer who had concerns about a mattress coming into their house once it had been in another home. Long story short: We’re now waiting three more weeks, Sept. 3, for our mattress, and presumably the other customer is, too. Meanwhile, we’re sleeping on the Cal king perched wop-jawed on the king foundation. It’s comfy; we like it so far, but the wait is annoying.
Here’s my knee-jerk, low-tech solution: color coding. Bag each size mattress in a different color bag. Yellow for twin; orange for twin XL; green for full, etc. Plastic bags are expensive and color adds to the cost, you say? OK, I’m down with that. Invest in some color stickers and slap those on the bags for sorting, warehousing and delivery cues.
Maybe that’s too simple, you say. We can go high-tech. Hand-held scanners are a thing now. Invest in those for delivery teams. Scan the bar code on the mattress and confirm it with the purchase order. I don’t really care about the solution, just get it right.
Some retailer many years ago shared that a home delivery can either make or break a sale. Make sure your team gets it right by putting systems in place teamed with training to make for smooth delivery days.
See also: A first-hand experience with purchasing a mattress | Sheila Long O’Mara