Delivery of fridge/freezer and washer/dryer to 3rd floor (no lift) - help!

StefanM

Hi everyone! I am hoping that someone might be able to help.

I am at my wit's end as having moved into a new home and needing to get appliances delivered, nobody will deliver!

I ordered a fridge/freezer from Crampton and Moore, who told me over the phone that there would be no issue delivering to the third floor with no lift. I then contacted APC, their courier, to arrange the delivery, but they promptly refused to deliver, saying they wouldn't do it on the grounds of health and safety.  Still waiting on my refund of £1k.

Then today, Currys delivery team turn up to deliver my washer/dryer— who I had already told their delivery depot it was third floor and no lift, they made a note. They ring the doorbell, I let them in, I say hello in the stairwell, they walk back downstairs and then drive off without saying a word!  I call the depot to ask what on earth they are doing only to get a call back 15 minutes later saying that the delivery team claim they spoke to me to say they couldn't do it on the grounds of health and safety, which is of course a lie! (them telling me, I'm not going to question health and safety assessments). I've called to lodge a complaint about the customer service in the experience but am now also going to have to wait on that refund! (Another £800 including installation, delivery, warranty).

I am fuming now and at a complete loss.  I cannot find a company that will guarantee delivery and installation of my appliances to my home and simply don't know what to do!

Please, does anyone know of a company that will deliver a washer/dryer and a fridge/freezer to a third-floor flat with no lift? I live on my own, so there is no way I could accept ground-floor delivery (Currys drove off without even suggesting that!) as I cannot lift 75kg–105kg by myself!

I don't even know what type of handyperson to look for to help with this either as a man in a van isn't going to be any better off as it would presumably need at least 2 people with an "appliance utility cart" / "appliance trolley" to move them.

Any help gratefully received!

rob7475

Try local independent retailers. They will usually deliver items themselves so will be able to tell you if they can deliver before you commit to buying.

GDB2222

You maybe need to scale down your appliances. Separate side by side fridge and freezer will each weigh roughly half of a combined fridge freezer. 

You are being unfair if you expect anyone to deliver a 100kg item up any stairs. That’s more than two people can handle, unless they can use a powered stair crawler. 

Jaybee_16

I visited a local store, spoke to them about the situation before ordering anything. They were ok with the stairs and price matched Curry's as well, including the half-price installation offer Curry's had at the time. Bought several items from them since. Always shop local for me.

SandyShores

We had this same issue a couple of years ago.  John Lewis deliver to third floor without a lift.  We also found that Furniture Village have no problems delivering.  Agree with Jaybee too, that if you can find a local independent that's a choice.

StefanM

GDB2222 said:

You maybe need to scale down your appliances. Separate side by side fridge and freezer will each weigh roughly half of a combined fridge freezer. 

You are being unfair if you expect anyone to deliver a 100kg item up any stairs. That’s more than two people can handle, unless they can use a powered stair crawler. 

There is no space for a separate fridge/freezer—there are only 2 gaps available (fridge/freezer + washing machine/washer-dryer), and the previous owner (somehow!) took the old ones with them!

Realistically, I wouldn't expect anyone to carry the weight directly; there are specifically designed trollies for taking things upstairs!

Besides, there isn't really any wiggle room on the weight of washing machines or washer-dryer machines!

StefanM

SandyShores said:

We had this same issue a couple of years ago.  John Lewis deliver to third floor without a lift.  We also found that Furniture Village have no problems delivering.  Agree with Jaybee too, that if you can find a local independent that's a choice.

I'll have a look at John Lewis and see what they can do.  Unfortunately, there aren't any local independent stores in my area as they've all closed down over the last 10+ years with the domination of Currys/John Lewis around here.  I think the last one shut down pretty much exactly 10 years ago.

littlegreen

A0.com have delivered a fridge freezer and washing machine to me before, only floor 1 but no lift and carpeted stairs (that seemed to be the bigger issue for the other retailers)

twopenny

What about furniture removals companies, the smaller local ones.

I'm not 3rd floor but tiny bungalow with narrow spaces and they offered to move anything heavy in the future if I needed it.

They have the skill and gismos for dealing with stuff. Locally we have some weird buildings and old ones they must have to deal with.

GDB2222

StefanM said:

GDB2222 said:

You maybe need to scale down your appliances. Separate side by side fridge and freezer will each weigh roughly half of a combined fridge freezer. 

You are being unfair if you expect anyone to deliver a 100kg item up any stairs. That’s more than two people can handle, unless they can use a powered stair crawler. 

There is no space for a separate fridge/freezer—there are only 2 gaps available (fridge/freezer + washing machine/washer-dryer), and the previous owner (somehow!) took the old ones with them!

Realistically, I wouldn't expect anyone to carry the weight directly; there are specifically designed trollies for taking things upstairs!

Besides, there isn't really any wiggle room on the weight of washing machines or washer-dryer machines!

Yes, there are stair crawling trolleys around. If the stairs are suitable for one of those, you should be able to get someone to deliver.  

I'm a fan of John Lewis 

StefanM

twopenny said:

What about furniture removals companies, the smaller local ones.

I'm not 3rd floor but tiny bungalow with narrow spaces and they offered to move anything heavy in the future if I needed it.

They have the skill and gismos for dealing with stuff. Locally we have some weird buildings and old ones they must have to deal with.

I was thinking this might have to be what I do, get Currys/AO/whoever to deliver to wherever they are willing, get a moving company to move them upstairs, and then have to get them installed by someone independently— given that Currys aren't going to hang around for someone else to move the items upstairs only for them to then jump back in to do installation! That would be surreal if they just stood around waiting for someone else to finish the delivery!