General Questions
Q: Where exactly is this service available?
A: We cover the whole of the wider Midlands area including Birmingham, Walsall, Coventry, Wolverhampton & Walsall. Our northern team covers the Greater Manchester and Yorkshire areas. We do travel further distances based on job types so with any queries, if you aren’t sure, just get in touch.
Q: How can I book a service and what information is necessary?
A: You can book us via Phone, Watsapp, Email, Google Maps and our Facebook. We require a breakdown of what you need doing and where you are based. Ideally we would like to receive a breakdown of your shopping list including item numbers, photographs, links or design drawings. Our service is charged per exact item so specifics like door types etc are required.
Q: What days do you work and what are your work hours?
A: Generally we respond to calls and messaged same day and replies within 2 hours within the hours of 8am – Midnight. Working hours for fits are between 930am and 530pm, however we do arrange evening fits and weekends with extra charges. We work most holidays also with prior arrangement.
Generally we don’t do installations on same day as delivery, but if prior consent has been given for our visit then the latest our fitters wait will vary between 3.30pm and 4.30pm on a full day fit. If deliveries of 1 to 2 items have not been received in time our quotable charge on a full day fit is applicable. Our management may give a discount if more than 3 items haven’t been received but this is down to their discretion. Our fitters are full time contracted and therefore we cannot ask them to stay later than what is reasonable for their own personal evening time. Any late work is dependant on agreement between employees and management and is not guaranteed if outside of our control.
Q: Do you assemble pieces of furniture other than IKEA’s?
A: Yes we do, we generally assemble anything that comes flatpack from wardrobes to racking and garden furniture. Our most common assemblies are from Ikea, Next, Mama’s and Papa’s, Argos, Habitat, Made.com, Amazon, Nolte, Weimann, Wimex, Camel and Tescos.
Q: Do you disassemble furniture and other items?
A: Yes we do, we disassemble any piece of furniture and other items including toys, mounted items and other structures that have no adhesives. Our fitters professionally take each fixing out, leaving only those that we deem necessary to stay in place.
Due to previous customers losing screws in our packaging, we will show the customer where the fixings are for each item and then require they provide the bag or secure place to keep them for transportation. In some instances we can attach these fixings to the parts for transport but only on some items. Warranty is given on the rebuild side, if required but this will vary in length due to the quality of the pieces after transportation and previous wear and tear. Disassembling old larger structures or ones carrying weight can make them slightly looser on rebuild side however our fitters will advise on their visit and use extra fixings if required sometimes carrying extra cost. If key fixings are missing we may not be able to rebuild the item without the customer obtaining replacements, we can advise on this.
Q: What are the payment methods I can use?
A: for most jobs we accept Cash and Card payments. All of our staff carry portable secure card readers. For larger jobs we also accept Bank Transfer on prior arrangement. We do not charge a fee for payment types.
Q: How are the services priced?
A: On single or few items we generally charge a base price per item, on larger or multiple item fits we always aim to offer cheaper dayrates. We currently have 4 day rates, and our minimum call out is currently set at £60. Mountings such as curtain poles, TV brackets and Furniture have their own surplus charges.
Q: Do I need to pay for parking?
A: We always aim to find on street parking for free or if possible our customers provide private parking, however in the instances where we pay for parking we do pass this on to the customer. Please note customers within nationwide city CAZ zones will also have a surplus charge to cover this.
Q: Do you bring any equipment or tools with you?
A: All of our staff are tooled fully with everything they need to complete your job. Generally aside from all basic tooling our staff also carry step ladders, heavy duty SDS drills, multitools, and woodwork equipment. We also specialise inn fixings carrying top of the range types for all walls. If you need heavy furniture floated or tv brackets on plasterboard, we have the right fixings.
Q: Do you take care of the packaging?
A: We currently dont hold licences to collect and dispose of business waste so all packaging is to be disposed by the customer. That being said we always aim to leave jobs tidy and mess free.
Q: What if there are broken or missing pieces?
A: If there are small components that are missed we often carry many types of spares. In instances where larger critical pieces are broken or missing this might hinder the assembly process, our fitters will discuss this with the customer on a case by case basis.
Q: What if there isn’t enough space for assembly in my property?
A: We will move any moveable furniture or objects from the area to maintain health and safety, however we advise all customers to check they space required for their type of furniture. Many companies such as Ikea offer furniture that can be built both standing up and flat on the ground, however a lot of imported furniture often requires building flat on the ground. Please check with your suppliers.
Q: What if I cancel my furniture service booking?
A: We require 48 hours notice of cancellations otherwise we reserve the right to charge a small fee of generally 1 hour if we cant refill the gap. If we can fill the gap we wont charge anything.
Q: Can you fit shelves or blinds for me?
A: Yes, aside from assemblies we are known as mounting experts so everything that needs mounted can be done to the highest standards.
Q: Can you fix my wardrobe or cupboards to the wall?
A: Yes. All wardrobes come with free wall mounting should you need it, just inform our fitters. Please note some larger furniture requires space to put a drill on the top of them, if there is a lack of space this might make mounting impossible.
Q: What happens if your fitters damage my furniture or house?
A: An inevitable thing within our industry is damages. Our company have a very good track record at preventing mistakes or accidents, but we have a policy just in case. When unboxing our fitters will photograph any damages so we know it happened before fitting, this would be useful in claiming replacements from your suppliers. In this case we will return to fit the remaining pieces and charge a small call out. In our experience, all suppliers are happy to refund customers of this call out fee.
In instances where damages are done by our staff the following procedures are in place:
- Any damages that are structural or critical to the life of the furniture, we will replace these parts in full. In cases where parts cant be sourced we will offer the customer our 3rd option.
- Any damages or accidents that are cosmetic or light, we will organise to get these professionally repaired including resin fixes, paints, and or veneers. These damages would typically be, scratches, chips, holes or abrasions. Please note repairs are generally used for items being built and not wall paints, other household objects or flooring.
- Where the first two policies aren’t achievable, only with management’s consent we offer this final option. We offer an industry standard limited liability maximum refund of 33.3% of the fitting cost upto the cost of the replacement parts. Once payment is received in full from the client we will refund this payment usually within 14 days to the customers’ chosen bank account. Where payment is not received but management consent we will offer this as a discount on the total fitting charge. With TV’s and electrical equipment this is raised to 70% of the job price.
- Any damages to the household of the client including wall/floor scrapes, scratches will be refunded at £10 per incident. In some cases we may ask for proof that our fitters caused this as we have to be sure that they weren’t prior damages. We offer a fair ‘hands up’ approach as we know sometimes these are inevitable, non of our staff are punished for accidents.
Please note that whilst we compensate based on these figures we do not cover transportation, delivery, handling, packaging or insurance covers for parts.
Q: Can you take boxes upstairs?
A: We operate one man fits so we don’t offer the ability to take boxes upstairs due to health and safety & insurance requirements. In some cases customers have no choice so with prior arrangement and a small call out fee we can send a second fitter to help carry boxes up. Please note our staff cannot lift anything upstairs with customers helping as you wouldn’t be insured or trained.
Q: If I help your fitters can I get a cheaper price?
A: Unfortunately no, as you wouldn’t be trained, insured or have the relevant health and safety knowledge. The only item customers can help us with is lifting a TV on the wall, and this is a no liability procedure if required. In this case with larger TV’s a cheaper price is offered rather than a larger price for 2 fitters.
Q: How do you make sure fitters don’t drill through cables and pipes?
A: We have very good knowledge of the construction types of most houses and buildings so are aware where utilities are placed but also our fitters use top of the range scanners to ensure there is nothing underneath plaster. This is especially important with fittings close to sockets etc.
Q: Can you fix my wardrobe or cupboards to the wall?
A: Yes. All wardrobes come with free wall mounting should you need it, just inform our fitters. Please note some larger furniture requires space to put a drill on the top of them, if there is a lack of space this might make mounting impossible.
Q: Are your fitters punctual, polite and understanding?
A: An important part of our business is teaching staff these important values. Our staff aim to be on time, most of our slots are given within an hour slot and we aim to meet these. With jobs after the first booking daily, sometimes our staff might overrun on previous jobs due to issues outside their control, in these cases our staff will maintain contact with customers and inform them when they will arrive. Most of our slots are given in 2 hour windows, morning 9-11, lunch 11-1, afternoon 1-3 and evening 3-5. Please note times are rough guides only. Only morning jobs can be given exact start times.
Again all our staff are taught to be polite, and we will be empathetic to customers needs including specific requirements, dealing with disabilities and also maintaining respect of customer’s households.
Q: I need to be out of the house by a certain time, can your staff rush, or give me a discount if running late?
A: We offer a quality service that we also cant envision every eventuality until we arrive on site. Our staff work quick, but as a directive from management, they can’t be rushed. We have accurate ideas of build times but sometimes things like building space or wonky floors could lead to extended build times. This is inevitable in our profession. We suggest booking for days where you are free after the given slot. We offer no discounts if our staff take longer doing a job than planned.
Q: Are your fitters insured?
A: Yes. we all have good level of Public Liability insurance which covers injury, death and loss upto £10’000’000 in both residential and commercial settings. We are not insured to carry customers’ goods outside of the premises.
Q: Can you modify or customise my furniture?
A: Yes. Please discuss this with our staff on booking to see what is doable. We often modify furniture to accept lights, wires or mounting brackets. Most furniture is built using chipboards and particulate boards. We do try to cut these as accurately as possible but any damages such as chipboard blowout or vinyl peeling we cant protect against once we cut into these boards as ideally these are cut in the factories and not after.
If orders are changed last minute or on arrival this may not change prices as we allocate a fitter for a set length of work. If done prior to arrival and with adequate notice we can accomodate most changes with reflection on price. Especially applicable to ‘job’ or ‘dayrate’ priced services where a fitter is allocated for set periods of a day or full/multiple days. As previously mentioned we often quote these ways with multiple fit jobs as it’s cheaper for the customer and offers the most flexibility with what we can fit in a day.
Q: I have a complaint, what do I do?
A: We listen and act on all complaints. Please feel free to call us but with instances involving payments, photographs or damages we ask you email us on contact@drflatpack.co.uk so we have all details available to both sides. Anything urgent, please call us.
