After talking with one of our drivers the other day over a cup of tea while leaning up against the truck I’ve really come to the conclusion that we’re missing a trick in our selling technique and have so far underplayed how we deliver to you, and believe it or not, with log cabins delivery make a HUGE difference to the whole customer experience.
So, to fully explain what sets us apart regarding deliveries, all our log cabins are delivered to you using these clever things and generally within 14 working days:
Moffett Demountable Forklift
Moffett Forklifts are the clever things on our articulated lorries. You might have seen them on the road, mounted to the rear of specially equipped lorries. They’re very useful in as much as they can go sideways and forwards. We have experienced drivers taking these up to a half-mile away from their articulated lorries in tricky situations. They need about 4m width drive through clearance and they will be as long as the log cabin package. They will need about 4m to actually unload the package.
All though ‘technically’ delivery is kerbside if you speak to the driver really nicely. And of course maybe offer a cup of tea for the driver. They can help placing the packages where you need them. So long as the driver can sensibly get the Moffett where you need it. He of course is responsible for his vehicle and health and safety. He will not enter your property without your express permission and provided you accept liability.
The drivers will not unpack and move the items for you. However they do help as much as they can. They’re very accurate and can often get into difficult spots you would not believe possible.
As well as asking for reviews on our products and services it’s nice to also receive them about delivery:
“Hi.
I am writing to say what an excellent job your delivery did for me on Wednesday. were operating the forklift under difficult circumstances from a narrow country lane through an inclined driveway 9ft 6in wide. He then managed to position it exactly where I wanted. He remained cheerful and chatty all the time and it was a pleasure to have him deliver the log cabin.
Please convey my thanks. Unfortunately I did not catch his name. I offered him a cuppa but unfortunately time was pressing for him to get to Plymouth before 4. I guess he did not succeed as it was close to that when he left me.
Regards
Barry Scaffold”
Weather Protection
Log Cabins make for a pretty big package. Most, will be the same length as the longest log, about a meter wide and up to a meter tall..
You will notice our log cabins are all wrapped in plastic and they can be left out side for a good while before you have to worry about unpacking them. It is advisable though to remove the felt shingles from the top of the packs as these could melt together due to the bitumen strip within them. This can make installation of them very tricky.
Please also just check for any little nicks in the plastic that may have happened during delivery. Put a little packaging tape over any you see to keep the package water tight.
You will notice the foundations and if applicable the floors are also on top. These really do need to be moved somewhere under cover. It is fine to leave the main log cabin package where it is until you are ready to install it. We prefer you to do just that as if you unpack it and not store the logs correctly you may suffer warping. Warping is never a problem and can easily be rectified but it helps to keep everything together until installation.
Log Cabin Delivery Made Easy
A log cabin is an unwieldy thing. I think customers forget that it’s not a book or a CD or a fridge or a sofa. These are big packs of wood, they weigh from 250kg up to our heaviest stock cabin of 4500kg.
We try to make this process as painless as possible with the method we use. We try to also explain to customers that these are tricky things to deliver. They take a specialist vehicle and specialist handling.
Log Cabin Driver Talk
Chatting with Steve, one of the drivers. He was telling me all sorts of tales he has seen on the roads and heard from our customers. Steve does love a gossip:
One major company which advertises heavily, offers a ‘one man’ delivery service as standard. You have to be in all day AND then take it all OFF the lorry yourself. Oh and you have to be able to lift 25 – 50kg. If this is not possible you can have a ‘two man delivery’ where they will off load it for you, to Kerb Side ONLY and then charge you an extra £400 for it …. Ouch!
Another company he was talking about offers you the same ‘one man’ service but at least the driver will help YOU off load it, but again, only to kerbside, but you have to have tarpaulins available to cover it, so no weatherproofing.
When I looked up both these companies tonight and then several others to see what they are all up to. I looked through lots of suppliers small print regarding delivery in their terms and conditions. I suggest you do as well when considering a supplier.
Oh and also another point in an easier delivery with us is that we don’t require you to be there. Just let us know within reason where you want the packages placed and we will do that for you.
The best horror story I heard from Steve was as he watched a builders type lorry delivering a log cabin from another competitor using a Hiab crane, again to kerbside. Cabins were secured at both ends and measured about 5 meters. As Steve watched he saw the cabin visibly bend in the middle and then CRACK, the driver said ‘It’ll be fine”!
Steve walked back to his Moffett chuckling. Oh and the VERY best story he told me was when a competitor was delivering further up the road. The driver came over and asked if he could ‘Borrow’ the Moffett ….. It’s best if I don’t repeat the exchange they had.
Log Cabin Delivery Summary
It’s interesting to see what other companies are doing these days. I guess it’s all to do with keeping costs down and giving you the ‘best’ prices.
We give the best prices and we give you a bloomin’ easy delivery process.
I don’t think we’ll be changing any time soon though to the new delivery methods currently favoured by others. I think our customer appreciate the ease with which they take delivery when compared to the other options of off loading themselves to the kerb.
We’re not perfect and things do go wrong but at least you don’t have to off load yourself.
We’ve had complaints in the past that the driver was late. All drivers we use try their hardest not to be but they are also told to help and be accommodating as much as possible, we know a log cabin package is not a lot of fun to have, it takes up loads of room and logistically for you and us they’re a bit of a pain. Imagine having to take it all off a lorry and then having to move it again, store it correctly, protect it from the weather and then install it. I really don’t know how I’d cope down my little lane. And what about customers such as we have who take delivery and then can’t get around to installation for a week or two.
Unlikely, but If you find your particular driver is an hour late please remember he may have been helping a previous customer and you need help as well to take the packages away from ‘Kerbside’ so please don’t moan at him too much, think of the alternative, do you really fancy unloading a 4500kg log cabin on your own from the side of a lorry or pay £400 more for someone to take it off to kerbside only?
Please, in your research for log cabin suppliers, also consider how your cabin is being delivered and what extra additional costs there might be if you want an easy life.
A few of the ‘good’ companies in my research tonight deliver the way we do, so I am not saying we have the best delivery service. The way we deliver and other ‘Good’ companies deliver is the only way, in my opinion, to safely and conveniently deliver a cabin.
My advise is to check how your cabin is being delivered from a supplier so there are no hidden surprises you should be aware of.
We try to offer the most convenient delivery method and also the safest and of course still maintain an extremely competitive price for log cabins
Delivery Area
Please see the delivery page here: https://www.tuin.co.uk/Tuin-Deliveries.html for more details on deliveries and the areas covered:
UPDATE – Recent customers Email about one of the drivers.
Good morning. We would like to commend your delivery driver who delivered your product to us yesterday.
I received a telephone call to say that he had arrived at my house but couldn’t drop off there as the lane was too narrow. I couldn’t take the call because I was teaching a class so simply had to say that I would be finished in a further 15 minutes and would then hurry on home. This was all 45 minutes early because of course the driver couldn’t have predicted exact time of arrival having travelled from elsewhere in the country and Holland the previous day.
I rang him upon arrival home because the lorry was nowhere to be seen. Call me cynical but in the UK my thought would have been – I wasn’t here and so he has turned around in disgust and refused to leave the delivery. He told me that he was two miles away. I got rough directions and set off to find him. Sure enough he had driven two miles from my property to find somewhere wide enough to unload and was unloading onto the forklift.
Again, call me cynical about our level of customer service, but I thought that he may be unloading in the nearest possible location and it would then somehow become my responsibility to get the product to my own door.
He drove the two miles on the forklift sideways along the narrow country lanes to deliver to the exact spot on my driveway I requested.
I am staggered by this level of customer service and above all else, he did all this with courtesy in a relaxed manner and with a smile!
The coffee and biscuits seemed a very meagre recompense for all of his difficulty but even this was accepted gracefully with a cheerful “better than the usual British coffee”!
I am just hoping that there isn’t some crazy health and safety twaddle that means that me putting his actions into an email causes any difficulty. He should be commended for a superb level of customer service and attitude to the customer.
You may be also interested in other customers buildings posts and thoughts:
- Inside a log cabin – selection of pictures inside customers log cabins
- Dagmar installation from 79 year old Mr S – Very inspirational
- Petit log cabin review
- Onyx Log Cabin Review from Mrs G
- Wolfgang log cabin review and how long it took
- Lukas log cabin review – Mr W
- Shepherd Hut review by ME
- Asmund log cabin review – Mr F
- Log Cabin delivery – Mr S
- Mr T log cabin in the woods – Edelweis – A great timber framed base
- Britt Log cabin in the Isle of Sky
Hi despite the appalling weather, ice,snow etc and the small winding roads here in north Cornwall, you driver kept us informed and delivered our log cabin exactly where we wanted it. He had to drive the Moffat forklift 3/4 mile along a single track no throughroad to our driveway. Exceptional service from the driver who was courteous and efficient.-,ease pass on our thanks.
Excellent material. Well done. I found that all most helpful!
Nola Wright
Very keen to buy the Daisy but I’m concerned about delivery. The cabin would need to be transported on the forklift along a Tarmac private road about quarter mile. The lorry would have to be parked in nearby lay-by on main road. However, that still leaves problem of how to get timbers into garden down metre wide alley. I assume this would be my responsibility. is it possible to provide picture of timbers as packed for a Daisy?
Thank you for your comments. For the final stretch it does seem as if you will need to move the components as I have done many times when installing. Please see this installation advice page for examples and pictures of how the cabin arrives, sorted and installed:
https://www.tuin.co.uk/blog/tips-installation/tuin-log-cabin-instruction-manual/