Orders die in handovers — this one is never handed over

When an international furniture order goes wrong, it rarely fails in the middle of a stage: it fails between stages — where the salesperson hands over to the order desk, the order desk to the forwarder, the forwarder to a local agent, and a detail agreed in the first call quietly disappears. This page describes the alternative: five stages, one owner, and no handover at all from the first message to the last crate in place.

The backbone is paper. The quotation lists what is included and, just as clearly, what is not; the order confirmation carries the items, the finishes and the date the factory has signed — before that signature, no date is a promise, and we decline to pretend otherwise. The distributor is us, working from San Benedetto del Tronto in Italy: between the workshop and your floor there is one company, so nothing agreed at stage one can get lost by stage four — the person who wrote it down is still in the room.

Below are the five stages. For each we describe what happens, what you receive in writing, and what can go wrong there — with who fixes it. Read the last column first: any supplier can narrate the week everything works. You are choosing one for the other week.

FAQ

Who exactly follows my order through the five stages?
The same office, and in almost every case the same person: whoever prices the job is whoever chases the factory and whoever answers if a crate arrives marked. When that person is away, the colleague who steps in has read the file before writing to you — the order number retrieves everything, so nothing depends on memory.
When does the lead time genuinely start?
At order confirmation, once finishes are settled — not at the first enquiry and not at the quotation. Time spent choosing a veneer is added to the calendar, and we say so while it is happening rather than afterwards. The confirmed date then stands in writing on the confirmation.
What if the factory slips the date?
You hear it from us with the new date and the reason, as soon as the factory tells us. A slip announced early is a scheduling exercise; one discovered on delivery day is a wasted crew and sometimes a stopped site. Sitting on bad news is the one thing this process forbids.
What do I actually have to do during the order?
Three things, all early: describe the use of the space, approve the quotation, settle the finishes. From there the chasing, the consolidation, the freight and the paperwork are our work — and if something arrives marked, your part is a photograph and the order number. The rest of the claim is ours to run.
Several manufacturers, one project — how many deliveries?
One, where consolidation makes sense: seating from one workshop, tables from another, storage from a third, combined into a single shipment with one appointment and one set of documents. Fewer trucks, fewer dates to guard, one person to call if a box is missing.

The five stages, with the column suppliers omit

What happens, what is written down, and what can break at each stage.

The first message
Use of the space, rough quantity, destination, date; a dimensioned sketch helps. Risk: describing a wish instead of a use — ours to fix, with the right questions before the catalogue opens.
The quotation
Written, with items, finishes, freight and the explicit list of exclusions. Risk: comparing it with an offer that stays silent on costs. The exclusions line puts both on the same scale.
The confirmation
Finishes settled, order placed, date signed by the factory — the clock starts here. Risk: days lost over a colour while the calendar waits. We flag it while it happens.
Production and transit
We watch progress, consolidate the factories into one shipment, handle the documents. Risk: a slip in production. The new date reaches you before you ask.
Delivery, and after
Crates arrive at the agreed appointment; anything marked takes a photo and the order number, and we run the claim. Afterwards the address stays the same — spares, one more piece in the same finish, lost paperwork.