What to inspect before accepting a furniture delivery

Before the truck arrives

Have your order confirmation open — dimensions, species, finish, quantity. Clear the delivery path, and decide where the piece will be unwrapped: good light matters, and you want packaging kept until you're satisfied. If the retailer's terms say "inspect on delivery", that clause is real; treat the doorstep as the inspection point.

The ten-minute routine

1. Carton first. Photograph any crushed corner, puncture or water stain before opening. Carton damage plus concealed damage is the freight company's problem; discovered a week later, it becomes yours to argue.
2. Count everything. Packages against the manifest, hardware bags against the parts list.
3. Unwrap show surfaces. Tops, fronts, visible panels — check in raking light (phone torch held low) for scratches, dents, finish runs and blushing.
4. Check what you paid for. End grain on edges, grain on drawer components, the joints named on the spec sheet. If you ordered solid, verify solid — this is the moment.
5. Function test. Drawers run, doors align, the piece sits flat on a flat floor. Rock it gently; new joints should be silent.
6. Measure once. One tape check of the headline dimension against the listing.

Found a problem?

Don't refuse delivery outright unless the damage is severe — refusal can complicate the claim. Note the damage on the driver's paperwork or app in writing, photograph everything with the packaging in frame, and email the retailer the same day with photos attached. Same-day written notice with photos wins disputes; phone calls don't.

Your rights, briefly

In New Zealand, the Consumer Guarantees Act requires goods to be of acceptable quality and match their description — a veneered piece sold as solid, or a damaged delivery, fails both, and the remedy (repair, replacement or refund) is the retailer's obligation, not the courier's. In Australia, the Australian Consumer Law's consumer guarantees work the same way. In both countries the retailer cannot contract out of these for consumer purchases, and "sale items" are not exempt. One distinction worth knowing: normal solid-timber behaviour — minor seasonal movement, grain variation — is not a defect, and a good retailer will have told you that before you bought. That's the difference between honest expectation-setting and excuse-making, and it's checkable: was it in writing before the sale?

When Oaknest deliveries begin, this routine will ship printed in every carton, with our packed dimensions and inspection points marked. Until then it works on anyone's furniture — see also the sizing guide's delivery-access section for the measuring you should do before ordering at all.