Furniture World Coronavirus Statement

Update 08/06/2020

 

These are certainly unusual times however we at Furniture World strongly believe that by working together we can all help to stop the spread of Covid-19.  Our number one priority is the safety of our customers, employees, and the wider community.  We have carried out a full review of our business inline with the governments Covid-19 secure guidelines to make sure we do everything we can to keep you safe.

As one of the South West’s leading Family retailers, we want to also say a big thank you to all the key workers, NHS staff, delivery drivers and all the others that have worked through this to keep us safe and supplied with all those essentials and we will be offering extra special savings to you all as the stores open. Thank You!

Stay safe.

Best wishes

Ryan Long

Managing Director

 

When will your stores Reopen?

We have now opened all Furniutre World stores in line with the updated government guidelines 

Our Clearance store - The Outlet Barn, will reopen on Monday the 15th June.

We very much look forward to returning to welcoming you all and of course, we will be making sure we have plenty of great offers for you also!

 

How will you keep your customers safe in the store?

We have worked with the government Covid-19 secure guidelines to make sure we have not only met them but exceeded where we feel we can.

We will ask you to maintain a social distance throughout the store which you will have seen already in place in many stores.  When you arrive, you will be greeted, given a brief outline of how the store is operating and offered hand sanitizer.  We do hope you embrace this because we are only doing this to make sure we all work together to remain safe.  We would politely ask that if you are showing any symptoms of Corona Virus that you refrain from coming to see us and pop back at a later date.

Each store will have paper towels or disposable gloves should you wish to use them, please just ask a sales consultant who will be happy to assist. When trying our beds, you will be offered a 2m run of paper to lie on if required.  All staff have access to PPE to use as required including face screens / Face masks / Gloves / Hand Sanitizer and anti-bacterial wipes. Strict no sharing will apply in all stores for all items such as cups / calculator / tape measures and pens etc.

Safe social distancing guidelines require 12.5 sq M per person. In our stores we have doubled this to 25 sq m per person or 50 sq m per couple / small group.  There is signage all around the stores reminding you to shop safely with practices such as, only one person / group to use the lifts / stairs at a time.  Should the store reach this capacity the store will switch to operate a one in one out policy.  If this happens, we will ask you to either leave a phone number for us to contact you while you wait in the car or to make an appointment if preferable.

All our sales consultants will of course make sure they always maintain social distance and will try to guide you through the store to mitigate congested areas.  As always and now even more so, with Furniture World we will not stand beside you, but we are always on hand to advise you!

Children are more then welcome in store however we politely ask that you make sure they remain with you in store (we all know how boring shopping for a new sofa is for children!)

We would suggest you bring your own tape measure and pen / pad if possible. Should you need to measure anything instore your sales consultant will do this for you.

When it comes to placing your order, each sales desk will have a protective screen between you and the sales consultant. We have created a safe zone around the desk and will minimize desk sharing. Each desk will have disposal pens for you to use to sign anything, the desk will be regularly wiped with anti-bacterial wipes and card payment machines will be cleaned after each use.  Our preferred payment method is by debit / credit card however should you wish to pay in cash the sales consultant will use gloves to do this.

 

 

Are you delivering?

Over the last few weeks we have trialled our contact free delivery service and have now expanded upon this. Our delivery teams work in fixed pairs and your delivery will be contact free. They will use hand sanitizer before and after each delivery, wear gloves and masks during the delivery and will ask you to maintain social distance whilst we deliver, preferable to stay in a separate room.  All delivery and warehouse staff have their temperatures checked throughout the day.  We will also aim to deliver to the safest location for you, if possible, to a garage or doorstep however if we must go inside the property it will be to the nearest room and with strict social distancing. All this will be discussed with you at the point your delivery is arranged to ensure that you are happy with how we will carry this out.

 

What about my current order with you?

It has been very frustrating over the past few months to get the information from our suppliers due to them all being shut down!  We are now getting more confirmation of their opening dates and over the coming days / weeks we will be making sure we update all customers on expected delivery times. We have already started to receive orders into our warehouse and have been working through to get these out to our customers – If you have any questions please email our distribution manager, Barbara – [email protected]. We are so grateful to all our customers for your patience and understanding during the last few months.

 

Can I order online?

Yes you can. We did initially shut down our online business so that we could get more clarity from the government on what is required to carry this out safely. The website Is fully operational, and we are back to delivering nationwide.  Whilst at the moment the phone lines are not fully monitored our email address is and any questions or assistance please email us at [email protected].

 

Update 14/05/2020

 

The wheels start to turn but the stores remain shut, for now!

 

Whilst we are keeping our stores closed in accordance with current Government guidelines, we have trialled over the past few weeks partially restoring our delivery service under new guidelines to make sure our staff and customers remain safe. It has been very successful and we are pleased to announce that this will continue, although please bear with us as it is a reduced service so that we can make sure we maintain a safe working environment.

 

We have already been making contact with the customers that had deliveries cancelled prior to lockdown and if you have not been contacted yet be assured you will be as we work through the back log of orders.

 

There are a number of new procedures now in place to ensure a ‘contactless’ delivery service which we will discuss with you when arranging your delivery date. These will depend on the item and where it needs to be delivered. All staff and vehicles have all necessary PPE and training to ensure we all continue to work together to stay safe.  We are delivering to all areas nationwide weekly.

 

Finally - we are now able to take orders for delivery on our website– If you have anything in particular you are looking to buy and need some assistance please email us at [email protected] and one of the team will be in touch to help.  We carry many ranges in stock so always worth asking as our website doesn’t always show everything we have in stock.

 

If you have any questions about a local delivery please email our logistics manager [email protected]

 

Unfortunately at this time we are unable to confirm a date whereby we are able to resume assembly services as well as carpet fitting but we are currently working on bring that back on line when we can.

 

 

Update 25/03/2020

An important message from the Managing Director - Ryan Long

I have taken the decision to stop deliveries with immediate effect.  The Prime Minister’s statement on Monday 23rd March was very clear that the single most important action we can all take in fighting coronavirus is to stay at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives.  We at Furniture World, wholeheartedly support the need to do this and as a result, we need our employees to stay at home.  Some of our employees are already working from home but this latest development means that our warehouses and transport operations will now be suspended from midday today Wednesday the 25th Of March.

I believe that this is the responsible action to take right now and I hope you will agree.  I am extremely sorry that this will mean we are unable to fulfill delivery of outstanding orders for the time being.  It is uncertain how long this situation will continue, but we will be in touch when anything changes.

We are happy to carry on taking orders through our website.  A lot of items on the site are made to order, with lead times displayed.  There will inevitably be some disruption within the supply chain due to the enormity of this unfolding situation but we are available on e-mail to answer any questions or queries you have regarding new or existing orders. 

We believe this is the right thing to do.  We will endeavour to provide timely and effective communication as this rapidly evolving situation continues to develop.  In the meantime, I would like to thank you for your understanding and support and to extend our very best wishes to you all.

Ryan Long - Managing Director - 25th March 2020

 

E-mail contacts – 

Furniture World – [email protected]

Customer service – [email protected]

 

Update 23/03/2020

In the interests of our customers and colleagues well being, to stop the spread of this virus, we are today announcing that all Furniture World stores will be closing at 5pm and remaining closed until further notice.

This has been a very difficult decision but we pride ourselves on our customer service and our customer and staff health is our main priority.

You can still browse and buy from our online shop, so take your time, look around and so long as we can, we will deliver furniture to you.

Everyone at Furniture World would like to thank all the health workers, key workers and those who are working so incredibly hard to keep Cornwall going.

As soon as it is safe to open our doors and welcome you back into our stores, you will be the first to know.

Thank you.

 

19/03/2020

Temporary Delivery, Installation & Service Conditions

In light of the recent changes with Coronavirus, Furniture World has now taken extra precautionary measures to ensure our service remains unaffected whilst ensuring we protect both our staff and our customers. We have therefore decided to temporarily amend our terms and conditions for delivery, installation and service calls.

During this very fast changing and challenging situation for everyone, we would like to take this opportunity to highlight that we are doing everything possible to protect our colleagues and our customers.

We are working with reduced numbers of staff in one place at one time and reducing unnecessary contact between staff, whilst keeping warehouses operating safely.

Our warehouse staff wear gloves when handling goods and have access to hand washing facilities at all times. We have instructed more stringent hand washing at more frequent intervals for all members of staff.

We have put procedures in place for many members of staff to work from home to further protect employees and customers.

Deliveries & Carpet Fittings in Cornwall & Devon

  • All customers that are due a delivery will be contacted to confirm that nobody is self-isolating at the property. The drivers will also ask at the point of delivery. If there is anyone at the address in isolation or with symptoms, we will attempt to re-arrange delivery or deliver to the customers' doorstep or an open and accessible outbuilding.
  • We will also need to clarify whether there are any over 70’s at the property. If this is the case, we will deliver the item using gloves, leaving the item wrapped if requested and we will sign for the delivery on your behalf. Additionally, we request that a safe distance is kept from our drivers at all times.

Nationwide Deliveries

We have been in direct contact with all external courier services that we use, who are also complying with official guidance from the UK Government and Public Health England to protect you completely.

We can confirm when your furniture leaves the Furniture World warehouse it will be handled with additional safety measures in place by our courier services as follows –

Courier Statement

To help combat the spread of COVID-19, we have put precautionary safety measures in place, including:

  • Educating our staff on prevention
  • Emphasising frequent and proper handwashing
  • Cleaning high contact points more frequently
  • Providing hand sanitiser where appropriate
  • Working with local health authorities

We have also introduced a revised delivery procedure as follows

  • If the recipient customer refuses to sign for a delivery on our hand held device, our driver will enter their name and enter CV (Coronavirus) in the signature field
  • The customer will still have the opportunity at delivery point to confirm any damage or missing parcel.
  • The CV Signature will then be classed as a successful delivery to your property

Furniture World Coronavirus

In line with government guidance, Furniture World will continue to operate as usual with extra measures in place and we will update our customers accordingly if there are any changes by carefully following official guidance from the UK Government and Public Health England our colleagues and customers health is our number one priority.

If you have any queries regarding orders, Head Office is still open Monday – Friday 8.30am – 5.00pm to help. You can also email us on Saturday’s and Sunday’s by contacting [email protected], all emails will be monitored and we will aim to reply as soon as we can.

 

 

19th March 2020

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