Frequently Asked Questions

Ordering Furniture

Q. How safe is ordering Furniture on www.oakea.co.uk?

Ordering is completely safe. All information you give us online is encrypted, and this is verified daily with our VERISIGN Seal. Just in case you are still worried over security issues online, you can also order over the phone. Also. Please note that you can choose to pay over the phone, or – in most cases – even on delivery.

Q. How do I place an order?

• On the phone
  You can call call us on 0845 519 4506 Monday to Saturday 9AM to 5PM. It is helpful if you note the code(s) of the item(s) you wish to order, before calling.
• Online
  1. Add the item(s) of Furniture to your shopping basket.
     Once an item is added to the basket, the basket will appear in the top left corner, regardless of the page you are on. TIP: If you wish to order more than one of an item (Could be 6 Chairs for a Dining Set or 2 Bedside tables), you can add the same item to the basket several times. You can also amend the quantity at the next stage.
  2. Click on the ‘View Basket’ Button, which is situated immediately under the basket in the top left corner. You will see a list of the furniture you have chosen. TIP: You can change the quantity per item underneath the ‘Update’ header – don’t forget to click the red ‘Update’ Icon next to the quantity field.
  3. When you are happy that the content in the basket is correct, click the ‘Checkout’ Button. Fill in the Invoice address details. TIP: Normally the delivery address is the same as the Invoice address. You can ‘Click to use Invoice Address’ to automatically fill the delivery address fields, saving you typing the address in again. If the delivery address is different to the invoice address, simply fill in the delivery address fields manually.
  4. Click ‘Continue’ at the bottom of the page. You will see a complete overview of your order. Please check the details. If anything needs amending, please use the back button.
  5. Click ‘Continue’ which will take you to the payment page. Now you have 4 payment options:
     1. Card Payment – Please enter your card details in the relevant boxes. Remember to tick the box called ‘accept terms and conditions’. In order to read the terms and conditions, click on the text next to the box. PLEASE NOTE: Payment will NOT be processed when you submit your details. We only process your payment when we dispatch the Furniture.
     2. By Phone – You can call us and pay by card over the phone. If payment has not been received at the time of our call to arrange delivery, we will ask for payment at this point. If this is your preferred method of payment, tick ‘accept the terms and conditions’ and submit.
     3. By Cheque on Delivery
     4. When you have accepted the terms and conditions and clicked your preferred payment option, your order will be received our end instantly.
     5. If you have any special instructions or important information, about access to your property or certain times when you are unavailable for example, please tell us in the ‘notes’ box.
• By email to sales@oakea.co.uk
  Please specify the codes of the furniture you wish to order, as published on the web site?
• By Fax to 01432 851 824Please specify the codes of the furniture you wish to order, as published on the web site.

Q. Will I receive an order confirmation?

When you place an order online, you will receive an instant confirmation by email, normally confirming that your furniture is in stock and will be delivered within two weeks. If one or more items are temporarily out of stock, it will be in transit. If this is the case, then it will be notified in your email confirmation as well.

Q. Can I make changes to my order?

Yes you can! At any time right up to dispatch, you can make any changes you like. This is quite unique for OAKEA, and possible because A) We hold all the furniture in stock anyway, and B) we take no payments until dispatch.

Q. How do I measure properly?

It is important to check that your furniture will go into your room before placing your order. All Dimensions given on the web site are measured on the longest/deepest/highest point. For example if there is an overhang on the top plate, the width will specify the top width, not the body of the item.

Q. Can you tell me the availability of a specific item?

The website will tell you if an item is in stock, when you click into the item. If you want extra reassurance, you can call us Monday to Saturday 9AM – 5PM, and we will be able to give you an instant answer.

Q. Where is my order?

If you wish to check the delivery of your order, please email us on sales@oakea.co.uk or phone us on 0845 519 4506. If you email, we will reply within 48 hours. If you phone, we can normally let you know instantly where your order is in the planning process.

Q. Do you price match?

Yes we do! It is quite easy for us to offer a price match guarantee – it is very rare that an identical item is available cheaper than at OAKEA. However, if you do find the SAME item cheaper from a registered retailer we will happily match the price – taking the alternative retailers delivery cost or other added costs into account.

Q. What if my order is late?

Occasionally a delivery goes slightly beyond the two weeks we promise. This will always be caused by circumstances beyond our control, such as severe weather conditions, and unforeseen emergencies. We will keep you posted, and make sure that such delays are limited to days, rather than weeks.

Q. Can you hold furniture for us if we are not ready to accept delivery?

Yes we can! For as long as you like! Again, because we hold it in stock anyway, we have no problem being flexible and work around your requirements. Not the other way around. And please remember: No payment is required for the full period in which we hold your furniture.

Q. Do you offer any Discount

We believe that our prices are as low as they come. However, there is something you can do, if you want to improve on the already fantastic deals we offer.

• If you order between £1,000 and £2,000 worth of furniture, you are entitled to a 5% discount on the complete order value.
• If you order in excess of £2,000 you are entitled to 10% discount on the complete order value.
• If you collect from our warehouse in Hereford, you are entitled to 5% - in addition to possible volume discount mentioned above.
• Recommendation – we do not offer discount or incentives for positive feedback and testimonials, as we feel that these should be genuine and unbiased. However, if you have a web site for business or otherwise, and you wish to recommend us via a link on your home page (which must be indexed by Google), we will give you another 5 %. The link must be a link on anchor text which is relevant to our site.

So potentially, there is a whopping 20% discount to be had. In addition, we have our price match promise: If you can demonstrate that you can buy the SAME furniture cheaper from another recognized retailer, then we will match the price, after taking delivery costs or other ancillary costs into considerations. Please note that price match and discount cannot be applied in combination, but you can choose which of the two discount methods should apply.

Delivering Furniture

Q. Where do you deliver?

We deliver to anywhere mainland UK. We are unable to deliver outside of this area, mostly because we cannot offer an after sales service in other regions.

Q. Will you assemble my furniture?

As a rule of thumb: No. This is not because we don’t want to, but because everything is delivered from our Hereford Warehouse. So our delivery runs cover many miles, and there is not enough time to do assembly jobs as well.

Q. Will you deliver to a room of my choice?

There is usually one man on the van. We only have one man on the van to ensure that prices are kept to a minimum. Please note that our delivery charges do not even cover the cost of the driver. That said, we are helpful in any way possible.

There is a sack truck on the van, and the driver will take the furniture to any room on the ground floor, as long as it is safe to do so. If you need help to get the furniture upstairs, our driver will help you as well, but usually there will need to be another pair of hands your end.

Q. Will you unpack the furniture and take the packaging away?

As a rule of thumb, no. This is a conscious policy in place to save costs. Most councils have a system for households to dispose of, and recycle waste materials, such as the packaging we use, for free. Once it becomes disposal of business waste, it becomes expensive. So the question for us is: Should we dispose of the packaging, and pass the cost onto our customers, resulting in higher prices, or should we let customers dispose of it for free, and keep prices low. To us, the answer is obvious, and we hope you agree.

Q. What happens if I am out when you deliver?

This should never happen, since we only deliver after we have phoned you and agreed the time of delivery. You will get this phone call 24-48 hours prior to delivery.

Our drivers are instructed to call the next customers, every time a delivery is completed, so you will be kept informed during the day. If you must go out, please let us know, and we will always do everything we can to make sure your delivery is as convenient as possible. If, however, for whatever reason, a delivery attempt fails, we will leave a message for you and reschedule for the next time we are in the area. We will not charge for the costs we have incurred from a failed delivery, but we would appreciate if you could work with us, to prevent this from happening.

We are also able to leave your furniture in a garage, a shed or other weatherproof location that you specify. When we do this, our driver will describe your garage, shed or other facility, for example by making a note of what is in there, as a proof that we have delivered to the right place.

Q. Can I nominate a day or time for delivery?

Generally, this is difficult, purely because we delivery so quickly that we have no way of knowing weeks in advance which other orders are on the van, delivering your furniture. Whilst we are always trying to be as accommodating and as flexible as possible, we cannot always pin delivery down to a specific day in advance. HOWEVER, if specifying a day or time is important to you, please let us know your requirements, and we will try to build a delivery run around your request. The bigger your order, the easier this is to accommodate.

Q. Do you deliver weekends?

Unfortunately, at the moment all deliveries take place Mon – Fri, 7AM – 5PM

Q. Can you take my old furniture away?

No, unfortunately we do not have the facility to dispose of old furniture. Also, our drivers are our on long runs in relatively small vans, ensuring access to all types of properties, so there is not space on the van for return goods, as they would be in the way of the orders to be delivered after yours.

Q. Can OAKEA store my furniture?

Yes we can! We have it in stock anyway, so if you wish to postpone a delivery, this is not a problem at all. I only becomes a problem if you change your mind after delivery has been arranged with you. Please also note that we can offer to keep your furniture for as long as you like (within reason), even though we haven’t taken any deposits up front.

Q. What if my furniture does not fit?

When ordering furniture it is important to check that it will fit into your house and your room. Please check all doors, stairways and the space it has to go into carefully. If the worst happens and it really won’t fit in, you can always return it. This would, however, need to be within 14 days of the delivery date, and the furniture will need to be repacked in perfect condition in the original packaging.

If at all practical, we will collect your furniture free of charge, but we do reserve the right to charge the cost of collection, if your location is such that a collection will result in us incurring substantial costs as a result of the collection.

Q. Can I order Online and collect from your warehouse?

Yes, we would love to see you here and show you around at the same time. You can also collect, without having ordered your furniture in advance. However, please call us and make sure the furniture you wish to collect is in stock before making the journey.

We offer a 5% discount on collected orders.

Q. Do you deliver overseas?

No, not yet

Q. What about inspection for damages, and what if the furniture is damaged?

You can inspect the furniture on delivery, but we do not require that you do so. It is very rare that damages occur, simply because we are usually the only company handling the furniture, since we deliver using our own vehicles and drivers, except for very long distance deliveries.

Should you find any damages, these need to be notified to us within 7 days of delivery.

Faulty items will be replaced as soon as possible and usually within two weeks. This is the procedure, which we will follow, in case of a claim:

1. Verification and assessment: We will require a digital image of the damage.
2. If we agree that the item is damaged, we will arrange for a replacement. We will normally suggest that you use the damaged item until the replacement arrives, which will normally be within 2 weeks – same delivery time as a normal order. We suggest that you use the damaged item to save you any further inconvenience.
3. If we do not agree that the item is damaged – and the only reason we have come across this to date is that a customer is unhappy with natural grain structure or colour variance appearing on the natural material solid wood is, or the distressing which is part of our rustic designs – we will decline the claim. In this case, we will treat it as a regretted purchase, and refund you in full. We will normally be able to collect the furniture free of charge, but reserve the right to charge the actual cost, if OAKEA incurs unreasonable cost due to - for example – your geographical location. Should the regretted purchase situation apply, we need notification of this within 14 days of invoice date.
4. In some cases, if damages are notified within 7 days of invoice date, we will agree to pay the cost of – for example a French Polisher, or a local joiner – to come a repair the furniture. We may also, following verification, process a part refund, for you to keep the furniture as it is, if this can be agreed with you. We do, however, reserve the right to decline this, and replace the unit for a new one.

Payment

Q. How do I pay for my Goods?

Our payment policy is quite unique in the furniture industry, and designed to give you absolute peace of mind when ordering furniture from OAKEA. To put it into one phrase: NO MONEY CHANGES HANDS UNTIL WE DISPATCH YOUR FURNITURE. This applies whether you want us to hold onto it for while, or whether you want it delivered quickly.

There are so many horror stories out there, of money having been paid up front and the furniture being delayed time and time again. Then, when they want to cancel, the customer is told that they are tied into a legally binding contract.

Of course this is never going to happen when you buy furniture from OAKEA, and just to reassure you that this statement is accurate, we do not want your payment until we dispatch your furniture.

Even when you use our secure way of paying by card online, WE DO NOT PROCESS THE PAYMENT UNTIL DISPATCH.

You can also request to pay on delivery. We prefer you to pay by cheque, to protect the driver’s integrity.

Please note that, as a limitation to our ‘liberal’ payment policy, we are unable to leave furniture with you, if it is not paid for.

Q. Will I get a receipt for the payment and an invoice for the Furniture?

Yes, we will deliver a VAT invoice with the furniture, and where the furniture is paid by card, we will deliver the card receipt as well.

If you request it, the driver will sign for the payment, when you pay on delivery.