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Email templates · Furniture store

Email template to follow up on a delayed custom furniture order

You ordered a custom sofa or a made-to-order dining table, put down a deposit, and were told 8 to 12 weeks. It is now week 15 and the store's answer is "it should be here soon." Custom furniture is built after you order it, so delays happen, but you are entitled to a real date and a plan. Email works better than the phone here because it forces the store to write down a date, and because a chain of dated emails is exactly what you need if you later ask for a refund of the deposit or dispute the charge with your card company. Keep the tone even. You want the piece, and you want the store to take the order seriously.

Before you send

  • Your order number, the order date, the deposit amount, and the delivery estimate you were given. Check the sales contract for how the estimate is worded; "estimated" and "guaranteed" mean different things.
  • Every date you have asked before and what you were told, in a short list. This shows a pattern without any drama.
  • What you need to know now: a firm ship date from the manufacturer, and a delivery date to your home.
  • What you will do if the new date slips. Decide whether you would accept a discount, a loaner piece, or a refund of the deposit.
  • The name of the store manager, if you can find it, in case your salesperson's replies have dried up.
Subject Delivery date needed for custom order #[order number], placed [date] 
Hi [salesperson or manager name],

I placed order #[order number] for a [item, e.g. custom sectional in performance fabric] on [date] with a deposit of [amount]. The estimate at the time was [number] weeks, which would have been [date]. It is now [number] weeks.

- On [date] I was told [what you were told]
- On [date] I was told [what you were told]

Could you confirm with the manufacturer and send me, in writing, the date the piece ships from them and the date it will be delivered to me? If the manufacturer can't give a date, I'd like to know that too.

If the delivery slips past [date, two or three weeks out], I'd like to discuss [a discount on the balance / a refund of my deposit], since I've already been waiting well beyond the estimate. I'd appreciate a reply by [date, a few days out].

Thanks,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • A good store replies within a couple of days with a date from the manufacturer. If you get another "soon," reply once asking for the date in writing and copy the store manager.
  • Once you have a date, put it on your calendar and ask the store to confirm a week before. Silence at that point is a warning sign.
  • Custom orders are usually non-refundable in the contract, but that assumes the store delivers within a reasonable time. If they miss a second firm date, ask for the deposit back in writing and cite both dates.
  • If you paid the deposit by credit card and the store refuses a refund after a long delay, a dispute with your card company is the next step. Your chain of dated emails is your evidence.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Chase my late custom furniture order 
Hi StandIn,

I'd like you to get a firm delivery date out of a furniture store on a custom order that's well past its estimate.

The store and order: [store name, order number, salesperson, order date].
The piece and deposit: [what it is, deposit amount, balance due].
The original estimate: [weeks or date I was told].
What I've been told since: [dates and answers].
What I want if it slips again: [discount / deposit refund].

Get a shipping date and a home delivery date in writing, confirm them again a week out, escalate to the manager if the salesperson stalls, and tell me the moment anything changes.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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