Dear Customer
Everything we do here is custom for you. We are all highly service oriented and want you to be pleased and buy from us again and again and to tell your friends good things about us. Our business exists because of you and word of mouth advertising. However...custom work and delivery takes time and some patience. I am going to try and explain the process here. Please call or email if I have left your question unanswered and I will answer you promptly.
Regards,
Janet and Borge, shop proprietors
Step One. You place your order with us.
You have internet access
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Janet will place your photos and detailed notes on a special page just for you and will email you with this location. Everything will be updated on this page as we go along so you can follow the process. |
You do not have internet access
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We will keep in touch with you by telephone and fax. |
Step Two. Then we schedule workshop time for your restoration. We use the FIFO method! First in, first out! Whoever orders first, gets service first!
Piece described as 'fully restored'. |
Same day or one week-ready to go! This piece has been through our workshop once and is generally waxed and ready to go. Nevertheless, we want to check it out once more and perhaps add a coat of wax. We can sneak this piece into our workshop schedule and it can be ready possibly while you wait or certainly within a week.
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Piece described as 'unrestored'. |
2-8 weeks-ready to go! Depending on the amount of restoration necessary and any custom work (for example shelving) you might like, a piece can take anywhere from one to 7 days to complete once it is in our workshop. Other people will be ahead of you with their orders of course so we will fit you in the first possible opening.
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You order today but do not need your pieces for 6 months or more.
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No problem. We will store them free of charge for up to a year while you are moving or building. However, we will not take your pieces into our workshop for restoration until just prior to your delivery. Your pieces will be stored in the condition you have purchased them dry and blanket wrapped, but they will not be accessible. Please make sure you get all of your measurements etc before we pack everything away. |
Step Three. Custom requests-is my order delayed?
Turntables, pocket doors and other hardware
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Special hardware, as long as it available from the manufacturer, will be ordered promptly by us and should not delay the restoration of your piece. |
Shelving, clothing rods
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We have shelving in stock at all times. This will not delay your order. |
Painted finishes
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We must schedule time with the paint decorator. Usually they are very quick. We will organize a pick up and delivery and let you know how it is going. |
Bed conversions
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We do not do our own conversions of beds but have them done by a fine cabinetmaker. Just like us, Jamie has a workshop schedule and can be 2 weeks to 2 months behind. When you order we will call him immediately and get space in his schedule. We will drive your pieces both ways, no extra charge. |
You are picking up.
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We will call you or email you and let you know that your piece will be ready about a week ahead of time. Please bring blankets or other dry wrapping material and rope if you need it. We will help you load of course! |
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Our Local Delivery Area -within an hour's drive of the shop.
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As soon as your piece can be gotten ready! We are able to deliver large pieces to you .... No charge!...within 15 miles or so of the shop. We will not charge you anything for delivery in this area. Our stated trucking fee...within an hour's drive of the shop. We will charge you the trucking amount included in the piece. If you are buying small pieces which could fit in a car and still want delivery, we will have to set a price. Please do email us directions to your house from a major road. We will bring your piece in and set it up. If it is going upstairs please let us know so we can send along an extra man with my husband or please arrange for help. (I retired as a delivery guy a few years back!)
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Fed Ex |
5 business days. Fed Ex can take a small piece for a very reasonable amount of money. It is possible to insure the pieces as used furniture and they do a great timely job. Our unsolved problem is that no one wants to pack the boxes. Custom packing is required for each piece, very time consuming and lots of materials needed. So for the moment, we can not do this for you.
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UPS
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5 business days. We use the UPS drop off in Manchester, Vermont. A nightstand or a small trunk can travel in this fashion. It is TERRIBLY expensive, rates have gone up and up but of course we can get you a quote. |
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PRIVATE truckers-We use several different truckers
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2 weeks to 2 months. Private truckers are small businesses who have regular routes nationwide,usually once a month to each area of the country. When we are sure that your order will be ready by a certain date, I will call and schedule a pickup at our shop. Again, depending on their previous pickup orders this can take a week to 2 weeks; it can also be weather dependent in our area. They send out two men to our shop who carefully blanket wrap and tag each piece and each part of a piece of furniture. This process takes at least 15 minutes per piece of furniture. Your order is brought back to their warehouse where it is stored then loaded onto the truck to go to your area for your in house residential delivery. How long does it take for a private Trucker to deliver? It depends on how many people call on a particular route and how fast they can fill the truck. About every week a truck will depart for a cross country trip, however if there is a big order and a truck is available it can leave more quickly. During the middle of the winter with bad weather and not so many goods traveling, it can take much longer.Some routes are busier than others too. Trips to Florida from New England happen more frequently than trips to Wyoming. To be econonically feasible, the trucker must have enough goods to cover the costs of sending out two men and a truck. The drivers will call while on the road and let you know when they will be at your house. Please be flexible. Your piece will be brought into your house , unwrapped and basically set up. And then they need to be on their way. Private truckers have insurance that we can buy to cover the value of the pieces. More about TRUCKING QUOTES on this page.
Some photos of the process.....
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Moving Companies
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A long time. I have heard that national moving companies are willing to take on a small load if they have space but that generally it is a lengthy process to wait for that space and that there can be a last minute change if the main load expands to fill their truck. So we don't use moving companies but you can if you have a contact. Just let us know.
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| Other Private Truckers | You are welcome to make your own arrangements of course with your local trucker or moving company. We can of course drop off to your storage facility/moving company within our delivery district. This often happens with Island deliveries off the Massachusetts coast line. If you live way off a main route that a trucking company can not service economically, then you must arrange for a warehouse drop off and a local delivery. |
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| U HAUL or Ryder truck rentals | More than once we have had people come by who are visiting in the area and unplanned, they buy a lot! We will do what we can to get things ready and we will help you pack your rental vehicle and on your way. If they have flown in, they will rent a truck and drive home again. Rental trucks are available in Rutland and Bennington, Vermont. | |||||
| Motor Freight
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5 business days. However you may be unloading splinters. Motor freight is for example Land, Sea and Air or Yellow Freight. You see their trucks all the time. Goods must be very solid, unbreakable, crated and packed on a pallet and most inportantly replaceable. Motor freight is cheap, but it is difficult to insure your antique irreplaceable pieces. They will pull up in front of your house at the end of the driveway and expect you to off load from the truck. We don't use motor freight. |
Local Truckers
Do check your yellow pages for local truckers. Ask if someone is coming this way with a load and would like something to bring back with them! You might be able to get a better price.
| Date of Quote | Destination | Furniture Items | Value of Shipment | Total Cost | |
| 9/2005 | Annapolis, MD | armoire/dresser | 2800 | 498 | |
| 9/2005 | Evergreen, CO | armoire | 1400 | 671 | |
| 9/2005 | Palo Alto, CA | desk/cabinet/2 bookcases | 4275 | 742 | |
| 9/2005 | Mound, MN | cabinet/round dining table | 3000 | 438 | |
| 9/2005 | Seattle, WA | server | 2200 | 475 | |
| 9/2005 | Sheboygan, WI | cupboard/table/lamp/candlestand | 4845 | 786 | |
| 9/2005 | Redlands, CA | 2 tables/2 little dressers/plate rack | 2900 | 514 | |
| 9/2005 | Easton, MD | chairs/2 tables/2 dressers | 6000 | 670 | |
| 5/2005 UPS | California | little table | 125 | 60 | |
| 5/2005 FEDEX | California | little table | 550 | 85 | |
| 5/2005 Dartmouth | Wisconsin | table/round pedestal table/cabinet | 5000 | 775 | |
| 5/2005 Dartmouth/Boston | Minnesota | 2 desks | 3000 | 775 | |
| 5/2005 Dartmouth | NC | armoire/desk/sideboard | 6000 | 875 | |
| 8/2004 Boston Trucking | Wisconsin | armoire | 1550 | 508 | |
| 4/2004 Dartmouth Movers | North of Chicago | bed/table/desk/dresser with mirror/chair/trunk/2 twin beds/armoire | $11563 | $1700 | |
| 7/2004 USPS | Illinois | dough trough-big box | $350 | $16 | |
| 6/2004 Boston Trucking | Washington, D.C. | 2 dining tables | $3000 | $325 | |
| 07/21/2004 UPS | Utah | nightstand | $625 | $114 | |
| 1/5/2004 Boston trucking | Toronto Canada | single door armoire plus loveseat | 2200 | 1051.20 | |
| 12/2003 Dartmouth Movers | Washington | Jelly cupboard | $1050 | $375 | |
| 8/03 Boston Trucking | California | single twin bed | $1050 | $501 | |
| 11/02 Boston Trucking | Maryland | double door armoire | $4200 | $384.50 | |
| 11/02 Boston Trucking | Texas | huge stepback cupboard with glass | $2800 | $506.50 | |
| 01/03 Boston Trucking | North Dakota | Mora Clock | $3000 | $636 | |
| 09/03 Boston Trucking | Florida | double door armoire | 2800 | $420 | |
| 06/03 UPS | North Carolina | little table 21 x 24 x 34 = 124" total | $650 | $44.92 | |
| 07/03 Boston Trucking | California | bench/little table/tall wide apothecary unit/dresser | $5328 | $1002.56 | |
| 10/03 Boston Trucking | western NY state | double door armoire | $4800 | $471 |
The Country Gallery Antiques
Janet Fram and Børge Hermansen
Rte 315, PO Box 70
Rupert, VERMONT 05768
telephone 802 394-7753 fax 802 394-0076