B & Q Delivery: The Smallprint

If you're considering making use of B and Q's home delivery service, available from in-store (as opposed to their on-line service), take note of the following points.
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B&Q Delivery Service

  • You may be hoping to make a big order, but might still be outside the catchment for free delivery. Check first how much you might pay!
  • When you're wandering around the store assembling a list of things to have delivered, write down the bar code (and a brief description as a reminder) for each item.
  • B&Q distinguishes between 'indoor' and 'outdoor' goods, and will not deliver those two types of produce together. For example, a delivery of building materials and a delivery of carpets would count as two separate deliveries, and you will have to pay delivery charges according to the value of the goods on each delivery - NOT the total value of the order. Items like lawnmowers are probably a grey area, so it's best to check beforehand which items can be delivered together. We managed to get some indoor shelves (flat-packed in cardboard) delivered with our bricks, for example.
  • You will be able to agree a delivery date in-store, but (a) they are not obliged to deliver on that date, and (b) you have to be in all day. Their delivery window is 8AM to 6PM, and there is no communication between the drivers and the customer services. You have to stay in until they arrive!
  • If you're having building materials delivered, they may arrive in a 17-ton lorry (as large as a refuse lorry), and will probably ask you to sign a waiver to any damage caused by the lorry on your property. Our driver was fussy about the water meter in the driveway, and we duly signed something that cleared them of responsibility for damage. Note that the only thing we were asked in-store was whether our road was capable of handling refuse lorries.
  • If anything is broken or breaks on (or shortly after) delivery, you can expect the item(s) to be re-delivered. They should be happy to exchange non-perishable and low-value items without you being there; just leave the faulty goods outside on a pre-agreed day and they will simply swap them over. Otherwise you will have to wait around all day again!
  • None of the above was explained to us in-store, which is why we're explaining it here. We even went to the trouble of telling the information desk what sort of things we wanted to buy before choosing anything from the shelves, and were simply told how much the delivery charges would be for our area. Nothing else was explained, specifically the part about the possibility of two separate deliveries (and delivery charges of course).
Let this be a word of caution to you! By the way, their online store (diy.com) seems to have much lower delivery charges than in-store, but you'll have a hard time finding half the stuff you want on the site. It also seems to have some kind of delivery code system, which might tie in with not being able to mix certain types of produce in a delivery, but that wasn't at all clear.
Good luck!


3 Comments

by Meghan on 10 August 2017
Twice now they have sent large items by royal mail. This means that although B & Q take your numbers for delivery, once royal mail have the job they'll only deliver to your letter box so if you don't immediately answer the door they won't ring you. We waited in all day, expecting them to call when they reached our gates, but no-one did - the large item (carpet) was delivered to a post office ten minutes' walk away, which isn't much use when you don't have a car.
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by John Swindells on 11 August 2017
That's pretty poor service! I guess it's easier for them to leave everything at the local office, but they should at least make a decent effort to get it direct to you.
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by paul beauchamp on 23 September 2013
I placed an order for some flooring on the 23rd sept and i got a text a few days before to confirm then on the day of the delivery i got a text saying that it will be delivered between 7-12 am but come 6 that night still nothing i have there number but been on hold now 45 mins. i took time off work for this crap. WHAT A LET DOWN NEVER USE THEM AGAIN
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by Mrs Smythe on 24 November 2005
I have read your article with interest. Whether it is B&Q or any other retailer, at "point of sale" employees are put under great pressure to please the customer to finalize the deal. In actual fact, when a company deals with so many suppliers, some which deliver direct, it is probably impossible for any sales person to give you the name of the actual delivery company which will be used (contact numbers and the like). Let alone what type of contract this delivery company has signed up to (i.e. all day delivery - cheaper option or timed delivery - quite expensive). These are the pertinent questions which should be asked.

Whilst you might start off ordering from B&Q you end up dealing with a totally different company.

The best I believe anyone can do is request a mobile telephone number be added to the order which can be rung 30 mins before delivery by driver of delivery van. In this way a customer hasn't got to wait in all day for the delivery and everyone is happy.

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