What to do if a delivery is missing or wrong
A delivery that's late, missing, or not what you ordered is fixable. Flag it with your builder first — they're usually closest to it — then with the supplier. Your build advisor can help if it gets stuck.
Deliveries don't always go to plan. A box doesn't show up. The wrong colour arrives. There aren't enough tiles. This article covers the path.
Step 1 — Tell your builder
Your builder is usually the first to spot a delivery issue, because they're on site receiving it. If you spot it first, tell them straight away — they need to know to plan around it.
Step 2 — Contact the supplier
The supplier is often able to fix the issue. They have the order, the dispatch records, and the route to fix it. Contact them directly using the order reference. Be specific about what's missing or wrong, and include photos where useful.
If you bought from a Beams partner supplier, the partnership doesn't change the route — you're still the customer of that supplier and the conversation runs between the two of you. Your build advisor can step in if a supplier isn't responding.
Step 3 — Sort out the timing
Once the supplier confirms the fix — replacement, refund, or substitution — work out with your builder when the corrected delivery needs to arrive. If the original item is on the critical path of the build, the timing matters. The article Sequencing materials with the build programme describes how the build flow depends on materials timing.
Step 4 — Tell your build advisor if it gets stuck
Most delivery issues sort out quickly. If the supplier isn't responding, the resolution is unclear, or the build is being held up, your build advisor will step in. A short message with the order reference, the issue, and the dates is enough.
When the build can't wait
If a missing or wrong delivery threatens the build programme, your builder and your build advisor will work out whether the build can keep moving (with substitution, sequence change, or a hold on a single phase) or whether the project pauses on that item. We'll always tell you what the trade-offs look like.
Different from a faulty product
If the delivery arrived complete but the item itself is faulty — broken, defective, doesn't work — that's a different path. The article What to do if a product I receive is faulty covers it.
Related articles
- How materials work — your role, the builder's role, ours
- Returns of materials
- What to do if a product I receive is faulty