I had my new canoe shipped directly to my house. When I mention that to some people they seem surprised . More than a few ask me how it arrived and if I had any issues regarding delivery. The simple and short answer is no. The long and drawn out answer is also no. Thinking of having a canoe shipped to your house? Don’t worry too much.
Here is how it went down for me. Shipping the canoe to my house was the easy part! If you are contemplating ordering an Old Town Guide 119 from Dick’s Sporting goods in particular, then this article is for you!
Having My New Canoe Shipped To My House
This past fall I bought a very affordable and fun to use Old Town Guide 119. It is similar to a small pack canoe, but the seat is low and is best used to be paddled with a two bladed paddle.
I ordered it online from Dick’s Sporting Goods. Dick’s is the only place you can buy a new Old Town Guide 119.
There is a Dick’s retail store only twenty minutes away from where I live, but the only Guide 119 they had in house was the display model. It looked okay, but I wanted 100% new. The options I had was to either order one shipped to my house, or wait and see if the local store would get any more in before the end of the season.
I had a fall canoe tripped planned and didn’t want to wait to see if more stock would arrive. So I ordered it to be delivered to my house from the manufacturer.
Nervous About Having A Canoe Shipped To My Residence
I have to admit that I was nervous about ordering a canoe and having it delivered. That’s site unseen. Usually when you buy a canoe from a retailer you are looking directly at the canoe you plan to take home. That’s not how it works when you are having one ordered from the manufacturer straight to your house!
What it if the canoe arrives all banged up? Or if I see something is missing or broken, such as the seat or thwart? What if the canoe is shipped?
Let’s face it, having a boat shipped is more complex than ordering a life jacket. So yeah, I was nervous.
Old Town Canoes Made Canoe Shipping Easy
The wonderful staff at Dick’s and Old Town Canoe understand people’s nervousness and uncertainty about having a canoe shipped to their home. But the good news is this: They have a great system in place for getting the job done.
Most carriers making such a large item delivery such as a canoe, do have requirements of their own. But those shipping requirements are beneficial to you, except one: Most carriers will not deliver on the weekend, and if they agree to do it, it will cost you a lot.
Shipping A Canoe To Home – The Basics You Need To Know
So this applied to my own experience in buying an Old Town Guide 119 online from Dick’s Sporting Goods. Obviously other retailers may handle things a little differently, but in the grand scheme of things what you read below should be pretty similar to most other retailers.
What you need to know about home canoe delivery:
- When you place an order you will of course need to provide your best contact phone number for the shipping carrier.
- You will be notified via email or text when your purchased canoe has shipped including a tracking number.
- The carrier will contact you at some point after they take position of the canoe in order to schedule a time to drop off/deliver your canoe.
- Boats are not delivered on weekends, so you may need to take time off from work to be home at the scheduled time of delivery.
- Delivery is to the curb. You may not get assistant from the carrier driver if you need help moving the canoe closer to your home or into the garage… so if you think you may need help with that, arrange assistance ahead of time.
- You will need to sign for the delivery, to actually take position of the canoe.
Important: Having A Canoe Delivered At Home
When the carrier arrives at your home with your new canoe, you need to be there to receive it and sign for it. As I mentioned above, the carrier will call ahead of time to arrange a day and time to drop it off.
Old Town Canoes recommends you do the following when the carrier arrives:
- When the canoe arrives the carrier will ask you to sign for it. Don’t sign for it right away.
- Before signing for your canoe you need to inspect the packaging it comes in. You need to inspect the package for visible damage.
If you find signs of visible damage (not likely to happen)
- Unwrap the boat and inspect the canoe for visual damage.
- If you find there is cosmetic damage to the canoe, do not sign the receiving slip – refuse the shipment.
- Contact the fullfiller/shipper as noted on the Bill Of Laden to get a new canoe sent.
If you do not find any signs of visible damage to the packaging (highly likely)
- If you do not find any visible signs of damage on the packaging then go ahead and sign for it and keep a copy of the paperwork for your records.
- Be sure to unpack and inspect the canoe within the next 48 hours anyway just to be sure.
- Should you later find damage, contact the shipper, as they will come and inspect the damage and move forward from there.
- Also contact Dick’s Customer Service – they will help take care of you. I have contacted them before for other purchases and they are fantastic!
- Please keep all your packaging and do not attempt to fix/repair the canoe. Wait for the inspection and to talk to Dick’s Customer Service.
Having Old Town Canoes Ship A Canoe To Your House
Don’t worry too much about it. Old Town Canoes has great customer service and they will take care of you. I admit I had some trepidation about doing it myself. In the end I worried for nothing. The entire experience went well with no issues. And my canoe arrived quickly, in just under several days. I could have received it sooner but had to push out my drop off date a few days.
Thinking of having a canoe sent to your house? It’s not that unusual. Re-read this post, ask a few questions of the retailer about the process… and go for it if it feels good to do so.
I had a good experience ordering my Old Town Guide 119 From Dick’s Sporting Goods. No complaints.
TD
