this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2023
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How do Europeans get stuff for their house around? Like do appliances just get delivered as part of buying them? Or are there other companies that specialize in that sort of thing? Genuinely curious.
This question baffles me because it seems like a total non-issue to me as a European. How do Americans get stuff for their house around? Do you not have delivery or truck/van/trailer rental services, and are all your appliances (and not just fridges/freezers which are apparently hilariously big in the US) so American-sized that you can't fit them in an average family hatchback/crossover/SUV? Or do you regularly move all of your stuff from one house to another?
The answer is a resounding yes; in most of the US it's absolutely normal to have large appliances delivered, installed and your old appliance hauled away as part of a single purchase. Where this isn't as true is in rural areas that, especially in the west, are often far more remote than anything in Europe apart from, perhaps, Northern Scandinavia and parts of Russia.
I've lived in northern sweden and unlike americans we don't haul appliances around daily. When I would buy one I hooked up my trailer, brought my old broken one to the recycling center and picked up my new from the store going home. Or pay for delivery and disposal if that was an option.
It would take the entire day due to the distance but that's not really the fault of the trailer or the car.
as someone that's never owned a truck and moved a lot I will say one of the biggest issues with moving here is truck/car rentals. you have to be 26 to rent one and if like me you have no contact with family and you're moving across country it becomes a real issue. thankfully I've had decent people in my life willing to help me but if that isn't the case you really are just kinda screwed on a rental here in the United States.
Yes and yes.
My last SUV was quite large and I had a hard time fitting a portable dishwasher in it. Unfortunately the American largeness is in Canada as well.
Also we moved quite a lot sometimes because we can't afford nice places and end up in places where the landlord painted over mold and shit so we nope the fuck out as soon as our lease is up.
Dude, as an American I had all of my appliances delivered. The Home Depot guys showed up with a box truck. It’s free delivery too so why would you even need a truck…. In fact, you can get a lot of stuff delivered for free or very cheaply from Home Depot.
The truck in this picture is so shiny it’s clearly a vanity vehicle. I’m guessing it’s owned by a member of the US armed forces judging by the star on the side? American military personnel are known to bring their vehicles with them from the mainland, to Japan or Europe.
Just a small anecdote from a truck owner. I showed up to Lowe's to order a fridge to be delivered. It was $1,800 and I ended up buying the exact same thing on clearance for $400 only stipulation was I had to take it then and there no holds and delivery wasn't even an option. Ya I could have rented a truck from them but it was 9pm and 45 minutes from my house. Without my truck I may not have been able to get it.
Also, I use my truck as a truck at least once a week mostly because I get free garbage at my work so I just throw everything away there and just toss our trash bags in the bed of my truck. It's also great for small projects around the house. Like when I put up our pool. Needed to get dirt out of the back yard and was able to get my truck back there to load everything and then bringing it the sand for under and rocks for around I can get my pick up back there but a company delivering with a dump truck or something similar.
Right, but that's still not necessarily grounds for using it as an everyday driver the way a lot of North Americans do.
And I say "North Americans" advisedly, since big oversized pick-ups are very popular in both Canada and Mexico as well.
You rent a truck or pay for delivery just like 80% of North Americans do.
Also how often do you need to haul furniture, the rental cost will never come close to the price difference between a car and a truck.
Or you use a trailer. Everyone knows someone with a trailer, or, at least where I live, you can rent one for a few hours for free.
B-b-b-but what if some distant family member needs moving, sure I can be of help!
I hate that you're being downvoted for asking a genuine question about cultural differences. Do better, Lemmy.
I'm not from there. I'm curious how it works. There are many places in the US that are remote. Hauling stuff around is far more common.
Why haul it yourself when you could let professionals do it for you? Faster, better, cheaper, more convenient
Yes companies deliver. This makes me wonder about something I've never thought of: do American shops not do this?
No, they do and typically large appliances even have free delivery. I'm confused by the OC's confusion. The majority of Americans don't own those massive trucks, either. Not sure how they think we get by lol.
you definately haven't been to the southern states. TBH trucks account for about 35%-40% of vehicles on the road in the midwest, northwest and southern states. And to top it off, 90% of those have never hauled a load bigger than groceries that you can fit in a small SUV.
UK here. Yes you order an appliance and it gets delivered, and in some cases installed, by the retailer. If you have a plumber or kitchen fitter maybe they will collect it for you in their van. I'm sure you could save a bit of money on shipping if you collected it yourself, but not many people have the means to do so. And this way, if it's damaged in transit, the retailer are liable.
Where I live in the States, all large retailers include free delivery and removal of your old appliance as part of the purchase of a new dishwasher, fridge, etc.
Even my new water heater was delivered and old one hauled off for free
Of course doing all that myself probably would’ve been cheaper, but I’m not a plumber, and doesn’t occur enough for a huge daily driver vehicle to make sense. Obviously they make sense as work vehicles for contractors etc but most people with a big truck don’t actually use it for those needs 99.9% of the time
Aside from the free delivery of appliances others mentioned, I believe it is an EU law that a store that delivers whitegoods must also take the old one and properly dispose of it.
I ordered a new fridge lately. The delivery was free (I paid the extra €25 to have them install it and plug it in) and I had to clean the old fridge out before they arrived, but they took the old one down the same 3 flights of stairs they carried the new one up.
what is a whitegood?
Appliances that are typically white and large. Things like fridges and washing machines.
Electrodomestics.
Lithuanian here. My brother in law brought a refrigerator and a standard size washing machine in his ~2006 Mazda 3.
Seats can be folded or sometimes removed altogether, you can drive with your trunk not fully closed, just make sure everything is secured well and anything protruding from your car is marked with reflectors or bright coloured strips of cloth.
Hire a trailer? That's what I do here in Australia with my small car. It can tow a trailer with appliances and furniture just fine.
You can also hire small removalist trucks that you can drive with a standard license if you have a lot of stuff.
Basically, yes. Appliances are delivered and installed, usually free of charge (read: the price of delivery and installation is just calculated into the price of the appliance). Same for furniture.
Most home improvement stores either offer a (paid) delivery service or you can rent a small van/truck to get your larger purchases home.
Trailer hitches are quite common too, allowing you to tow a simple trailer (which you can either buy or rent):
All of that is true in the US too. Most Americans have no real need for a big truck they just get them because they like driving a big vehicle.. makes them feel safe or whatever, and literally looking down on everyone when they drive
Uh... Ever heard of trailers?
You know. I was asking a perfectly normal question. No disrespect. And you decided to make it disrespectful. Of course trailers are an option, but most passenger cars don't have hitches. At least in the US.
Sorry, unnecessary way to phrase myself.
It's pretty common in Sweden with hitches (like, more than 50% if I would make a guess), so even if you don't have a car or a hitch on your car, you most likely know someone with one.
..how much house work do you ACTUALLY do? You can't pay an extra $50 for delivery for that new washing machine you buy once a decade? I owned a house for fifteen years before downsizing and moving into condo life, and never once thought to myself gosh I wish I had a 6 ton gigantic truck to get stuff for my house around.
In Sweden many lumberyards, furniturestores and shops for appliances got trailers you can borrow for free. For people living more remote it's amazing what you can pack into a Volvo. That and you likely have a neighbour with a trailer.
Yes amazing what one can fit in a Volvo! Groceries, 65" TV and 2 children in car seats and 2 adults! Love our Volvo.
Actually, we do have trucks and SUVs and pickups, too. Though they are usually a bit smaller than an F150 or RAM 3500, so we often use trailers if we need to transport larger items.
Folks living in the center of big cities (which I personally believe are a bit overrepresented in this sub) often live in flats where stuff like dishwashers and washing machines are already provided, so they don't need to transport that, or even don't need/have a car at all. For those, there are delivery services and light trucks that can be rented.
Most household appliances I have ever bought fit in a Polo or similar sized cars, if you wrap the back seat bench.
For > 1.8 m and < 50 kg stuff I use a rack.
To be fair – the older generations of Polo were on the smaller side of compact cars. I've used VW Polo Variant, Mitsubishi Wagon R, Mercedes A, Hyundai I 10 and modern Polo myself.
If my car is too small, I ask family/friends/neighbors or rent a van.
Most shops that sell big appliances offer a delivery service as well.
Wagons can hold a huge amount of stuff. For everything else there's trailers available at most manned fuel stations and also loaner trailers available for chains selling large items.
If we do want a transport vehicle it will almost certainly be a van. Trucks are very rare where I am in Sweden.
Interesting! Vans are almost non existent here. Except for Amazon. They own a lot.
So I heard, it was always fascinating to me, the cultural difference on it. To me (heavy bias) vans just seem better. Excellent weather protection, much better theft prevention. Maybe a tad more limited when it comes to large awkwardly shaped things, but you can still keep a door open and strap down your load.
I also suppose visibility suffers in a panel van.
I am not even european but all of my big appliances (refrigerator, stove, washing machine) were delivered to my home by the store I bought them from, either free of charge or super cheap, I can't remember. I've also bought bricks amd had them delivered to my doorstep.
I think they are called hatchbacks in english(Kombi meine ich). You can fit most appliances into there when you fold the seats. That's how my parents always transported large things. For even larger things we just got a trailer.
Since I don't have a car I usually just get things delivered. And the guys who deliver it just drive vans.
We get large appliances delivered. Stuff like washing machines or smaller refrigerators easily fit in medium or large hatchbacks. I've comfortably transported a washing machine, crapload of fruits and veggies from the countryside, and my 20 kg dog in my Renault Laguna hatchback once.
Yeah, part of the business.
They often charge based on delivery distance or area, but we're not a massive country. Odds are you're within 10 miles of the shop.
New appliances are usually delivered, yes. Big stores have their own delivery service, others use the national postal service or one of the many private ones.
For moving old furniture, there are specialized companies (mostly small sole proprietorships) that come to your house with a van, load your stuff, and drive it to a new location. Or you can rent a van or a truck (I mean an actual cargo vehicle, not what you see in the picture).