Can I tell the delivery driver where to leave my walk-in tub?

Yes, but the place to say where you want the tub left is with the team before the shipment is booked, not with the driver at the truck. The standard freight service for every Ella walk-in tub is curbside delivery with liftgate: the driver lowers the crate to the ground on the liftgate, brings it to your curb or driveway, and that is where the carrier's job ends. If the crate needs to go past the curb, into a garage or onto a patio, inside delivery can sometimes be added as a carrier service, and White Glove and Inside Delivery Options for a Walk-In Tub Order explains how that is arranged.

Why the Driver Cannot Decide at the Truck

A freight delivery is booked at a service level before the tub leaves the Chicago facility, and the driver carries out the service that was booked. The default booking for a home address is residential curbside with liftgate, described in What Is Curbside Delivery with Liftgate for a Walk-In Tub?. Under that service the driver lowers the crate to street level, brings it to the curb or driveway, and leaves. Drivers do not enter the home, unpack the tub or carry it inside, and they are not in a position to add a service at your door that the carrier never scheduled.

That is why the right moment to raise placement is when you confirm the order, or at the latest before you authorize shipment. Once the tub is on the truck, adding services is far harder. Give your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 the exact delivery address and a description of what you need at the site, and the team can tell you which options the carrier serving your address will support.

What Inside Delivery Adds, and What It Does Not

Ella's Bubbles does not offer white glove delivery, where a crew unpacks the product, places it in the room and removes the packaging. Inside delivery is narrower. The carrier moves the crate from the truck to an agreed spot on your property, such as inside the garage, and stops there.

• It does not include placing the tub in the bathroom or any installation work. Your installer still moves the tub into the bathroom and sets it.
• It is not available from every carrier or at every address, so the team has to check it for your specific delivery.
• There is no standard charge. The carrier sets it for each delivery based on how far the crate travels and what obstacles are in the way. Rolling a crate a few feet into an open garage is very different from carrying it through a side gate, across a patio, up a step and into a bedroom.
• Nothing is added to your order until you, or the dealer who placed your order, approve the carrier's charge.

How to Ask for a Specific Drop Point

1. Ask before the tub ships. Mention it when you confirm the order, or at the latest before you authorize shipment.
2. Describe the route in detail. Gates, side entrances, the distance from where the truck will stop, steps and their height, stairs, and the surfaces the crate will cross such as concrete, tile or carpet. Say whether you want the crate unpacked at the drop point.
3. Name an on-site contact. Give the name and phone number of the person who will meet the truck and direct the drivers, often your contractor. For a gated community, include the gate address and any entry instructions.
4. Approve the charge. The team confirms the carrier's charge for your delivery and sends it to you, or to your dealer if the order was placed through one.
5. Authorize shipment once the delivery details and the charge are confirmed.

Other Ways to Get the Tub Where You Need It

If curbside delivery at the house will not work at all, the tub does not have to come to the house. The recognized options are compared below.

The differences come down to who handles the crate after the truck. Curbside and inside delivery leave the crate on your property for your installer to deal with. Shipping to the installer, covered in Shipping Your Tub to Your Plumber or Installer Instead of Your Home, puts the crate at a location with the people and equipment to handle it. Keep in mind that the carrier, not Ella's Bubbles, decides whether an address counts as residential or commercial, as explained in Why an Organization's Address Can Still Be Classified as a Residential Freight Delivery, so a condo with a service dock is still usually booked as a residential curbside stop. Can my walk-in tub be delivered to a condo loading dock instead? works through that case.

Picking a Spot That Works on Installation Day

Wherever the crate lands, your installer will want room to work around it before the tub goes inside. The installation video shows the sequence on a Transfer 60: the installer removes the case and all the packing material, takes off the end and side panels, makes a detailed inspection for shipping damage, and whenever possible fills the tub outside and runs all the pumps to check for leaks before moving it indoors. A drop point that leaves space for that check is worth more than one that is a few feet closer to the door.

While the driver is still there, inspect the crate and photograph anything that looks off before you sign, and keep every piece of packaging until the installation is complete. If you need to open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support about the delivery, have your order number and the delivery details ready.

Watch: Walk-In Tub Installation and Delivery Ella's Bubbles Transfer 60 with chapters and a full transcript.

Common Questions