New lounge, old lounge problem in Currumbin

Living in Currumbin, you get used to council collections that are always months away. Our new lounge was arriving Thursday and the delivery company wouldn't take the old one. It was a three-piece leather suite that came with the house, and it weighed a tonne.

I'm on the second floor with no lift. The stairwell has a turn halfway that I'd already scraped my knuckles on twice carrying boxes.

Currumbin is a creek-and-valley suburb with beach cottages and hinterland acreage, and getting things out isn't always simple. Valley roads suit medium trucks; we allow extra travel time.

When I rang, the person who answered asked a few simple questions about what it was, where it was and how to get to it, and said they could come and look that afternoon.

The crew pulled up, had a look, and told me the price straight away. No surprises, no 'we'll see how it goes'. I said yes and they got started within five minutes.

They took the arms off the recliner section, which I didn't even know you could do, and had it out the sliding door and over the balcony rail with a rope in about twenty minutes.

What I appreciated most was that nothing was rushed and nothing was a hassle. They explained where everything was going: charity, recycling or the tip. I felt good about it.

It's a small thing, but having someone else carry it all out made a much bigger difference than I expected.