Delivery Instructions When You Don't Know the Entrance Code or Floor
At least a third of the orders we take every week arrive with the delivery address field half-empty. The sender knows the street and the building number, and that is roughly where their knowledge stops. No entrance number, no intercom code, no floor, sometimes not even a flat number. That is not unusual — people send flowers to colleagues, new partners, relatives they have never visited. What matters is what you do with the notes field before you click confirm, because once the courier is standing in front of a nine-entrance Soviet-era block at 7 p.m. with a bouquet of garden roses wrapped in kraft paper, the window for solving this quietly is already very small.
Why the Notes Field Exists and Why Most People Leave It Blank
The delivery-notes field on our order form is not a formality. It is the only direct channel between the person placing the order and the courier who will physically walk up to the door. Most customers skip it entirely, assuming that a street address is enough. In Saint Petersburg especially, that assumption causes real problems. A single postal address in many districts covers multiple buildings arranged around a courtyard, with entrances that face inward and are not visible from the street. The building at the address you typed might have four entrances on the courtyard side and none on the street side at all. Courtyards in the historic centre are often connected to neighbouring courtyards, so a courier who enters from the wrong arch can spend ten minutes finding the right stairwell. Beyond the courtyard problem, Russian residential buildings almost universally use intercom systems that require a flat number and a personal code, or a building-wide door code, to open the ground-floor door. Without that code, the courier cannot get past the entrance. They will call the recipient, which immediately removes any element of surprise from the delivery. If the recipient does not answer — and people in meetings or sleeping after a night shift often do not — the courier must wait or return, and both outcomes affect the flowers. Peonies and ranunculus in particular begin to show heat stress within twenty to thirty minutes if a courier is standing outside in summer temperatures rather than moving. Filling in the notes field properly takes ninety seconds and prevents all of this.
Bouquets we can deliver
Call the Recipient Before You Order — Just Not About the Flowers
The single most effective thing you can do is call the person you are sending flowers to and extract the address details without revealing the delivery. This sounds harder than it is. Most people will give you their entrance number and flat number without thinking twice if you frame the question correctly. A simple approach: tell them you are sending them something from an online shop and need to confirm the address. Ask specifically for the entrance number, the floor, the flat number, and whether the building has an intercom code or a door code. Do not ask if they will be home — that question signals that something is coming. Ask instead what time they usually get back from work, framed as a casual question about their schedule. The answer tells you when to schedule the delivery without making them suspicious. If they ask what you are sending, say it is a small thing and you do not want to spoil it. Almost nobody pushes further. Once you have the entrance number and intercom code, put them into the notes field in plain, unambiguous language. Write it as a sequence: entrance 3, flat 47, code 1234, fourth floor, door on the left. Avoid abbreviations that a courier reading quickly might misread. The word entrance written in full is clearer than the number sign followed by a digit when someone is reading a phone screen in dim stairwell lighting. This method works in roughly eighty percent of cases and costs you nothing except two minutes on the phone.
What to Write When You Truly Cannot Ask
Sometimes calling is not possible. The flowers are a reconciliation gesture and calling would be awkward. The recipient is a client you have a formal relationship with. The gift is from a group and nobody wants to be the one who tips it off. In these cases the notes field needs to carry enough information for the courier to solve the problem independently. Start with everything you do know: the building number, the block letter if there is one, and the flat number if you have it. Even a flat number without an entrance number is useful because the courier can use it to determine which entrance serves that flat — in most Russian buildings, flats are numbered sequentially from entrance one, so flat 47 in a building with twenty flats per entrance is almost certainly in entrance three. Write that logic in the notes if you want to help: flat 47, please determine entrance from flat numbering. Then instruct the courier on what to do at the intercom: try the flat number directly on the panel, which works in buildings where the intercom panel accepts flat numbers as codes. If that does not work, the next step is to ring a neighbouring flat and ask someone to let them into the building — this is a normal and accepted thing to do in Russia and couriers do it regularly. Finally, authorise the courier to call the recipient if all else fails, and note whether you want to be called first so you can manage the conversation. A notes field that covers these three escalation steps gives the courier a clear decision tree rather than a dead end.
Intercom Codes, Door Codes and the Difference Between Them
Customers often confuse two different access systems and the confusion leads to notes that do not actually help. The first system is the intercom, which is the panel mounted beside the entrance door with a numeric keypad and a speaker. To use it, a visitor presses the flat number and the resident buzzes them in. Many intercoms also accept a universal building code — a short sequence of digits, often four to six numbers, that opens the door without calling any specific flat. This code is set by the building management company and shared among residents. It changes infrequently. If you know this code, write it in the notes as door code followed by the digits. The second system is a key fob or magnetic card reader, which requires a physical token to open the door. Couriers cannot use these without a resident letting them in, so if the building uses a key fob system, your notes should instruct the courier to ring a flat directly using the intercom panel alongside the card reader, or to wait near the entrance and ask a passing resident to hold the door. This is not rude in Russian urban culture — residents understand that deliveries happen and generally cooperate. A third scenario is a building with a concierge, which is common in newer residential complexes and some renovated Soviet-era buildings. In this case, write concierge at entrance in your notes, give the flat number, and the courier will check in with the concierge who will either call the resident or direct the courier upstairs. Knowing which system the building uses and naming it clearly in the notes removes guesswork entirely.
Timing the Delivery Around Access Problems
Access problems are significantly worse at certain times of day, and choosing your delivery window carefully reduces the chance of a failed first attempt. The hardest window is midday on a weekday in a residential building. Most residents are at work, the concierge if there is one may be on a break, and the entrance sees very little foot traffic, meaning the courier cannot slip in behind a resident. The easiest windows are early evening on weekdays, roughly between six and eight, when residents are returning from work and the entrance is in constant use. Weekend afternoons are also relatively easy. If you are ordering flowers for a morning surprise and the recipient lives in a building with a key fob system and no concierge, consider whether a slightly later delivery — after nine in the morning — might actually be more practical than a seven a.m. slot when the building is quiet and the courier has no options except to call. For flowers that are sensitive to temperature, timing matters for a different reason. Hydrangeas and sweet peas are among the varieties that show wilting fastest when exposed to heat, and a courier waiting twenty minutes outside in July is not good for them. Tulips in spring handle brief outdoor exposure better than most. If you are ordering heat-sensitive varieties and there is any doubt about access, note in the delivery field that the courier should call you, not the recipient, if they cannot get in, and that you are available to answer. This keeps the surprise intact and gets the courier moving again quickly.
What Happens If the Courier Cannot Get In at All
Even with good notes, access occasionally fails completely. The intercom is broken, which happens more often than you would expect in older Saint Petersburg buildings. The recipient is not answering their flat buzzer and the door code in your notes turns out to be outdated because the management company changed it last month. In these situations the courier will contact us and we will contact you. This is why the phone number you provide at checkout needs to be a number you will actually answer during the delivery window. We see orders regularly where the sender's number goes to voicemail because they are in a meeting, and the courier is left standing outside with no way forward. If you know you will be unavailable during the delivery window, write a backup contact in the notes — a second phone number, a colleague, anyone who can make a decision quickly. The decision that needs to be made is usually one of three things: authorise the courier to call the recipient directly, reschedule to a later slot, or leave the bouquet with a neighbour if one is reachable. Leaving flowers with a neighbour is a legitimate option and Russian recipients generally accept it without issue, provided you include a note card in the order so the bouquet is clearly identified. For rescheduling, be aware that the bouquet has already been assembled and is in transit, so rescheduling means the flowers have spent additional time in transit conditions. Roses and lisianthus hold well for several hours. Anemones and garden cosmos are more fragile and a two-hour delay in summer will be visible in the petals by the time the recipient opens the door.
A Template for the Notes Field That Actually Works
Rather than writing notes from scratch, use a structure that covers the information a courier needs in the order they need it. Start with physical navigation: entrance number, courtyard or street-facing, any landmarks that distinguish the correct entrance from others on the same building. In Saint Petersburg it is common to write something like second entrance from the arch on Fontanka side, which is far more useful than entrance 2 alone when the building has entrances on two different streets. Next, write the access method: door code, intercom flat number, concierge, or key fob building with instruction to ring flat. Then the flat details: floor number, flat number, any note about the door such as metal door or green door if the floor has multiple flats. Finally, the escalation instruction: who to call and in what order if access fails. A complete example reads: entrance 3 from the courtyard, door code 4521, flat 62, fifth floor, call sender on this number before calling recipient. That is forty words. It takes less than a minute to write and it gives the courier everything they need to complete the delivery without stopping to make decisions. The most common mistake we see is notes that give the door code but not the entrance number, or the entrance number but not the floor. A courier who gets into the building but does not know which floor to go to will still have to call someone. Think of the notes field as instructions for someone who has never been to this building and cannot ask anyone for help once they are inside. That framing produces better notes every time.
The delivery-notes field is not supplementary information — it is the difference between a bouquet that arrives as a surprise and one that arrives after an awkward phone call, or does not arrive on time at all. A few specific details written before you confirm the order give the courier a complete picture: how to find the entrance, how to get through the door, which floor and flat to go to, and who to call if something does not work. Flowers are perishable and couriers are efficient when they have what they need. Ninety seconds spent on the notes field is the most practical thing a sender can do. We deliver bouquets across Russia in 1–2 hours.
Frequently asked questions
What if I only have the flat number and nothing else?
A flat number alone is genuinely useful. In most Russian residential buildings, flats are numbered sequentially starting from entrance one, so the courier can calculate which entrance serves your flat. Write the flat number clearly in the notes and add a line asking the courier to determine the entrance from the flat numbering. We will work with what you have.
Can the courier call the recipient without ruining the surprise?
We always try the door code and intercom first. The courier will only call the recipient if every other option has been exhausted and we have not been able to reach you as the sender. If keeping the surprise is essential, write in the notes that the courier must call you before calling the recipient, and make sure your phone is reachable during the delivery window.
Is it acceptable to ask a neighbour to open the building door?
Yes, and it is entirely normal in Russia. Residents expect delivery couriers and generally hold the door without hesitation. If you want to authorise this approach, write it explicitly in the notes: if no answer at intercom, ask a resident to allow entry. The courier will then feel confident doing so rather than waiting for permission.
What if the building has a concierge? Do I still need to write notes?
Yes. Write concierge at entrance in the notes along with the flat number and the recipient's name. The concierge will call upstairs or direct the courier, but they need the flat number to do so. Without it the courier has to explain the situation from scratch, which slows everything down and sometimes leads to the concierge refusing entry until the resident is reached.
How far in advance can I change the delivery notes after placing the order?
Contact us as soon as you realise something is missing — by phone is fastest. Notes can be updated right up until the courier leaves our shop with the bouquet. Once the courier is en route we can relay information by phone, but changes to the order record are no longer possible. The earlier you call, the easier the fix.
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