Ikea

[griffitp]

I purchased a complete bedroom unit which comprised a PAX Stordial wardrobe system from IKEA's Wednesbury Store on June 4th 2006. The items were delivered on 23rd June 2006. In the store the wardrobe’s dimensions are given as 300 x 65 x 236. We were served by a young lady named Laura Jones, we discussed the dimensions and she commented that we were lucky that it would just fit into the space we have in our bedroom. The wardrobe alone cost £974

I paid £250.00 to have the wardrobe assembled. When the wardrobe was assembled in our home we found that the hanging brackets on the one of the doors actually takes the overall height of the wardrobe up to about 238 centimetres. My ceiling is only 237 centimetres high! Therefore, we cannot put the glass door on our wardrobe.

After speaking to various people, one of IKEA’s managers has told us that we will not be compensated for this error which is clearly the fault of IKEA staff for not informing us of the mistake in the dimensions when we purchased the wardrobe. We now have a wardrobe that only has one sliding door. I really cannot explain to you the distress and disappointment that IKEA has caused my wife and I. My wife has been in tears! We are in a state of limbo, as we cannot move back into our bedroom until this matter has been resolved.

The manager would not give his name to me over the phone last evening when I spoke to him. He was extremely rude and discourteous. He tried to insinuate that I was at fault! My blood is boiling after speaking to him!

Sending the wardrobe back is not an option as I refuse to pay again to have it disassembled after spending £250.00 to have it assembled.

 

Please can someone tell me where we stand?

[hagenuk]

You have every right to complain and I suggest right to a full refund .

 

In the first instance I would write a letter to the local store manager detailing your complaint but also send copies to the following people at the address below. You might also want to copy the UK Regional Manager and UK Director if you can find out who they are, the store concerned should be able to give you this information.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingvar Kamprad Founder

Anders Dahlvig President

Hans Gydell Vice President

 

IKEA

Leiden

South Holland

The Netherlands

 

 

 

I have found that the two little letters “cc” at the bottom of a letter followed by the names of some very important people within the organisation you are writing to have an almost magical effect.

 

It is my belief that you will receive some very special attention within a very short space of time.

 

Now I am not naive enough to believe that the people I mention above will even see your letters, but what's really more important here is showing the store manager that you have sent copies to the founder of the company, the President and VP et al. This will make him think very carefully about how he responds.

 

I would also be tempted to send it recorded delivery, but that's optional.

[podgydad]

Firstly, go to the store and take a photograph of the point of sale info giving the dimensions, also go to the website and take a copy of the page showing the dimensions.

 

Secondly, Ikea customer service is atrocious, do a search on my thread about Ikea, they always refer you back to the store but you can't phone them direct, when you do talk to them they are very unhelpful, thats why we took court action against them in the end, we're just at the point of sending in the bailiffs.

 

Thirdly, send them a letter telling them clearly what you want, I would suggest that being, that they send someone to dismantle the wardrobes, return them to the store, give you a full refund for the wardrobe, and compensate you in the order of £250 for the assembly. Give them 7 days to do this, if they do not respond, or respond in the negative begin court action via http://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk for the total cost of wardrobes and assembly, and if they refuse to send someone to dismantle them, get it done yourselves and add this to the claim.

 

I will repeat that they are very bad at dealing with things over the phone, so just do it all by letter.

[griffitp]

Hi HagenUK & Podgydad

 

Thanks for the replies,

 

Just been back to the store and lo and behold, the bedroom display has now been removed. Now I've sent letters to the bigwigs in Holland and the UK MD. Lets see what they do next (if anything). Ill post again if there are any developments. It does say on the website that you need at least a 240 cm high ceiling, but we bought them in-store and we even OK'd the height with the assistant that took the order and there was no mention of height clearance at all.