12 December 2003

Peter Hgsted
Country Manager
Ikea Head Office

Dear Peter H gsted,

We were in the Bristol Ikea branch in the evening on Thursday 11 December. This was our 3rd visit, when we decided at 8pm which Kitchen cabinet doors and tops we wanted to purchase. An assistant informed us they were all in stock. He omitted to tell us that we had to order them through him and there would be a 45 to 60 minute wait before the items would be brought from the warehouse over to the store. This information was also never given to us on either of our previous visits. We have since studied the Ikea catalogue and visiting guide and no where is this waiting time mentioned.

This means by the time we got down to the Self Serve area at 9pm, to find and pick up the items we wish to purchase where for the first time we were told we had to order them from the Kitchen area and wait.

This was very disappointing. We live in Gloucestershire. It costs us time and effort to come to Ikea. We had planned this visit and arranged a babysitter, plus my husband suffers from food allergies and an immune disorder which meant he needed to be home and take his medicine by 10:00pm.

When we found our way back to the Kitchen Area, although the staff and acting manager apologised for the staff not telling us about the waiting time, he was not willing to offer any compromise to help us. We asked if the items could be delivered and the costs shared between Ikea and ourselves, could we meet the delivery van half way or could the items be ordered and our order be prioritised to minimise the waiting time, given the mistake Ikea had made. All of these suggestions were declined. We only received an apology.

An apology from Ikea is free. The cost of time and effort we had put in by this time we feel is not met by only an apology.

We are writing
a) to draw your attention to the lack of information re. the waiting time involved for 'Full Serve' items, should future customers suffer the same disappointment and
b) in the hope you will recognise the cost of disappointment, time and effort we have made and that one of the above suggestions will be taken up to redeem the situation.

Michael Deason-Barrow

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