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Mr. PM Upon my last visit to the Ikea store, I tried to speak to you directly so as to find a solution to the problem on location. You were unfortunately not in that day. Being half-Swedish, and having lived in Sweden for over a decade, IKEA has been a natural alternative when furnishing my houses. Until recently, I have been a very satisfied customer, but recent events have seriously put the competence and service level of your employees in doubt. The events follow: I ordered my kitchen May 16th, after my second visit to your store. When placing the order I suggested we go through it again to ensure everything was correct. The employee in the kitchen department was after all making modifications to an earlier estimate I had requested, so errors and omissions could easily have occurred. I was assured that everything was correct and that she had checked the details when going through the order. Delivery was scheduled for the 26th of May. Having returned home and having booked a time with the builders, I start going through what ever I could understand of the order in an attempt to ensure its correctness. Indeed, the first error came out. The Pronomen countertop which had been ordered was 2,40 m long while the total length of the kitchen was 2,85 cm. I call the Ikea help-line who inform me that they can not take a correction by phone and that I have to return to the store and contact customer services. I visit your store on May 21st to get the countertop extension. I spend over half an hour as instructed by phone in line for the customer service desk, only to be informed I have to go up to the kitchen department and get the order changed by them. After having placed the new order, I pay for it and wait an additional half hour whilst it is being retrieved from your warehouse. The delivery of the kitchen is made, and even that was under all criticism as I had warned both IKEA and the delivery company my street is closed between 10am and 2pm due to a market, and that deliveries have to take place outside of those hours. I was assured that ‘Our employees are used to these inconveniences and that the market would not be a problem!’. The delivery company hadn’t even bothered informing their drivers, forcing us to drive around the area for an hour, unsuccessfully attempting to get as close to the house as possible. We were forced to reschedule the redelivery for later in the afternoon. Even if the drivers were perfectly aware I had informed both IKEA and the delivery company, I had to put up with their irritation and was forced to help them carry the items because of the delay they had incurred. Once the delivery was made, the installation of the kitchen commenced. Further errors started showing up. I decided to wait until the end before returning to the store, and indeed, it proved to be the right strategy. The following errors occurred were made in the order.
·
For some strange reason, a post for a corner base was ordered even if
I never had any corner cabinets on my plan, not even the initial one.
·
The pelmets for the under wall units ordered were light brown, and not
oak. · When changing the order, I was asked if I wanted a cover panel that would hold up the worktop, as my kitchen ended with an integrated washing machine. I gave a positive acknowledgement to that question. What was ordered, however, was a cover panel measuring 60 by 70 cm, and not one of a larger size which we had to cut down. Due to travel commitments and heavy work loads, I was only able to visit your store on the 26th of June. I thus make my way to IKEA the second time because of an error made by the employee placing the order. And once again, I had to take half a day off work. I wish I had so much spare time, but being the majority shareholder and managing director of a rapidly expanding software consulting company, that is not the case. It takes me between one to one and a half-hours to reach your store by public transportation, to which you have to add the often long aiting times at the customer service department, the time it takes to solve the problem, queues at the cash register, and in the case of the countertop, the half hour wait it took to retrieve it from the warehouse. At this point, I asked the customer service representative if IKEA was willing to show some good will and give me a free home delivery. Being in your store, I thought I might use my time effectively and buy a bookshelf, alongside other odds and ends I needed for my iving room and kitchen. I explained that I had, after all, just spent over 1,400 GBP on a new kitchen, to which they should add an approximate 600 GBP from the beginning of the year for lights, bed, furniture, and other items needed in my new flat. In addition to the amount I had spent: · I had been forced to come back to the store twice and get errors made by your employees amended, thereby losing two half days of work. · I would have to take an additional half a day off to wait for the new delivery. · I would be forced to make the builders return to complete the job incurring extra costs running in the hundreds of pounds not included in the original quote. Considering that I was about to spend an additional three hundred pounds in your store, asking for a free home delivery felt like a reasonable request, as both IKEA and I would benefit from it. The girl helping me at the customer service found the request easonable, and started looking for someone who could approve it. The only person that seemed to have any authority was Alain who offered me a voucher for 10 GBP! The 10 pounds would not even have covered the transportation costs on the two visits to your store, let alone all the other extra costs and nuisances. I informed Alain that his offer was unreasonable, and that he should make an attempt at getting a home delivery approved, or match the price of the home delivery with vouchers. He started hiding behind bureaucratic procedures, telling me that I had to make complaints in writing. I explained that I was in our interest to solve the problem there and now, and if he did not have the authority to do so, I would appreciate to speak with someone who did. He disappeared, returned and said no one was there and added that all I could now be reimbursed for was my petrol costs and that it could only be done in writing. He must have a short memory or not listen, as I had told him I had to rely on public transportation to reach you.
How hard is it to understand that enough is enough?
There is only a finite the amount of time and patience I have in chasing
other’s incompetence and inability to do their jobs. If IKEA manages
to keep me as a customer in the future is another story. Until that
issue is resolved, however, I need the parts of my kitchen that should
have been part of the delivery so as to complete a project that should
have been completed over a month ago! I need a solution, I need it now,
and I want it without having to waste any more of my time and energy!
Because enough is enough!
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