My Ikea Nightmare

June

I came to Ikea on the 25th June excited about my new kitchen and hoping to have it bought and installed in a timely fashion. I had no idea about the huge amount of my money and time Ikea was going to waste over the still ongoing months.

When I first made the minimum four hour round trip, I was told that no one was available to discuss buying a kitchen and that I would need to go away and book an appointment. I was disappointed but my girlfriend and I had a look around and picked the kitchen we wanted and went home hoping to book an appointment for the next week.

When we called to book an appointment we were informed that we needed to book an appointment in person at the store. We had not been told this when we were at the store the previous week.

July

When we were finally able to book an appointment with a kitchen planner the first available time to see someone was on 23rd July. We spent over three hours choosing the kitchen from precise measurements we had taken at home. I said I wanted to take the plans home and check we had everything just right and that we would call and order. Frustratingly, I was told that I couldn't order online and had to return to order. Your employee told me this would be simple and that there was no need to book another appointment.

August

When I yet again made the one and a half hour one-way journey from my place of work to Ikea on 7th August, I was told I needed an appointment to order because I couldn't order without running through every item again, essentially going through the whole process I had already been through with one kitchen planner again. I explained that this wasn't what I'd been told and the Ikea employee kindly offered to try and fit me in.

After over two hours of waiting whilst numerous people came and complained about missing/broken/incorrect items which they had been sold she started to help and pointed out a huge number of errors in the products her colleague had picked as well as a number of essential products which he had failed to include in my order. After over an hour and a half of this process we had a confirmed list of products and I was ready to pay. Unfortunately during the processing of my Ikano finance agreement, the computers went down and we had to start again. After these problems processing my payment I left Ikea at 11pm; six hours after leaving work to travel to Ikea. I arrived home after midnight.

Whilst ordering I was told that a few of the doors and end panels were not currently in stock at the distribution centre but that these would be available within the next couple of weeks and that it wouldnt delay the build of my kitchen because these were the last pieces to be fitted. I said this was fine and that I would pay for them now and have them delivered as soon as available. I was given a number to call to arrange delivery of the items not currently available for delivery 0203 645 0006 and an iSell No with a quotation for the products 557446069.

After delaying my delivery date twice over three weeks and regularly ringing the distribution centre to check whether the items were available so they could be delivered together I still wasn't given a date when the items would be available. At the time of writing (28th October) a large number of items are still not here and my kitchen remains incomplete.

Despite the repeated assurances that the products would be in stock very soon, I couldnt wait any longer for my kitchen fitter because he had another job he urgently needed to start. I had the products in stock at the distribution centre delivered on 27th August and the work fitting it began on 30th August.

I continued to call the distribution centre every few days to check when the remaining items would be ready for delivery. On every occasion, after a very long wait listening to the Abba back catalogue and Journey for 30-60 minutes at a time, I would give someone my order number and they would tell me that the products were not yet in stock but that they would be very soon so to keep ringing to check.

September

During the construction of the kitchen I realised that some of the end panels I had been advised to purchase and purchased were not necessary (BODBYN cvr pnl 62x40x80). On 10 September I rang the number again and after being passed between various members of staff was told that I would be refunded the 140 and those items would not be delivered once the panels arrived in stock. I needed instead BODBYN cvr pnl 39x106 and had to go to the store to collect these. I also had no doors on the units and in order to fit hinges and ensure fit of everything I needed the doors and again had to make the four-six hour roundtrip to Ikea to buy a door (not the correct model or colour - just the cheapest one available) and use it to fit the kitchen. I was refunded the 4 for the door. No refund was given for the five hours it took me to get the door. The cover panels cost me an extra 68.

Every few days I continued to check whether the items I needed to finish the kitchen were in stock and they still were not but repeatedly I was forced to listen to Abba for up to an hour at a time.

During the construction I realised what poor quality some of the parts which I hadnt been shown were. The legs of the units were made of a flimsy and brittle plastic and seemingly designed to break at the merest gust of wind.

I then called the Ikea Distribution Centre yet again on the 24th September and, after 42 minutes on hold (I was so frustrated that I timed this one), when I gave the reference number I was told that there was no such order. I patiently and politely gave my name and address and he found an order placed on 10th September but it was still for 270 and there was no evidence of any refund for the 140 BODBYN cover panels.

Back on hold. Long passage of time.

I was then told there were three orders and that one of Thomas colleagues had made an error and I would be called back in half an hour. I specifically asked that if he couldnt reach me on the phone first time that he didnt leave a voicemail but tried to call me again as I am on the phone at work a lot and I'd spent countless hours on hold to Ikea over the last few months and wanted to avoid more of this, instead, I was left a long voicemail which started to give an email address to send my payment reference to before cutting out mid email address.

I then called the Ikea distribution centre back on the 25th of September and was told to expect 15 minutes waiting time. I waited well over half an hour. I have called Ikea more times than I care to mention at every hour of the working day and never have I been greeted with anything other than "we are experiencing high call volume". It's not high if it's always high, you simply do not have sufficient staff answering the phones to deal with the simplest of issues. I will now forever associate Abba and Journey with how much I hate Ingvar Kamprad's Kafkaesque hell-hole. From its early years of using the forced labour of East Germany's political prisoners to its modern reputation for outstandingly poor quality and service, Ikea has few contenders in the race to the title of "Worst Company on the Planet".

Once I finally got through to someone I was told that there was no evidence of payment for the items. This was the first time I had been told this despite calling at least a dozen times and giving my order number. I explained that I had a finance agreement for 3,019 and that I had a receipt for 2,749 for the items that were in stock and a "Quotation" for 270. I had paid for the items but just didn't have a till receipt. I was told that I had to go back to the store to get a till receipt and that in the whole of Ikea in the UK there was no one who could accept my card details over the phone even I wanted to pay now just to get resolved. Despite having already paid!

The staff member apologised profusely saying no one is FSA trained and they cant view Ikano finance agreements or use them as proof of payment for a product and they cant take payments or print till receipts. He said there was nothing he could do to deliver my items without me going back to the store.

What then is the point in having them delivered? I can just pick them up.

That would be a good idea because they will be in stock in store long before being in the distribution centre.

Good to learn at this late stage!

In any event, when I enquired as to when my BODBYN doors would be in stock I was told therere Chinese whispers to say theyll be in stock by mid-October.

I have been charged for a 3,019 loan and delivered what purport to be 2,749 pounds worth of shoddy, partial rubbish.

October

On the 14th October, after a very long time of being in regular contact with the distribution centre, I rang the normal Ikea number to check stock and the recorded message told me I can receive a text when it comes in stock. Why I wasnt informed of this earlier defeats me after making a number of complaints about how long the items had been in stock and mentioning how long Id been on hold each time I had called. I have still yet to receive a text alerting me of the availability of the remaining parts of my kitchen.

Defects:

1. I was told that the extractor fan I ordered was a re-circulating one. It was not. I had to pay extra for the builder to fit an extraction pipe .

2. The legs on the units are so wobbly and brittle that a two year old could snap them. They were unsafe and unfit for purpose so I had to spend 96.26 to buy alternative legs from B&Q (who I should have bought the kitchen from in the first place).

3. The sink waste is utterly useless. The very design itself of the sink waste is incapable of safely keeping water in pipes and not sloshing all over the floor even if you have a VARIERA drip pan which I still havent received. When pressurised water comes through from the dishwasher through the waste pipe (as designed by Ikea kitchen expert) it pushes the fitting off and water rushes all over the floor.

4. The hinge for the dishwasher doesn't fit properly and therefore I cannot fit the cover for the dishwasher and the result is an ugly dishwasher which floods the kitchen whenever its used.

5. The kitchen is still presently missing all doors, drip pan & a spice rack. It looks terrible and is of limited functionality.

My losses

The following are only the losses I can readily identify and the stress and irritation that all of this has caused me is beyond calculation.

I run my own business as well as working a full-time job and renting out my flat. I have valued my time at 50 an hour but that is a conservative estimate considering the effect this whole debacle has had on my performance at work, my business and loss of rent and potential loss of tenants at my flat.

The journeys and phone calls I mention below are only the needless ones and not the essential ones I needed to buy the kitchen and arrange delivery dates. The payments for loss of amenity to flatmates are not for fitting the kitchen but rather for the ongoing lack of fully-functioning kitchen.

1. My time o Needless journeys to the store (doesnt include all journeys)

6 - including the time I will eventually have to go if and when the products I bought back on 7th August ever become available.

Total time 27 hours Total cost - 1,350

o Needless phone calls At least 15 Total time 10 hours Total cost - 500

o Writing this letter 6 hours 300

2. My builder's time: o Fitting an extractor pipe

Half day - 150 o Going out to buy new legs for units

Half day - 150 o Delays in not having the correct parts

2 days - 600 o Trying in vain to fit an unfit for purpose sink trap

Half day - 150 3. Wasted cost of dishwasher, cover & sink trap

o HJALPSAM integr dishw 902.224.26 - 300 o GREVSTA frnt dishwshr 45x80 102.248.82 - 31 o BEHJALPLIG sldng-hng dishwasher 502.913.70 - 20 o DOMSJO int sink 800.346.09 - 85 o ATLANT trap sng 202.155.23 - 15

4. Overpayment on Ikano agreement for products never received o 270

5. Loss of amenity reimbursements to tenants o 800

6. Cost of unit legs & any other parts o 96.26

Total cost of losses: 4,817.26 and counting!

I look forward to being reimbursed in full for my losses and await your offer for reimbursement for the stress and inconvenience caused by the whole palaver.

Complaint reference number 21459517

Main order number 569534560

Missing parts order number - 5577446069

Yours sincerely,

George McBride