My Ikea Nightmare

June
I came to Ikea on the 25
th
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 23
rd
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 7
th

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 (28
th
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 27
th
August and the work fitting it began on
30
th
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 24
th
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 10
th
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 14
th
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 7
th
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