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I tried to complain to complain to IKEA Customer Services in the Southampton store but was dismissed as a problem and an idiot so thought I would try their online Customer Service.
All access to Customer Service is closed due to high demand!
Can you imagine the conversation that led to this?
Senior Manager A : There is unprecedented levels of customer complaints. We need to resolve these problems and quick.
Manager B : The customer complaint numbers are too high, we need to reduce them
Sub-manager C : We could work harder to resolve the issues and have satisfied customers. To do this I need to increase the team size by 20% and make some changes to the business processes. The complaint numbers will drop in the next 4-6 weeks.
Sub-Manager D : I could close the website so no new complaints. This will require changing two lines of code. No more complaints will be logged and the number of tickets will drop immediately
Manager B : Sub-manager D – you have a workable plan, do it now. Sub-manager C – look and learn
If anyone knows how to alert IKEA and get them to do something then please point them this direction, here is the complaint I drafted.
Customer Complaint
The Back Story
Our kitchen was dark and unlovely. My wife wanted a bright new kitchen. I wanted to be able to afford it. IKEA provided the obvious answer with their great kitchen lighting solutions allowing us to refresh the existing kitchen.
The Twists and Turns of the Story Line
We go to IKEA in Southampton and decide one the wonderful Stromlinje LED lighting with wiring and drivers but are told it isn't all in stock. The helpful young lady assistant says they will probably be back in next weekend. Not a problem as there is plenty to do in the kitchen before the lights.
We return to IKEA the following weekend having partially dismantled the existing kitchen and removed the old lighting in readiness, only to find the LED drivers are still not in stock. This is annoying but the assistant checks with her supervisor and on their hand held stock checker they confirm that they will be delivered on the 25th.
We check the IKEA website on the 25th and it shows the items in stock so we excitedly return and some of the missing parts are now in stock. Great, all that is missing is one LED driver. The young man we ask confirms that they should be delivered today (25th November) but if they weren't on the shelves then it might be a late delivery and we could either collect tonight or tomorrow. A little annoyed we spend the £250 on the rest of the items so we can at least partially light up the kitchen and plan to return on Saturday morning (27th) nice and early for the remaining item.
I return on Saturday 27th and there is still no LED driver. A helpful assistant explains that there are stock delivery problems on this part but checks his hand held and says they should be arriving in early December. I express my dissatisfaction and he agrees, confiding that there are a number of customers also waiting, and suggests I talk with Customer Service.
The Plot Punchline
I go to customer service, explain the problem and ask how I can get the part I need as I am in danger of paying more in parking charges than the actual part. The lady (Sonia/Sylvia?) launches into an explanation (apology?) worthy of a Tory minister explaining BREXIT benefits.
1) She explained parking is free for the first 30 minutes so my joke about parking isn't true if I simply entered the shop, went straight to the correct shelf and left.
1. I was going to explain that as a blue badge holder it takes me quite some time to negotiate the labyrinth that is the IKEA store layout but the ladies demeanour suggested she was not in the mood for listening or understanding.
2) She explained the people on the shop floor were all wrong when they told me about the planned delivery dates and I should have known not to believe them
1. I hadn't realised that IKEA employed their shop assistants to lie and mislead their customers and that the hand held devices they showed me were all part of a master conspiracy.
2. Perhaps the people who had been sharing the information over the last two weeks had been showing the correct data at the time which was clearly different to what this lady had on the screen today. I didn't suggest this as I am not sure she was ready for the concept of change over time.
3) She explained I should have checked the stock on the IKEA website before bothering to visit
1. I explained I did and that it was showing in stock. She replied that I shouldn't believe what is on the website because they could sell things before I arrive
4) She explained that instead of believing the website or what the IKEA staff tell me and show me on their devices I should just phone on the day and check every item that I want to purchase before travelling
1. I asked if this would guarantee their availability and was told that it wouldn't as they could sell it before I arrived. When I asked what the point of phone was if it made no difference I got an amazing Olympic standard eye roll and then the return to blank indifference
5) When I asked how I could get the bit I need she seemed quite annoyed with my impertinence / stupidity and explained
1. IKEA stock control is not IKEA's problem and I shouldn't expect items to be in stock just because it says so on the web site and the staff in the store all tell me it will be.
6) When I said that my wife was very upset that her kitchen was only part completed and in semi darkness and wanted to know if it would be ready for Christmas.
1. She explained it is not IKEA's problem that I decide to start a kitchen project before Christmas when IKEA cannot be expected to provide the stock they tell me they will. I am clearly at fault and the required parts may, or may not, be delivered in the New Year and I should just leave and be happy.
The Happy Ending
Well, this is for you to write.
I have a wife who's wonderful newly refreshed kitchen is now something she hates, wishes we had never started and blames me for being stupid enough to use IKEA.
I have a kitchen that instead of being bright and beautiful is half lit and cannot be completed as I need the LED driver in place to finish the wiring and put the cabinets back in place, hide the wiring etc.
I don't feel I can talk to customer services in the store as I was made to feel like an ungrateful idiot who didn't understand the IKEA internal processes and was an imbecile to expect to be able to buy stuff as described by the staff and shown on the website.
I would now happily rip the whole lot out and post it back to you wrapped in a ton of steaming manure but hopefully this anger will subside and we can come to a more reasonable solution to the missing item (TRADFRI drvr f. wriss Article 50356187)
Nick Clark
PS I will be sharing this complaint on a few social media sights along with your responses so this will be a wonderful opportunity to show how well IKEA deal with distraught customers.
Samuel Johnson - “Read over your compositions, and wherever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out.”
Also your paragraph numbering needs work.
can you find out the wattage of the remaining unlit leds and source a suitable driver elsewhere ?
Not impressedwith Ikea service. A bathroom unit I bought failed due to part of the door trim being poorly coated steel which within a year or so had rusted. Should have been either non steel or stainless IMO. I complained in person at the store. They weren't interested. Luckily the size was close enough to a standard kitchen door size that I could get cheap replacement doors elsewhere.
Ikea. Cheap, often good, but don't expect expensive customer service when things go wrong. 1.4 on
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/ikea.co.uk
Final line should read "sites" not sights.
TLDR (which will be their response too)
- but did notice "social media sights" at the end. I guess you meant "sites", but even that makes you sound like someone who's never actually used any social media. Just say "..on social media along..."
The only way we could get a response was on Twitter and even then I had to chase regularly and up the threats of legality etc
They basically had our money and we didn't have goods
So keep on, bombard them and eventually you may get a resolution
Is it possible that the bit you need was in stock but sold just before you arrived each time?
Feedback on your email:
It may have been cathartic to write, but it is mostly just needless waffle and irrelevant detail.
It can be summed up in to one paragraph.
"I need a part xxxxxx, your inventory and stock control is unreliable resulting in needless, unsuccessful journeys to your store. Could you please post me part xxxxx directly. Thanks. Nick Clark"
I have to say I cannot really see your issue here. maybe its lost in all that wording but if its not in stock its not in stock and its not their fault you did half the job before you had all the parts
Maybe thats just me tho
I just did it old fashioned....
Phoned them
They sent out replacement parts for the cardboard kitchen they delivered with several damaged doors.
I haven't been to Ikea for about 20 years. During the last visit I managed to stay calm, not rant, destroy anything or cause trouble by opening the fire door to escape the maze. On leaving I explained to Madame that in future I would only enter Ikea if it was half the price and better than could be bought elsewhere.
One of the things bought on that last visit was a light fitting, I had to walk the whole maze again to find the corresponding bulb when I realised there wasn't one fitted. The kitchen chairs were miserable to sit on but made good firewood. Ikea = form and fashion over function.
Ikea and the maze - I know the shortcuts - they are the same pattern in every store I believe. so no need ever to go round the whole store - just cut thru the passageways to the bit you want
I appreciate you’ve had shitty service but if I received that email from a customer, it’d just go straight in the bin. It’s really not clear what you’re actually complaining about and what resolution you want, it’s all lost in the story.
Fwiw, if I was in this situation, I’d return all the stuff I could, and go and buy lights from Screwfix. 60cm LED under counter light and ready to be hardwired into the mains with no driver required. 17 quid.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/sylvania-l600-600mm-led-under-cabinet-light-8w-1000lm/325kj
I'd purchased a number of units from them to do my daughter's room. Waited an age at coections, and as the parts came out, I noticed one was wrong. Would they go ack and change it, nope. I had to take everything to the other end of the store and queue to 'return' the item, then go and re-order it then queue at collections.
I made it very clear this was totally ridiculous to customer services but as luck would have it another customer was returning said 'panel' I needed. She'd just finished returning it, so I said to the member of staff, you'd given me this wrong one, that's the right one, here is my receipt, I'm taking that rather than queue up yet again.
Bloody joke.
Not a great complaint letter, not sure whether you're moaning about the stock control system, the customer service rep or the car parking charges. Forger the witty narrative, the scene setting etc and just stick to the facts, and include a clearly stated request for exactly how you want them to resolve your issue.
Or move on, either find a driver that works with those LEDs or find some other lights or
... https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/2292862888
Exceptionally good in my opinion. I'm particularly thinking of when they've supplied screw/fixture packs gratis for units that have been disassembled, and parts lost. And they've done that on more than one occasion - also no quibbbles, ever, about stuff that wasn't needed being returned.
I can pickup some units from the thurrock store if they have any in stock and send them over if that helps
Your letter would have been filed under:
The stock control issues were annoying. It was the customer service lady I had a real problem with.
She would not acknowledge there was an issue. All problems I had with trying to check or collect the stock were my fault. I was an idiot for asking the staff or trusting the website. Please could I just sod off and come back sometime after Christmas when they may or may not have the part in stock.
The complaint was a long rant I agree but I needed to vent. Sorry to have wasted you important time. All I needed from her was "I am sorry for the problems you have faced, we are having stock issues. Please can I take some contact details so that you are informed when the part is available.
Now I just want to know is when the part will be in stock and how can I find this out before visiting. All phone lines, online chat and email to customer service is switched off so there is no way to find this information.
The ikea app is poor for stock reporting, I have waited ages for some wall cabinets to come in. Last week I got a notification they were available, so went to collect. Not in stock, bought a near alternative, had a free coffee with the family card.
Just putting them up now, some good yt vids I can't be a...ed to read the instructions. Really nice quality, can't complain at all.
Why not just order it for home delivery? Even if it costs a couple of quid extra it saves you the potential for another wasted trip with parking hassle and having to run the maze again,and no chance of bumping into the delightful Sylvia (who does sound like she needs a refresher in how to speak to the people who actually pay her wages)
You know ikea deliver now?
Your part is in stock for delivery (at least to me) next week.
^ can attest to this option; ordered a shower caddy last Saturday afternoon for delivery by DPD to the local PO for £2, and it was dispatched on Sunday and available to pick up on Monday. I’d have happily paid £20 not to have spent a few hours getting to and back from IKEA Exeter, especially on a Saturday when the Chiefs are playing at home.
Have IKEA changed their delivery charge policy
The fee structure used to discourage me from ordering anything from them.
Your phone call to the customer service rep will have been recorded so make your complaint about that if that is your complaint. Be precise and clear. Not pages of irrelevant waffle
If I got a complaint like that my response would be " I have spoken to the member of staff involved to ensure she knows her duties" Ie a nothing response
I have actually had good customer service from them.
Eldest Daughter, threw a tantrum, slammed her wardrobe door and cracked the mirror in it, left it like that for a good 6 months (just about long enough for the tantrum to subside).
Popped in one day and asked politely if it was possible to get a replacement door, nice lady looked up on the system and yes they had one in stock, I asked how much, the computer said £20. Seemed reasonable so reached for my wallet and she just said "Oh hang on" did some magic on the computer and it was now free for some reason... So I Walked out with a free replacement door.
I also like their meatballs.
No, I did not know that Ikea could deliver and no-one at Ikea mentioned this so that you. I shall now see if I can order the required part for delivery.
STW gives much better and more useful customer service that Ikea.
Ordered. £4 deliver charge and will arrive on the 1st Dec.
Why couldn't anyone at Ikea mention this option? It is not like a grey box LED driver is something I have to see and feel to understand if it fits with my kitchen decor and design ideas. This could have been all done on the first day and delivered before the following weekend. I guess they assume that we all know the Ikea ways of working and can't be bothered to make useful suggestions.
No, I did not know that Ikea could deliver
I guess they assume that we all know the Ikea ways of working
Hi. Welcome to the internet.
Re your complaint - too long, I couldn't be arsed to read it and i suspect would also be the case on SM.
Re delivery. www.ikea.com Front page, top banner, "for delivery info enter postcode" Next to a picture of a lorry. And another button saying "Delivery for as little as £2"
My daughter works in a shop (JLP) and sometimes does the welcome desk which is where the complaints come, also the parcel collection point. The lack of patience of some customers almost leaves her in tears some days, particularly with the self-entitled who've 'just called in to see if their parcel has arrived'...'Did you get an email or text with a reference number' ....'No' .......and then they get all shitty with a 17 year old because the 48 hour delivery hasn't arrived in 24 hours.
Don't be that ****