Retail

Ikea left me in bits with a half-finished kitchen


In October last year we purchased a £7,500 kitchen from Ikea’s Bristol store which was due to be installed by the end of January 2020.

Due to incorrect parts being supplied, the Ikea installer was not able to complete the installation, chiefly because the worktops were not the right size. We were later told they were no longer available.

We have since been living with a half-finished kitchen. Drawers were unfinished; a tall cupboard was not assembled or installed and fastened; an electrical test certificate has never been issued. Meanwhile, we have had boxes of Ikea products taking up space in our sitting room for months.

There were endless telephone, email and written communications throughout February and into March. But when the country went into lockdown, the customer support team abruptly stopped contacting us. The telephone line constantly has a message saying it is closed, even within the stated opening hours of 9am to 5.30pm.

We have been living with this mess and inconvenience since January and the situation appears unlikely to be resolved within the foreseeable future.

GH, Stroud

Your frustration is understandable; lots of people have had home renovation projects halted because of the lockdown but yours should have been completed well before then. Ikea arrived at your home on 27 January, removed your old kitchen and came back a week later with a worktop that did not fit. After lots of chasing, you were promised a 6 March refit. Then Ikea said the worktop was not out of stock. On 13 March it promised to send another fitter. Then the lockdown arrived and on 24 March it shut down its kitchen installation service.

When Guardian Money tried to contact the Bristol store, posing as a customer, the only option was a webchat and, even then, we were told there would be a substantial wait.

All this time you have been paying Ikea via its credit plan. You told us you want £1,000 for the incomplete installation, £500 for the missing worktop, plus compensation for the disruption.

Ikea says: “We acknowledge that, in this instance, the kitchen installation and customer service did not meet our expected standards and we apologise unreservedly for the distress and inconvenience caused. We are in contact with Mr and Mrs H and are working with them to complete their installation as quickly as possible, and to resolve the matter satisfactorily.”

You tell us you are happy that things are now moving in the right direction. Ikea says it will talk about compensation at the end of the project.

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions: http://gu.com/letters-terms



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