ᐅ Frustration with Ikea Pax Vikedal/Nexus and Customer Support
Created on: 30 Jan 2013 09:41
M
mampf_9270M
mampf_927030 Jan 2013 09:41Hello forum members,
I registered here to share a lot of my frustration and my difficult experience as a former IKEA fan. It’s a bit long, but oh well – IKEA apparently doesn’t want to listen anyway.
In October/November, I moved out. Naturally, I went to IKEA – they have good furniture at reasonable prices. Since I roughly knew what I was looking for, the visit was relatively stress-free. I rushed through the showroom straight to the wardrobes. There, I saw the Pax wardrobe, 2m (6 feet 7 inches) wide: a Nexus door on each outside, and the two inner doors were Vikedal (mirrored). I liked it immediately, and it was cheaper than the sliding door, which wouldn’t have fit in my transporter anyway.
So, I configured it on the computer, added some shelves, rods, drawers, and headed to the marketplace. There, I carefully checked the item numbers (which were correct as confirmed), and went to the checkout. Paid and loaded it into the car.
The shock
Assembly went as simply as usual. Just as I finished attaching the hinges, I realized the Vikedal doors have hinge positions different from the Nexus doors! What the heck? I was annoyed, rebuilt the wardrobe (drilled a new connecting hole), and finished setting it up.
The next visit
A week later, after work one evening, I went back to IKEA to look at the displayed wardrobe. There, all hinges were at the same height. But no staff around. So I went to the information desk and spoke to a friendly lady. I showed her a photo proving that the hinge positions of the Vikedal door I had differ from mine.
Picture:
Okay, she promised it would be fixed and someone would contact me. The reason might be that there is a new door series with different hinge positions. The Vikedal door I had was from the old series; the new doors have evenly spaced hinges (which later turned out to be exactly the opposite). They had tried to sell off the old series, and I had ended up with a mix of old and new doors.
One week later – nothing
No one contacted me. Okay, not surprising. I called customer service – got put on hold. I complained nobody had reached out. “Okay, we will pass this on to the store. Someone will contact you.”
Another week later – again nothing.
Called again – the case had already been closed by the store with the note “customer informed.” I found that ridiculous since I hadn’t been called! Also, the note said I supposedly wanted the same door again. Interesting.
After that, I was transferred directly to the store. There, I arranged an appointment to exchange the Vikedal door (which, unknown to me at the time, was actually the new one).
Waiting for the IKEA person
The agreed Monday arrived. I stayed home, having taken a day off especially, looking forward to the driver who was supposed to come between 7:00 AM and 1:00 PM. The time window alone was outrageous. But what wouldn’t you do for matching doors, especially after having already been misled (case closed, customer informed... yeah right).
At 12:30 PM, nobody had shown up, so I called customer service again. They said someone should still come – a promise is a promise. But no one arrived! 🙁
At 1:30 PM, I called again. They told me, “Oh, the case was closed, and you were informed.” Oh really? So why was my phone silent? It worked perfectly fine! Lost a day off, still no fitting door.
Trip to the store
That evening, I went to the store. Furious. VERY furious. I had wasted a day off for nothing! So I went to the complaints department (receipt in hand). I was so angry, I didn’t even take a ticket but went straight behind the counter and asked for the manager on duty – who was already standing in front of me.
Then we went into his office where I explained the situation again.
Only then did I learn that the Nexus door (not the Vikedal) was the old one. I was shocked. I pointed out my lost day off. He cheekily offered me a discount on the purchase price or the new Nexus door. I insisted on the new Nexus door matching the Vikedal door and scheduled a new appointment. This time, the staff had to work around me, between 6:30 PM and 7:00 PM. Reluctantly, he agreed. My reasoning: I can’t keep renting a transporter and wasting time since I had already lost a day off because of IKEA and invested too much time.
The door exchange
On the scheduled day, an IKEA employee came and exchanged the door. I didn’t help him to avoid getting blamed for any damage. I was still somewhat angry. Okay, Nexus door exchanged, confirmed, all good. But my lost day off was still gone.
From there, most things were fine for a while.
Another call to the hotline
A few days later, I called the hotline again to ask how they could consider just restoring the “correct” condition, but not compensate me for my lost day off.
They said they would inform the store, and the store would contact me. Still waiting for that call since December 2012.
I ended up buying my bed from Möbel Heinrich, with delivery and assembly included, for only €20.
Honestly, this is outrageous. Multiple times no notice given that no one would come, cases repeatedly closed (allegedly after communication that never happened), and just restoring what should have been right from the start. Without any further compensation.
Conclusion: At IKEA, you pay with a lot, a lot of frustration. Is this your experience too?
I registered here to share a lot of my frustration and my difficult experience as a former IKEA fan. It’s a bit long, but oh well – IKEA apparently doesn’t want to listen anyway.
In October/November, I moved out. Naturally, I went to IKEA – they have good furniture at reasonable prices. Since I roughly knew what I was looking for, the visit was relatively stress-free. I rushed through the showroom straight to the wardrobes. There, I saw the Pax wardrobe, 2m (6 feet 7 inches) wide: a Nexus door on each outside, and the two inner doors were Vikedal (mirrored). I liked it immediately, and it was cheaper than the sliding door, which wouldn’t have fit in my transporter anyway.
So, I configured it on the computer, added some shelves, rods, drawers, and headed to the marketplace. There, I carefully checked the item numbers (which were correct as confirmed), and went to the checkout. Paid and loaded it into the car.
The shock
Assembly went as simply as usual. Just as I finished attaching the hinges, I realized the Vikedal doors have hinge positions different from the Nexus doors! What the heck? I was annoyed, rebuilt the wardrobe (drilled a new connecting hole), and finished setting it up.
The next visit
A week later, after work one evening, I went back to IKEA to look at the displayed wardrobe. There, all hinges were at the same height. But no staff around. So I went to the information desk and spoke to a friendly lady. I showed her a photo proving that the hinge positions of the Vikedal door I had differ from mine.
Picture:
Okay, she promised it would be fixed and someone would contact me. The reason might be that there is a new door series with different hinge positions. The Vikedal door I had was from the old series; the new doors have evenly spaced hinges (which later turned out to be exactly the opposite). They had tried to sell off the old series, and I had ended up with a mix of old and new doors.
One week later – nothing
No one contacted me. Okay, not surprising. I called customer service – got put on hold. I complained nobody had reached out. “Okay, we will pass this on to the store. Someone will contact you.”
Another week later – again nothing.
Called again – the case had already been closed by the store with the note “customer informed.” I found that ridiculous since I hadn’t been called! Also, the note said I supposedly wanted the same door again. Interesting.
After that, I was transferred directly to the store. There, I arranged an appointment to exchange the Vikedal door (which, unknown to me at the time, was actually the new one).
Waiting for the IKEA person
The agreed Monday arrived. I stayed home, having taken a day off especially, looking forward to the driver who was supposed to come between 7:00 AM and 1:00 PM. The time window alone was outrageous. But what wouldn’t you do for matching doors, especially after having already been misled (case closed, customer informed... yeah right).
At 12:30 PM, nobody had shown up, so I called customer service again. They said someone should still come – a promise is a promise. But no one arrived! 🙁
At 1:30 PM, I called again. They told me, “Oh, the case was closed, and you were informed.” Oh really? So why was my phone silent? It worked perfectly fine! Lost a day off, still no fitting door.
Trip to the store
That evening, I went to the store. Furious. VERY furious. I had wasted a day off for nothing! So I went to the complaints department (receipt in hand). I was so angry, I didn’t even take a ticket but went straight behind the counter and asked for the manager on duty – who was already standing in front of me.
Then we went into his office where I explained the situation again.
Only then did I learn that the Nexus door (not the Vikedal) was the old one. I was shocked. I pointed out my lost day off. He cheekily offered me a discount on the purchase price or the new Nexus door. I insisted on the new Nexus door matching the Vikedal door and scheduled a new appointment. This time, the staff had to work around me, between 6:30 PM and 7:00 PM. Reluctantly, he agreed. My reasoning: I can’t keep renting a transporter and wasting time since I had already lost a day off because of IKEA and invested too much time.
The door exchange
On the scheduled day, an IKEA employee came and exchanged the door. I didn’t help him to avoid getting blamed for any damage. I was still somewhat angry. Okay, Nexus door exchanged, confirmed, all good. But my lost day off was still gone.
From there, most things were fine for a while.
Another call to the hotline
A few days later, I called the hotline again to ask how they could consider just restoring the “correct” condition, but not compensate me for my lost day off.
They said they would inform the store, and the store would contact me. Still waiting for that call since December 2012.
I ended up buying my bed from Möbel Heinrich, with delivery and assembly included, for only €20.
Honestly, this is outrageous. Multiple times no notice given that no one would come, cases repeatedly closed (allegedly after communication that never happened), and just restoring what should have been right from the start. Without any further compensation.
Conclusion: At IKEA, you pay with a lot, a lot of frustration. Is this your experience too?
E
Elvis_122030 Jan 2013 22:12Nope...
Regards, Elvis
Regards, Elvis
I
IKEA-Profi31 Jan 2013 08:54You are absolutely and understandably upset up to this point!
There are two things I would like to mention:
- Indeed, the PAX doors were revised, resulting in two "series" with different hinge positions. Your house seems to have been an unfortunate exception (where were you?). I know from many other houses that mixing old and new doors was prevented.
- The delivery time window is "normal" – the carrier is not delivering only to you on one trip but to many other customers as well. How should the carrier know in advance how long each unloading process will take? Therefore, there are no fixed time slots, just like with telecom companies, etc.
I’m glad that, in the end, you at least have a functional wardrobe at home.
This whole ordeal should, of course, remain an exception at IKEA...
There are two things I would like to mention:
- Indeed, the PAX doors were revised, resulting in two "series" with different hinge positions. Your house seems to have been an unfortunate exception (where were you?). I know from many other houses that mixing old and new doors was prevented.
- The delivery time window is "normal" – the carrier is not delivering only to you on one trip but to many other customers as well. How should the carrier know in advance how long each unloading process will take? Therefore, there are no fixed time slots, just like with telecom companies, etc.
I’m glad that, in the end, you at least have a functional wardrobe at home.
This whole ordeal should, of course, remain an exception at IKEA...
M
mampf_927031 Jan 2013 12:01- Indeed, the PAX doors were revised, resulting in two "series" with different hinge positions. Your house seems to have been an unfortunate exception (where were you?) – as I know from many homes, it was ensured that new and old doors wouldn’t be "mixed" Hannover-Laatzen (Expo grounds)
- The delivery time window is "normal" – the carrier does not only deliver to you on one trip but also many other customers – how should the carrier know in advance how long unloading will take at each stop?
Therefore, there are no "fixed" appointment times. Just like with telecom companies, etc. [list:2t9lgkko]
[*:2t9lgkko]The telecom technician was given a time window from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Compare that with 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Ikea[/*:m:2t9lgkko]
[*:2t9lgkko]Furniture Heinrich was given a time window from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Compare that with the other two (Ikea and telecom).[/*:m:2t9lgkko][/list:u:2t9lgkko]
Glad that, all in all, it at least worked out and you have a functioning closet at home. This whole hassle should, of course, remain an exception at IKEA... The closet is now a bit worn out due to various shelf and drawer reconfigurations (ok, not visible), since I had to keep "connecting" the two closets again and again.
But thanks for your assessment that something like this shouldn’t happen. It’s embarrassing that the hotline calls apparently never got through to the store. Even more frustrating is that the promised voucher was never mentioned again. The furniture store was supposed to contact me. At least a call to say they would not issue a voucher would have been the minimum.
My conclusion: I will still buy accessories for existing furniture (quite a lot, actually), but nothing new anymore. Everything is well-priced, but you simply pay too much in nerves :-/
I
IKEA-Experte31 Jan 2013 18:47
But thank you for your assessment that something like this shouldn’t happen. It’s just embarrassing that the hotline calls apparently never reached the house. Even more frustrating is that the promised voucher was never mentioned again. The furniture store was supposed to contact me. At least a call to say no voucher would be issued would have been the minimum.
From my experience so far, the quality of service depends on the individual furniture store. Overall, I can say that when there are problems, it still works better than with other companies. Also, for deliveries of other goods by freight companies, the delivery time windows are very generous. As I recently found out, the routes are often finalized more or less on the morning of the delivery day. Once the route is fixed, a more precise time should be possible. The companies would need to expand their software for this, so that automatic notifications could be sent out.
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