|
|
 Ikea, products OK, customer service straight from HELL
Posted Sat September 16, 2006 4:35 am, by Douglas P. written to Ikea
Write a Letter to this Company
Before I get up on a soap box and start ranting and raving, let me first say that IKEA has many great values of quality products which shoppers can pick up at leisure walking through rows and aisles of well presented and nicely organized housewares, competitively priced appliances and simply designed, easy to assembly furniture and home accents:-- end tables, closetry, TV stands and book cases, and quality lighting fixtures. In this regard, I can only offer complements; it is in the area of customer service, or maybe I should say total lack thereof, that I have to complain.
First and foremost, you have only a fraction of the staff necessary to provide even a marginal level of service, and this places an incredible burden upon those who do stay with you-- as of now, I have yet to encounter one single person who has stayed on the job long enough to garner enough knowledge and proficiency with products, company policy and procedure, or even operating a computer workstation, to adequately serve the first customer to walk into your establishment, much less the millionth. Glue-it-yourself screw it yourself, bondo-board products do have their marketplace/share, and here you've find a niche.
Niche means DOGHOUSE in French, but once Snoopy has worn out his welcome, it's time to look for a new marketplace.
Next comes my worst and last experience working with the sad human element at your location in Stoughton, Massachusetts. This is unspeakable.
On July 21 of this year, I came to the store in Stoughton with my general contractor to place a large order of kitchen cabinets and closets for my summer house on Cape Cod. He arrived earlier in the day with architect drawings and an exact set of measurements, which only needed approval from me, and final selection of style, for the order to be complete. The Asko design caught my eye, and he concurred that it would be perfect.
We worked with a lady named Andrea, and she was very unpleasant. She snapped at me and offended my best friend several times, indignant that we were having difficulty following her stumbling, inept manner of keeping track of what we wanted and specific questions of product availablilty. Snide and abrupt when I missed initialling just one line amongst the myriad forms I was obliged to confirm, she shoved one after another under my nose, and had one distasteful quip for every line I missed.
The first delivery came on three large pallets, all of which showed extensive damage. It was so bad, my contractor refused the entire shipment.
Two weeks ago, your second attempt came, and we signed for it. A pair of base cabinet doors was missing, and two "lazy susan" components of one other cabinet were smashed. As of my last visit to your store, the 6 unorderable drawer fronts were still in limboIKEaville.
Now the fun really begins. I went to the store, with paperwork in hand. My patience was running thin--- your screw-ups have been holding up the job, and I've now lost the entire summer rental season, to the tune of $6,000 a week.
The original quote for what I ordered was there in your system, but the receipt for payment and the items left in Limbo-IKEA were nowhere to be found. I did my best to be patient with a sales associate by the name of David, and he did his best with me. When it became apparent that IKEA never trained him, even to read the symbols and notations on the computer screen, I asked for a manager, and he politely obliged.
Enter one Pia. This is where things got ugly. I explained my situation to her, but she offered nothing but additional "unfortunatelies." David was polite and did his best, mentioning that an accomodation might be made for the fact that my orders had twice arrived damaged/incomplete and I've been paying my finest contractor $55/hour, plus mileage, to make special trips to and from IKEA in Stoughton, my estate in Wellfleet, Cape Cod, and his family residence in Millis, nearly 130 miles away.
Your Pia, when I mentioned how much difficulty, inconvenience, and expense IKEA was costing me, offered me a very generous accommodation:-- $20 for gas. Do you call that a concession?? When I mentioned possible legal recourse, such as the Attorney General, disputing the "unfortunatly" portion of my purchase with American Express, a complaint on Planet Feedback and other Internet consumer advocate sites such as this, and what my attorneys can do, she said-- "I'm trying to work with you, but what do you want from me?" I answsered, "What about customer satisfaction?" The first word out of her mouth from there was Unfortunately." I challenged her, "Doesn't that word say it all, or do you really care about your customers?"--
She retorted, "I don't take to threats, and our conversation is over." She walked away from her service station toward what looked like an area off limits to the public, and secured it with a heavy chain. Never once did I raise my voice to excess, profane, insult, demean, threaten, or harrass this woman. The only possible recourse I suggested during our brief exchange, cut off by her unmannerly impertinence, was to mention legal remedies at my disposal, listed above.
I got a few phone calls this week from somebody in your kitchen department. The last order sent to my house in Wellfleet was missing the drawer fronts and cabinet doors noted above--- smashed components we were assured would be available, are not available. We were asked to pay for a number of hinges that should have been sent as part of various base and upper cabinets, and/or doors, DOUBLE, because you screwed up and left them off the original order/shipment/jackoff.
Pleased with your take-down posterboard TVstand computer hutch, bookcases, I saw some beautiful kitchen cabinets at your store, and decided to make use of them in the renovation of my summer residence on Cape Cod, worth nearly $2,000,000. Laying out twice, or even triple, the $6,000 we spent for your mediocre product, but much worse the excremental level of customer service we've received from IKEA, start to finish, assures me that, in absence of major concessions from your company, I can/will only rely upon you for good quality glue-it-do-it posterboard furniture and cabinets; I wouldn't even entrust you with fake flooring or cheap veneer for my rental units- a company by the name of Mill's Pride sells great oak and maple veneer take-down cabinets, and my tenants love them.
Next:-- When I went to IKEA in Stoughton, there was a balance due on my chrage card, so I asked to pay it. Guess what?--- Ikea doesn't accept a personal check! = This I might understand if I were making a purchase, but when I was there, I didn't want to buy anything--- all I wanted to do was make my payment due.
You jackasses better damn well give up charging anybody late fees, when you refuse a payment on account at your normal place of business......
What more--- I've been typing for an hour, and upon review deleted about half of it=== need I say more, or better yet, need you hear more? It crosses my mind that you'd flipped me the bird a few paragraphs back.
The concession I originally asked for was 20% off my entire order. This is when Pia offered me $20 for gas, off a purchase of over $6,000. Damaged/smashed cabinetry has be delivered to me twice, and when my head contractor brought it back for credit, some of the parts were not in stock [as promised,] and he was asked to pay for missing hardware, and pay again for missing doors and drawer fronts== then these arrive by phantom phreight today, and IKEA's records are ambiguous, confusing-- they don't even know how I was billed for these items.
I have all records on hand, and I want IKEA to give me net 20% abatement off the entire order, lock, stock, and Pia to boot. This company has no qualified customer service whatsoever== they take up to an hour to answer their phones, and have no staff on site with enough knowledge to accurately present, or even describe, products the offer for sale.
At present, 20% is my request.
You might want to train your store personnel, and hire enough staff and PAY THEM a living wage so they'll stay with you.
Minimum wage on my projects starts @ $15/hour..
How about yours, Ikea?...
 Reply
| Log In/Create an account | 6 comments |
|
|
| PlanetFeedback Comments are subject to strict terms and conditions. We reserve the right to deny site membership privileges to any individuals acting inappropriately. |
|
|
SHARED LETTERS 
del.icio.us
Digg this
