Ikea faulty wardrobe door

sonia1976

Please help ! We drove 2 hours to Ikea yesterday to buy 2 wardrobes to the cost of £600. When we went to put them together we discovered that one of the wardrobe doors did not have the holes drilled out to sit the hinges in. We phoned Ikea this morning and we have been told we have to either drive a 4 hour round trip to swap the door or pay a £15 delivery charge.
Are they allowed to do this as it is a faulty part and not our fault?

aliasojo

Unfortunately so.

If they had delivered the item originally, they would have delivered a replacement and picked the other one up. But as they only sold the item, they have no liability for getting the item to and from the store.

It's annoying that you are out of pocket through no fault of your own and some managers recognise this and will give a ex gratia goodwill payment to cover this, so it's always worth asking the manager directly. Legally though, they have no responsibility to cover travel.

ankspon

Why not make the holes yourself?

sonia1976

davidhwdn wrote: »

Why not make the holes yourself?

We would do if it was just the small bolt holes, but its the large round inset for the hinge. Don't have a tool that would do that.

Leo2020

aliasojo wrote: »

It's annoying that you are out of pocket through no fault of your own and some managers recognise this and will give a ex gratia goodwill payment to cover this, so it's always worth asking the manager directly. Legally though, they have no responsibility to cover travel.

A consumer should not be out of pocket due to a faulty item. Ikea should either send out a replacement item or cover the OP's return expenses.

aliasojo

Leo2020 wrote: »

A consumer should not be out of pocket due to a faulty item. Ikea should either send out a replacement item or cover the OP's return expenses.

I've been in this situation to the point of involving trading standards. Just passing on what I was told.

Leo2020

Well I'm surprised that Trading Standards have said that you should be out of pocket.

From the Sale of Goods Act:

"48B Repair or replacement of the goods

(2)If the buyer requires the seller to repair or replace the goods, the seller must—

(a)repair or, as the case may be, replace the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer;

(b)bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage)."

texranger

Leo2020 wrote: »

Well I'm surprised that Trading Standards have said that you should be out of pocket.

From the Sale of Goods Act:

"48B Repair or replacement of the goods

(2)If the buyer requires the seller to repair or replace the goods, the seller must—

(a)repair or, as the case may be, replace the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer;

(b)bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage)."

why not call ikea and mention this part of SOGA and see what they say, but then it depends on how quick you wasnt the wardrobe sorted, it may take days for them to deliver and collect when it would take you 4 hrs

crazyguy

I didnt think Ikea sold anything over a tenner,

aliasojo

Leo2020 wrote: »

Well I'm surprised that Trading Standards have said that you should be out of pocket.

From the Sale of Goods Act:

"48B Repair or replacement of the goods

(2)If the buyer requires the seller to repair or replace the goods, the seller must—

(a)repair or, as the case may be, replace the goods within a reasonable time but without causing significant inconvenience to the buyer;

(b)bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so (including in particular the cost of any labour, materials or postage)."

We lived in the Highlands, the nearest Ikea was a 400 mile round trip. We kitted out a whole bedroom with wardrobes/units etc so it's not as if we spent only a small amount. We also hired a self drive van to go get the stuff as it was so expensive for them to deliver and they only drove up our way occasionally.

As you can perhaps understand, we felt it was quite extreme for them to take the same stance with us as they did with the OP. We escalated the complaint with Ikea, got no joy then phoned TS (or Consumer Direct to be exact). The chap advised us that yes they had a responsibility to replace the damaged part but since we had not entered into a contract with them with regard to delivery, then they had no responsibility with regards to that.

Personally I thought it was very unfair but the Consumer Direct chap did this stuff for a living so I worked on the basis of he knew what he was talking about.

It would be interesting if the OP called Consumer Direct to see if she would be advised the same.

Just a thought but if you buy online and have to return a faulty item, the return costs are covered because delivery is part of the purchase agreement. When you take a faulty item back to Argos, you don't get your bus fair refunded because delivery is not part of the purchase or contract.

Leo2020

But you could get the cost of the bus fare back from Argos under SOGA but most people don't bother as it is not worth it. I live near Meadowhall, so I have many shops close to me and I can also easily get to Rotherham. I doubt I would bother with a shop near to me. However, the nearest Ikea to me is in Leeds. I recently bought some stuff from there including Chest of Drawers. If I had to return it because it was faulty then I would be asking for my travel costs.

It's not about whether delivery is part of the contract or not. It's about a consumer not being out of pocket due to a faulty item.

I don't have much faith in Consumer Direct. I know they don't always give out the correct advice.