Ikea wardrobes - faulty- advice desperately needed!

MushyGreenPea

Hi, I'm new to the site but am desperately in need of some advise!

In September I bought 2 doubles and 1 single ikea pax wardrobe set with birkland and doors, amongst other things.

I had this exact set of wardrobes previously at a house, then we moved to a bungalow where they got mouldy so we left them there when we moved back to the original house... I hope everyone is still with me!....

So identical set bought and placed in the same positions as previously, a double in my sons room and a double and single in my room.

My hubby is a chippy so no issues with their construction (yes married to a chippy and still buying ikea, what can I say he's lazy)

Fast forward to just before Christmas and I noticed the doors on my double overlapping at the top, looking closer I saw that the panelling of the door was coming apart, the hinges were secure as was the side of the door but the middle was falling away causing the overlap.
I called ikea and was told as I paid in cash, didn't have the receipt they won't help me.

Ok so we glued the door panel and had no issue after, it needed glue, solved.

3 weeks ago I go on the school run, come home and my single wardrobe door is in bits on the floor having fallen apart (not fallen off!) the side panel with hinges was still there but the bottom and main body was now half in the en suite. And this wasn't even left in an open position.

Livid I phoned customer service again, same answer, so went to the store and a guy spent 2 hours with me looking for the transaction. He found it so I now had the reference numbers needed to prove the purchase. They arranged for an engineer from Eco something or other to come out. 2 weeks later he turns up- and says that the hinges allow too much movement and because the wardrobes haven't been secured to the walls (despite no movement) this is the problem and it's not a manufacturing issue.
I couldn't disagree more!!! Having had the same wardrobes in the same position previously I firmly believe that I have a bad batch of doors- my sons double is now overlapping and having a disabled son who loved playing in his room I'm petrified he's going to get squished! I've removed all doors now despite ikea advise being to leave them insitu for the engineer to see.

This engineer is clearly paid by ikea to inspect products and blame the buyer. The nature of ikea items anyway mean that the fault can easily be placed on to the consumer and their handling/construction of the product.I spent 90 mins, 60 of those on hold being tortured by Michael Jackson on a loop, and was promised a phone call from a team leader this evening. Well that never came.

The carcass of the wardrobes is fine, it's literally the flimsy doors, all 5 of them have experienced the same problem, in different rooms, on different floors, with different usage - they just fall away. The doors alone have cost just over £300 so for me to just suck it up and replace them after less than 6 months when they're supposed to be guaranteed for 10 years seems ridiculous. And I can't afford it anyway! It's a safety issue- in my mind at this point they should be replaced as a gesture of goodwill! If there's a way of posting a photo please met me know how!

Sorry for the novel sized post I hope it makes sense, trading standards have told me to write a letter to ikea but this whole thing is causing me so much stress! I have never been treated so poorly!

Thanks in advance

phill99

Can you rewrite this with just the salient points? Probably get it into 3 sentences and more people would be willing to assist.

Length of phone call and choice of piped music are really irrelevant.

sickparrot

Take photo, upload it to Photobucket/Flickr, insert link to it in your post.

Get Trading Standards involved, write up a report, with pictures, detailing every fault and timelines and send it to TS and Ikea head office.

What kind of doors are they? Are they the ones with a frame and hardboard panels inbetween because they are fairly lightweight (we have had those for 5 years with no problems) and to fall to bits looks like they haven't been glued together properly.

System

We have just made up a pax wardrobe and the info on the 10 yr guarantee does state that it has to be fitted to a wall.
I'm not saying thats the cause of your issue but its a convenient get out clause for IKEA.

Cottage_Economy

phill99 wrote: »

Can you rewrite this with just the salient points? Probably get it into 3 sentences and more people would be willing to assist.

Length of phone call and choice of piped music are really irrelevant.

Stop being so rude to a new poster. There's no call for it.

OP can you find out why the wardrobes not being fixed to a wall might cause the panels to come loose? If that's the crux of their argument I'd be going for a detailed explanation from their technical department because it doesn't make much sense. However if that is relevant to the 10 year guarantee they have covered their backs somewhat.

I'm going to have a look at them now on the site to see if it's clearer. I was thinking about Pax wardrobes myself at one point...

Cottage_Economy

Ok I've had a look.

Can you post a photo because I cannot picture the problem at the moment from the way you have described it, and I cannot see from the pictures on the site the construction of the panelled doors.

Are you saying that the panels on the front are glued to a solid back, which in turned has attached the hinges that fix it to the main frame of the wardrobe?

Not fixing the wardrobe to the wall would put more strain on the screw holes in the door than they had been manufactured to withstand, and would cause them to widen and the doors to drop/shift. That i understand.

But I can't see how the glue coming loose on a veneered panel would be caused by the strain on the hinges.

Anyone?