IKEA Poor Quality Sofa - Dipping after only 7 months - Very poor customer service.

steviecuk

Hi There, 

I'm hoping someone can give some advice. 
I purchased a sofa bed from IKEA online last August for my office/man cave. I've only used it occasionally when i've been gaming and have only sat on it, I noticed it had dipped and decided to raise the matter with IKEA as it doesn't appear to be fit for purpose and I wished to return it and get a refund. 

The customer rep informed us that an inspector would have to come and check the sofa which happened. I then didn't hear anything for well over a week. When I called to chase I was told that the inspection was not due to a manufacturing fault and they would take no further action on the matter. Of course I'm not happy about this as how can using a sofa for it's intended purpose cause it to dip considerably. I decided to email the MD of IKEA as below:-

Dear Mr Jelkeby,
Firstly apologies for contacting you directly, however we felt that we needed to escalate an issue that we have recently encountered with very poor customer service from IKEA.
My partner and I purchased the IKEA Askeby Sofa-bed from the IKEA website in August of 2019 and paid £195. 
However after only 6 months of occasional use there is a significant dip in the side of the sofa and it is uncomfortable to sit on. I spoke to IKEA customer service (reference number xxxxxxxxxxx) who sent an inspector to look at the issue. At the time he told me that it was a fault with the sofa. However on speaking to one of your representatives today I have been told that it is a ‘Customer’ fault and not an issue with the sofa and no further action will be taken on your company's part. We are at a loss as to how we can be at fault as all that the sofa has been used for is sitting on, which is its intended purpose.
We are very disappointed with how we’ve been treated as we are both long term customers of IKEA and wish to remain so, however unless this issue is resolved it is unlikely we will use your store again. 
The Consumer Rights Act of 2017 makes it an implied term of the contract that I have with IKEA that are goods be as described, fit for purpose and if satisfactory quality. 
As you are in breach of contract and we’ve owned the product for less than 12 months we are with our statutory rights to ask for a refund of up to 100% of the original cost paid. 
We await confirmation that you will remedy this situation within 14 days of this email. <ends>

and received the following response:-
Thank you for your email to Peter Jelkeby, I work as a Customer Care Specialist for IKEA UK and Ireland, on reading your email Peter has asked I contact you to arrange a resolution, I will now be your IKEA point of contact in this case. 

I have reviewed the details of your email, your Eco Master report and the case on our system, and I must advise that in line with our guarantee we ask Eco Master to attend and undergo a report with no bias, this is in order to establish if there is a fault with the particular item, in this case they have deemed no manufacturing fault. 

Of course should you wish to question this you are completely within your right to do so, we welcome you to arrange you own inspection to take place, should this return a different result please share this and we will review for you. <ends>

 I've looked into getting an independent report and it will cost me £150 which would mean that even if I got the refund i'd still be well out of pocket. 

Can anyone advise how we may be able to proceed with this complaint to take it further, i've done some research and found the furniture ombudsman website but it appears that IKEA don't sign up to their service.  Surely i'm not in the wrong, as all i've done with the sofa is sit on it but IKEA just won't listen and I'm frustrated with the response I've received. 

Many thanks for reading and I hope that you can help. 

Steve.

pramsay13

How much did you pay for the sofa?

LilElvis

pramsay13 said:

How much did you pay for the sofa?

OP says it was £195

LilElvis

If an independent report finds in your favour (and IKEA accept it) then they will have to reimburse you the cost as well as either repairing/ replacing/ refunding. If they don't accept the report then your recourse would be court.

steviecuk

It look's like I may have to get an independent report then. I've requested a copy of the report that they received and i may wait to see what that says before I go any further.  I won't be buying anything from IKEA again that's for sure!

Gavin83

I'm not really sure how IKEA are at fault here. They've sent Ecomaster out who are independent assessors who have determined it's not a manufacturing fault. IKEA have effectively been told the damage is due to misuse and quite why you'd expect them to refund under those circumstances is beyond me. If your complaint is with anyone it should be Ecomaster.

Ultimately your next step should you wish to take it further is to get your own report commissioned. Without that you haven't got a chance. It shouldn't cost anywhere close to £150 (when our sofa got inspected it was £70) and if they find in your favour this'll be refunded. If you're confident it's a no brainer.

Aylesbury_Duck

steviecuk said:
I won't be buying anything from IKEA again that's for sure!

I'm sure they'll be distraught.  

I bet you will, though.

LABMAN

The Consumer Rights Act came into force on 1 October 2015.

mattyprice4004

LABMAN said:

The Consumer Rights Act came into force on 1 October 2015.

I'm hoping that was a typo in the transcript; unfortunately once a company realises the complainant doesn't know anything about the legislation they often take a firm stance.