Ikea faulty cooker hood

RuthL

Hi, 
not sure where I stand on this but I’m not happy with Ikeas response...

Back in June last year I purchased a cooker hood in their summer sale, it was half price for a couple of weeks before going back up to £500. It was the cooker hood that we were designing our entire new kitchen around so we were over the moon and went to the shop to get it as we hadn’t ordered the new kitchen yet.
kitchen was finally ordered in September and delivered over the next few months 🙄, everything was fitted the week before Christmas when we then found out after mounting the hood that it didn’t work! Called ikea and they sent out an engineer Christmas Eve but he couldn’t fix it.... he then returned in January, still wouldn’t work and then his last visit was the end of February and it still wouldn’t work. He said that they will be reporting back to ikea that it needs to be replaced.
I have been on the phone to ikea a couple of times since then trying to get this resolved and they are telling me that I can either have a refund or have the hood replaced BUT I would have to pay the extra £250 now as it is back to full price!! Surely that can’t be right 😦 
all I want is the cooker hood that we wanted and bought working, I don’t want an alternative. The thing has never worked since the day we bought it so should they not be replacing it regardless of what we paid originally?
what are my rights or does anyone have any advice? Thank you

Aylesbury_Duck

RuthL said:

Hi, 
not sure where I stand on this but I’m not happy with Ikeas response...

Back in June last year I purchased a cooker hood in their summer sale, it was half price for a couple of weeks before going back up to £500. It was the cooker hood that we were designing our entire new kitchen around so we were over the moon and went to the shop to get it as we hadn’t ordered the new kitchen yet.
kitchen was finally ordered in September and delivered over the next few months 🙄, everything was fitted the week before Christmas when we then found out after mounting the hood that it didn’t work! Called ikea and they sent out an engineer Christmas Eve but he couldn’t fix it.... he then returned in January, still wouldn’t work and then his last visit was the end of February and it still wouldn’t work. He said that they will be reporting back to ikea that it needs to be replaced.
I have been on the phone to ikea a couple of times since then trying to get this resolved and they are telling me that I can either have a refund or have the hood replaced BUT I would have to pay the extra £250 now as it is back to full price!! Surely that can’t be right 😦 
all I want is the cooker hood that we wanted and bought working, I don’t want an alternative. The thing has never worked since the day we bought it so should they not be replacing it regardless of what we paid originally?
what are my rights or does anyone have any advice? Thank you

After that amount of time (sounds like you first reported it around or after six months of ownership), IKEA have the choice to refund, repair or replace.  They're offering a full refund, thereby fulfilling their obligation to you.  You can ask for a replacement but you're not entitled to one.

If the price had dropped since purchase, you wouldn't be happy with a partial refund.  This is similar, in that the contract is effectively reversed, so you're back in the position you were in before purchase.

RuthL

The ikea warranty for the hood is 5 years

Aylesbury_Duck

And what are you claiming on, the warranty or your consumer rights?  The two are entirely different.  I don't know your warranty terms, so you'll need to dig them out.  What do the warranty terms say about IKEA's options in this situation?  That they're obliged to repair or replace?  Or is a refund an option for them?

RuthL

The lady said that they will refund or replace the hood but that I will now have to pay the extra £250 as it is full price again.
I have been waiting 3 months for them trying to fix it, if they could fix it I would be happy enough but the whirlpool guy could not get it working no matter what he tried.

Aylesbury_Duck

Ok, but what is covered under the warranty?  They might, for example, be able to replace it with a hood of similar value, i.e. a model currently on sale for £250.  Would that work for you?

Ultimately, I think it unlikely they're doing anything wrong.  They've offered a full refund.  That may not suit you but it's an entirely fair offer.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Have you tired complaining higher up?

It would be worth reminding Ikea that in the first instance you have the right to a repair or replacement at no cost to yourself and as they are unable to repair you would appreciate it if they replaced the hood without any further requests for payment. 

If the trader fails to repair or replace within a reasonable time then you have the final right to reject for a refund (or a price deduction but that doesn't help in this instance).

If the time the right is exercised is after 6 months then they can reduce the refund to account for ownership.

If you Google CEO email and search that site for Ikea there is an email address for a higher level of customer facing staff or you could try complaining publicly on social media. 

RuthL

Went through the drawers last night to find the guarantee and paperwork, the wording on it says that they will send an engineer to “repair the defective product or replace it with the same or a comparable product”

Tried calling back this morning and was met with one of the rudest customer service people I have ever spoken to, her answer was that I have to pay the £250 or have a refund. She was actually shouting this over me when I was trying to explain that even the guarantee says that it would be replaced with the same product with no mention of having to pay any difference in prices. She just kept repeating it over and over.
I have now tried calling the store I purchased it from and they are to call me back tomorrow as there was no manager in today.

Aylesbury_Duck

RuthL said:

Went through the drawers last night to find the guarantee and paperwork, the wording on it says that they will send an engineer to “repair the defective product or replace it with the same or a comparable product”

Tried calling back this morning and was met with one of the rudest customer service people I have ever spoken to, her answer was that I have to pay the £250 or have a refund. She was actually shouting this over me when I was trying to explain that even the guarantee says that it would be replaced with the same product with no mention of having to pay any difference in prices. She just kept repeating it over and over.
I have now tried calling the store I purchased it from and they are to call me back tomorrow as there was no manager in today.

That's the pertinent bit.  Remember, you're claiming under the guarantee because if you claim through your consumer rights, they've already offered a refund which is all they need to do.  The trouble is, the guarantee is on their terms, and that bit about a comparable product allows them to offer you an alternative.  The reason you're in this impasse is that you've designed an entire kitchen around that one model of hood, so you may have to decide which is the best outcome for you: a £250 refund, paying £250 to swap the defective one for a working one, or accepting an alternative product if that's all they offer under the guarantee.  If it really is essential that you have that particular hood, you might be better off just paying the £250 difference and securing it because if this continues to drag on, it may be discontinued anyway.  In the context of an entire kitchen, £250 is nothing.

I'm not condoning their rudeness, but from their point of view, you've refused their completely correct and fair consumer rights resolution, so they're probably wondering why you keep calling.  You need to be clear that you want a resolution under the guarantee.  

Edited to add: the second bolded part is incorrect, so be careful explaining to them what's in their own guarantee, when it's not.

Aylesbury_Duck

I've had a look at the guarantee terms.  Something that I spotted;

"The designated service company will examine the product and decide, at its sole discretion, if it is covered under this guarantee."

Does this give IKEA a way out, i.e. the visiting technician decides that it's not covered because a refund does the job of putting the customer back in their original position?

munchpot

I agree with @Aylesbury_Duck If they fulfil their obligations under the guarantee then they have to replace it with the same or comparable product

You purchased a hood for £250. They won't replace with the same model as this would be a financial loss to them so they will replace with a comparable hood - they sell many cooker hoods in the the £250 price range. If they all extract odours / steam etc, have an extractor fan and a light (if that's what your one had) then I would say it's a comparable product.

As said above - you'll need to decide whether a cheaper alternative is acceptable, if not pay the difference or take the refund and try to find the same model elsewhere for the same money