Retail ADR determined in my favour but no settlement

Griffin78

Hi,

I've had a bit of a drawn out saga and I think my next step will be small claims action. Interested in thoughts, feedback etc from anyone that has experienced going down this route. Summary below!

 - I bought a kitchen from IKEA in Oct 2019
 - On 19th Oct 2022 the integrated fridge/freezer stopped working
 - IKEA confirmed it was still under warranty and asked me to engage Electrolux to remedy
 - After a couple of failed attempts to remedy, Electrolux confirmed the appliance was unrepairable, wrote it off and informed me/IKEA a new appliance was required.
 - On 30th November IKEA agreed to provide a replacement appliance under warranty and a delivery date of 3rd Dec was agreed. I asked if they would facilitate removal/disposal and fit of new appliance which they declined. They asked me to source this myself and they would reimburse me.
 - The appliance was not delivered on 3rd Dec. IKEA were unable to advise why
 - At this point, having not had a fridge/freezer for 6 weeks, having made 20+ phone calls and spent many hours speaking to IKEA, I decided to buy the appliance directly from the IKEA website as it was available for delivery in 4 days. I was concerned with Christmas approaching, that I would not have an appliance.
 - The appliance was delivered at a cost of £800 and I arranged removal/disposal and fitting of the new appliance for £144, which IKEA had previously confirmed they would reimburse
- In Jan 2023 IKEA contacted me to arrange delivery of a replacement appliance under warranty. I explained that I had purchased the appliance. It was coming up for 3 months since the appliance stopped working.

I have taken this case to the Retail ADR and they have determined that IKEA should pay me the £944 I have spent on a machine which was confirmed under warranty and they were willing to replace, however were too incompetent to actually arrange. About 6 weeks have passed since the determination. I don't believe IKEA have provided any response to anyone at this stage.
I'm not seeking any compensation despite the awful service received and time I have spent on this.

I've followed up with the Retail ADR to inform them that IKEA have not met the final determination.
I'm willing to take this via the small claim courts now. In my mind, it's a cut and dry win for me, I can't see any way in which anyone would back up IKEA?!

powerful_Rogue

Griffin78 said:

Hi,

I've had a bit of a drawn out saga and I think my next step will be small claims action. Interested in thoughts, feedback etc from anyone that has experienced going down this route. Summary below!

 - I bought a kitchen from IKEA in Oct 2019
 - On 19th Oct 2022 the integrated fridge/freezer stopped working
 - IKEA confirmed it was still under warranty and asked me to engage Electrolux to remedy
 - After a couple of failed attempts to remedy, Electrolux confirmed the appliance was unrepairable, wrote it off and informed me/IKEA a new appliance was required.
 - On 30th November IKEA agreed to provide a replacement appliance under warranty and a delivery date of 3rd Dec was agreed. I asked if they would facilitate removal/disposal and fit of new appliance which they declined. They asked me to source this myself and they would reimburse me.
 - The appliance was not delivered on 3rd Dec. IKEA were unable to advise why
 - At this point, having not had a fridge/freezer for 6 weeks, having made 20+ phone calls and spent many hours speaking to IKEA, I decided to buy the appliance directly from the IKEA website as it was available for delivery in 4 days. I was concerned with Christmas approaching, that I would not have an appliance.
 - The appliance was delivered at a cost of £800 and I arranged removal/disposal and fitting of the new appliance for £144, which IKEA had previously confirmed they would reimburse
- In Jan 2023 IKEA contacted me to arrange delivery of a replacement appliance under warranty. I explained that I had purchased the appliance. It was coming up for 3 months since the appliance stopped working.

I have taken this case to the Retail ADR and they have determined that IKEA should pay me the £944 I have spent on a machine which was confirmed under warranty and they were willing to replace, however were too incompetent to actually arrange. About 6 weeks have passed since the determination. I don't believe IKEA have provided any response to anyone at this stage.
I'm not seeking any compensation despite the awful service received and time I have spent on this.

I've followed up with the Retail ADR to inform them that IKEA have not met the final determination.
I'm willing to take this via the small claim courts now. In my mind, it's a cut and dry win for me, I can't see any way in which anyone would back up IKEA?!

What's your question? What do the warranty T&C's say in regards to delivery timescales?

RefluentBeans

Seems like you’re following the procedures from the ADR. 

Think it’s the issues with ADR’s in general is the lack of teeth to enforce the ruling if the other party refuses to. 

Assuming that Ikea haven’t got any issues in the way it’s been decided (a technical argument for example) then seems pretty likely a court will find Ikea in the wrong. 

DullGreyGuy

RefluentBeans said:

Seems like you’re following the procedures from the ADR. 

Think it’s the issues with ADR’s in general is the lack of teeth to enforce the ruling if the other party refuses to. 

Assuming that Ikea haven’t got any issues in the way it’s been decided (a technical argument for example) then seems pretty likely a court will find Ikea in the wrong. 

The Retail ADR in particular... they used to call themselves the Retail Ombudsman but got ordered to rename themselves for falling short of the standards required to be an Ombudsman.

ADR companies in principle have plenty of options for enforcing, even the non-statutory types like the Retail ADR however they have a conflict of interests. There is no obligation for any company to sign up to their services, in a non-regulated environment like Retail there are dozens of ADR companies pitching for Ikea's business. So whilst Trading Standards should be monitoring to confirm their independence they still dont want to be !!!!!! off their clients too much else they'll lose their business.

Griffin78 said:

I'm willing to take this via the small claim courts now. In my mind, it's a cut and dry win for me, I can't see any way in which anyone would back up IKEA?!

Any court case is ultimately a bit of a roll of the dice. You've said the replacement was £800 but you haven't said what you paid for the original? Was it the identical model?

You've also had the item 3 years before it broke down... under your consumer rights (CRA) Ikea could discount for the use you had before it failed, the law doesn't state how this should be calculated but JL for example would say a 3 year old item gets a 50% refund as they do a straight 6 year write down. 

If you are claiming under an Ikea provided warranty then it comes down to the terms of the warranty... you may well have jumped the gun buying the replacement and unlike statutory rights that are probably worth 50% original purchase price, there is no requirement for warranty terms to be reasonable as they are above and beyond your statutory rights.

Griffin78

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, I realise the ADR can only do so much. I have initially gone back to them to say IKEA haven’t settled to see if they get anywhere.
Part of the issue is IKEA’s customer service is so poor and disjointed.

The appliance I bought is the same model, purchased at the same price as the original.
I have emails from IKEA and there may be recorded calls where they confirm they will fully replace the appliance. They just couldn’t get themselves organised to actually deliver it.

There isn’t any T&Cs in the warranty regarding delivery timescales.

Aylesbury_Duck

Take it to the small claims court.  Or at least send the letter before action, to see if it stirs any action.