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Bar stools from IKEA, my rights??
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Boxi
Posts: 2 Newbie

I purchased 4 bar stools from ikea, they had a 1 year warranty, I’m now at 18 months and 3 out of the 4 stools have small cracks around 1 screw area all in the same place (picture attached).
IKEA have refused to take them back as it is past the 1 year warranty, however I have explained that this is definitely a manufacturing fault.
What are my rights?
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Comments
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Sorry forgot to attach the picture0
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You now need to claim on your Consumer Rights (not warranty) but the onus is now on you to show that it is an inherent fault and not down to misuse etc. To do this you will need an independent report to support your contention.
How much were the stools? If the retailer opts to refund this may only be partial to reflect the usage had.0 -
If these cracks are a manufacturing fault why wait 18 months before complaining?
I can hardly see anything in your photo but judging by the colour are they INGOLF?0 -
Boxi said:I purchased 4 bar stools from ikea, they had a 1 year warranty, I’m now at 18 months and 3 out of the 4 stools have small cracks around 1 screw area all in the same place (picture attached).IKEA have refused to take them back as it is past the 1 year warranty, however I have explained that this is definitely a manufacturing fault.What are my rights?
Not sure from pic, but looks like might have been screwed in to far & pressing against plastic. But cant see that being a issue with safety of them.Life in the slow lane1 -
It does look like they’ve been over tightened. Hopefully it wasn’t self assembly.2
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Phoenix72 said:You now need to claim on your Consumer Rights (not warranty) but the onus is now on you to show that it is an inherent fault and not down to misuse etc. To do this you will need an independent report to support your contention.
How much were the stools? If the retailer opts to refund this may only be partial to reflect the usage had.The report often comes from complex product issues - such as cars or electronics where individual components can fail and end user misuse is far more common (eg cars being poorly maintained, or water damage for electronics), and those expertise already exist.In this case (and most cases) I would recommend the OP go and speak to the retailer first before commissioning a report into the fault. If in cases like this where there is a chance that whoever assembled the furniture (assuming it was the OP) has over tightened the screws and caused excessive strain, IKEA is within their rights to reject the claim based on user misuse (by not following the institution’s - for example using an electric drill rather than a manual one and so tightening it). In that case, the OP may want to try and find an expert but they haven’t got to - they can go to court straight away if they feel IKEA are withholding their rights, and the court will make a judgement based on probability of facts.2 -
I don't entirely agree with that, the party with burden of proof ( the OP ) would need to prove (with evidence ) in court that they in probability have a successful claim under the Consumer Rights Act.
Without some evidence, they cannot counter the defendants claim that this is abuse, misuse, accidental damage etc.0 -
PHK said:I don't entirely agree with that, the party with burden of proof ( the OP ) would need to prove (with evidence ) in court that they in probability have a successful claim under the Consumer Rights Act.
Without some evidence, they cannot counter the defendants claim that this is abuse, misuse, accidental damage etc.Having a report does help your case, obviously. But if the fault is evident without it; then a report clearly isn’t needed. To say every fault, over 6 months, requires a report is an added burden. Much the same as if i purposely and malicious damage a product within 6 months and claim it as faulty, it would come down the probability of if I had purposefully damaged the product (so not faulty) or the product was genuinely faulty.0 -
If finding out that the items were incorrectly assembled is a burden, how much of a burdeb is a court case?
Correct that you don't need an expert but what will be their evidence when they simply say the fixings were
overtightened?Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0 -
forgotmyname said:If finding out that the items were incorrectly assembled is a burden, how much of a burdeb is a court case?
Correct that you don't need an expert but what will be their evidence when they simply say the fixings were
overtightened?It’s just a commonly quoted thing that everyone claims on this board that you need a report. After 6 months it is on the consumer to evidence that the product is faulty but like I said - that could be just bringing in photos of the faulty product or the product itself.If in this case the OP used a screwdriver (not drill or electric screwdriver) and followed the instructions; I would still say the product is faulty even if the OP did ‘overtighten’ the screws. If it is possible to over tighten the screws to the point where the product begins to fail, and you expect an average consumer to put the product together it should be robust enough for a consumer to do that. I personally wouldn’t know when the screw is firmly in and over tightened. When the screw stops turning easily is when I stop.Ikea instructions are known for the simplicity - it means if the product is that sensitive to a bit of over tightening I would still say it’s faulty.Would I have to consult with an instruction expert to see if the instructions are also faulty? Or would the evidence of the instructions not being suitable be enough? Or would I need to commission a PhD student to do a sociological study to determine if the average person would over tighten the product?1
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