Ikea complaint going unanswered

CFELH

I have an ongoing issue with Ikea which I've initially attempted to revolve over their chat. After several failed promises I raised an official complaint with them using the following two email addresses:

• ikea.complaints.gb@ikea.com
• terms.conditions.gb@ikea.com

After still not receiving any response I turned to 'Resolver UK'. It's now been over a month and I've still had no response from Ikea.

Is this normal operating procedure for them, or have I fallen down a black hole. I would be interesting in other peoples experiences with Ikea complaints.

MyRealNameToo

Ikea use the Retail ADR (formally called the Retail Ombudsman before they were ordered to stop calling themselves an ombudsman because they failed to meet the standards required to use the title).  You could attempt to escalate the complaint to them but it's a for profit company and given the above history you can probably assume they dont have the teeth that ombudsman created by legislation do. 

Did you get any form of automatic acknowledgement to the email to complaints? 

Exodi

It would be useful to understand more about your complaint.

If, for example, the nature of the complaint is due to a breach of your statutory rights, you may have recourse through the courts. You might also have recourse through your card issuer, again depending on the issue.

On the flip-side, if your complaint is unreasonable, but you are unrelenting or not taking no for an answer, they may have decided to ignore you.

Without more detail, it's hard to judge.

We get many complaints on here that are valid where the retailer is trying to duck from their responsibility, but likewise we also see customers complaining the water was too wet.

born_again

CFELH said:

I have an ongoing issue with Ikea which I've initially attempted to revolve over their chat. After several failed promises I raised an official complaint with them using the following two email addresses:

• ikea.complaints.gb@ikea.com
• terms.conditions.gb@ikea.com

After still not receiving any response I turned to 'Resolver UK'. It's now been over a month and I've still had no response from Ikea.

Is this normal operating procedure for them, or have I fallen down a black hole. I would be interesting in other peoples experiences with Ikea complaints.

All resolver do is forward your emails on. They do not get involved in complaints.

Might be better simply ringing them 01733520006

As a aside retailers do not have to have a complaints process.

Undervalued

born_again said:

CFELH said:

I have an ongoing issue with Ikea which I've initially attempted to revolve over their chat. After several failed promises I raised an official complaint with them using the following two email addresses:

• ikea.complaints.gb@ikea.com
• terms.conditions.gb@ikea.com

After still not receiving any response I turned to 'Resolver UK'. It's now been over a month and I've still had no response from Ikea.

Is this normal operating procedure for them, or have I fallen down a black hole. I would be interesting in other peoples experiences with Ikea complaints.

All resolver do is forward your emails on. They do not get involved in complaints.

Might be better simply ringing them 01733520006

As a aside retailers do not have to have a complaints process.

Indeed. Annoying as it is if a company chooses to "deal" with complaints by ignoring them, unless they operate in a regulated field such as banking etc, your only recourse is to the courts.

user1977

born_again said:

CFELH said:

I have an ongoing issue with Ikea which I've initially attempted to revolve over their chat. After several failed promises I raised an official complaint with them using the following two email addresses:

• ikea.complaints.gb@ikea.com
• terms.conditions.gb@ikea.com

After still not receiving any response I turned to 'Resolver UK'. It's now been over a month and I've still had no response from Ikea.

Is this normal operating procedure for them, or have I fallen down a black hole. I would be interesting in other peoples experiences with Ikea complaints.

As a aside retailers do not have to have a complaints process.

And I'm not sure in what context there's any difference between a complaint and an "official" complaint.

TELLIT01

Assuming Ikea has a branch near you, is it worth going there and speaking to their Customer Service desk?  That is also assuming they have one.  I don't go into Ikea as it makes me feel extremely claustrophobic due to the layout.

Ergates

user1977 said:

born_again said:

CFELH said:

I have an ongoing issue with Ikea which I've initially attempted to revolve over their chat. After several failed promises I raised an official complaint with them using the following two email addresses:

• ikea.complaints.gb@ikea.com
• terms.conditions.gb@ikea.com

After still not receiving any response I turned to 'Resolver UK'. It's now been over a month and I've still had no response from Ikea.

Is this normal operating procedure for them, or have I fallen down a black hole. I would be interesting in other peoples experiences with Ikea complaints.

As a aside retailers do not have to have a complaints process.

And I'm not sure in what context there's any difference between a complaint and an "official" complaint.

In the context of a regulated industry, then an "official" complaint would be one that is registered in the organisation's complaints system.

If you went into a bank branch to complain about some aspect of your account (your phone number was wrong, for instance), the branch staff fixed it right then and there and you left satsified, then you'd have had a complaint, but it wouldn't have been an "official" complaint as it was never logged.

In the context of a retailer - there is no such thing.

MyRealNameToo

Ergates said:

user1977 said:

born_again said:

CFELH said:

I have an ongoing issue with Ikea which I've initially attempted to revolve over their chat. After several failed promises I raised an official complaint with them using the following two email addresses:

• ikea.complaints.gb@ikea.com
• terms.conditions.gb@ikea.com

After still not receiving any response I turned to 'Resolver UK'. It's now been over a month and I've still had no response from Ikea.

Is this normal operating procedure for them, or have I fallen down a black hole. I would be interesting in other peoples experiences with Ikea complaints.

As a aside retailers do not have to have a complaints process.

And I'm not sure in what context there's any difference between a complaint and an "official" complaint.

In the context of a regulated industry, then an "official" complaint would be one that is registered in the organisation's complaints system.

If you went into a bank branch to complain about some aspect of your account (your phone number was wrong, for instance), the branch staff fixed it right then and there and you left satsified, then you'd have had a complaint, but it wouldn't have been an "official" complaint as it was never logged.

In the context of a retailer - there is no such thing.

Rules may have changed since my day, certainly the FCA (FSA before) has changed the definition of a complaint, but if it meets the definition of a complaint then it must be registered even if its resolved in the first contact. It doesnt however need a final response letter if fixed in one. 

At its worst a complaint was defined as any expression of dissatisfaction so in principle lots of very minor things should have been registered. It was then made more sensible with the complaint needing to state it is causing or will cause financial loss, material distress or material inconvenience not just they dont like our choice of hold music (for which we had 2 complaints go to the ombudsman)

None of my clients have used the idea of complaints and official complaints, all simply have complaints that must be registered, anything below that is a moan, irritation etc but not a complaint. Some have separated Complaints and Executive Complaints but that was 99% where the complaint came into other than one customer who's only allowed to deal with the Exec Complaints team. 

Retailers are free to setup their own rules, they may well decide that there are tiers of complaints and may label one of the official complaints. They may also have no complaints process or team etc. 

user1977

As above, in (my) regulated sector we're meant to treat everything which resembles a complaint as such, we're not allowed to wait until somebody demands it is made "official" before logging it.

born_again

Ergates said:

user1977 said:

born_again said:

CFELH said:

I have an ongoing issue with Ikea which I've initially attempted to revolve over their chat. After several failed promises I raised an official complaint with them using the following two email addresses:

• ikea.complaints.gb@ikea.com
• terms.conditions.gb@ikea.com

After still not receiving any response I turned to 'Resolver UK'. It's now been over a month and I've still had no response from Ikea.

Is this normal operating procedure for them, or have I fallen down a black hole. I would be interesting in other peoples experiences with Ikea complaints.

As a aside retailers do not have to have a complaints process.

And I'm not sure in what context there's any difference between a complaint and an "official" complaint.

In the context of a regulated industry, then an "official" complaint would be one that is registered in the organisation's complaints system.

If you went into a bank branch to complain about some aspect of your account (your phone number was wrong, for instance), the branch staff fixed it right then and there and you left satsified, then you'd have had a complaint, but it wouldn't have been an "official" complaint as it was never logged.

In the context of a retailer - there is no such thing.

It would still need to be logged as a complaint. Just it would be completed as resolved.
Failing to do so would be a breach or regulations. As FCA want to see all customer complaints & part of their stats are the number resolved at 1st point of contact.

Personally never get the term "Official" where complaints go. A complaint is a complaint. No other way to describe one.