Reader appalled by Ikea’s ‘lack of empathy and shambolic customer service’

In the middle of December a reader and her sister-in-law visited Ikea and bought a sofa bed which required delivery. They paid €69 to cover the cost of delivery and were told the sofa would be delivered a couple of days later and Ikea would phone one hour beforehand to ensure someone was home.

Our reader’s sister-in-law “sat in on the Sunday all day and received neither phone call or delivery. She rang on Monday and was placed on hold for 52 minutes. She rang again on Tuesday and was put on hold for 40 minutes and still no delivery.”

What makes the story much, much worse is that her 24-year-old son had died in November following an operation and the sofa bed "was needed to accommodate his friend flying into Ireland to spend Christmas with the bereaved family".

Our reader’s sister-in-law had told Ikea this in her phone calls. On December 20th our reader rang Ikea as her sister-in-law had endured enough and nothing was progressing. Eventually I got through and was told they would arrange a new delivery slot and refund the delivery charge. After numerous more phone calls and emails, the sofa was eventually delivered at 5pm on Thursday, December 21st.

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“I have asked Ikea via email for an explanation from a senior manager in customer service and we have not received one nor has the delivery charge been refunded as promised. It has been a very difficult time for the family and they have had huge unexpected financial outlay as a result of their son’s shock death so every euro counts.”

She says she is appalled by Ikea’s “lack of empathy and the truly shambolic customer service. I am hoping that you will have more luck with getting the refund we were promised and an explanation from Ikea as to the sequence of events that led to my sister in law being treated so poorly at a time in her life when she least deserved it.”

An Ikea spokesperson said, “We would like to apologise to these customers for the circumstances surrounding their experience with Ikea. An investigation is currently under way in relation to [THE]complaint, and it is being dealt with as a priority.”