You don't have to be rich or clever to be pissed!

I dun think I can finish this complaint in 200 words.

I just bought a wardrobe at IKEA and the reason why I choose to buy it at IKEA is that the company has always potrayed itself as a hassle-free, innovative and friendly service provider to the public.

Wanting to experience it for myself, I went down to IKEA Tampines on 8 Jun

Everything was well. I was satisfied with one of the displays that the section had, so I told the sales assistant that I wanted exactly the same specs as the display, except that I wanted a glass door.

She took the list from the display and type in the Purchasing Order and I paid up at the cash, before making my way to the transport service as I needed assembly and transport service.
I was surprise that I had to pay for assembly charges

I was even more surprise that the whole section was outsourced to a external vendor, PTC logistics.
We went through everything with regards to delivery. I went home a happy man.


Then the trouble started on the delivery day.

The delivery man was vigilant and told me that there was an error in the PO, resulting in a frame being shorter. He immediately called his company for assistance.
It appears that the IKEA sales staff had keyed in the item wrongly or that the display at the floor had the wrong specification all this while. Furthermore they told me that I had to pay for the difference in cost as apparently it is more expensive! WTF?!

Anyway, more trouble came about when they realised that the sliding door was unable to fit into the lift and I stayed on the 12th floor!

Again, they consulted the office and I spoke to them. I had 2 options, either come down to IKEA and select other door types Or I must pay the workers $40 to carry my doors up.

I was appalled, at the hassle of going down again
and even more so at the thought of having to pay extra for something that wasn't communicated to me in the first place.

I spoke to a rep from PTC and IKEA, told them that I feel that this is an unfair cost and should be bore by either PTC or IKEA, not the customer. No one gave me a satisfactory answer. Everyone seems to be passing the buck. The IKEA rep sounds like she is not interested at all.

I only had the 2 days off and since they were unable to assembly it on the day, my day is wasted. I had to go ahead and pay for the extra cost.

I also questioned about the wrong input of the sales order to the IKEA rep, although she did say she would investigate, no phone calls came through from IKEA for the rest of the ordeal.

2nd day and the PTC delivery men managed to come in the morning and start the setup. When they opened one of the frames, it was found to be cracked and another one chipped! I was disappointed at the quality of the products and the prospect of the assembly process being stalled again. I had to wait for another piece to be sent and by the time everything was done it was 6.30pm.


I feel that the terms and conditions are not clear enough and that both IKEA and PTC are not taking enough responsibilities in resolving the problem and making the customer satisfied.

Additional costs for cock-ups like this should be bore by them, not the customers. In this case I felt cheated, and I guess anyone in my shoes would feel the same too.

Time, which is so important to everyone, is wasted while I had to play the waiting game and could not get my errands done. My precious off days were wasted.

Prices were also very high, more than the average furniture store. I probably had a better deal if I custom-made a wardrobe at some other furniture store.

The only positive thing that came out of this ordeal was that the delivery men provided better service in fixing the problem at hand than any of the customer service reps that I encountered. They had initiative and were attentive to details while being honest to customers.

Probably shit happens everyday in the job, and they learnt how to deal with it better than anyone else.

I would most probably not purchase at IKEA anymore and advise my friends and colleagues not to do the same too.

I am, what our industry calls, a seriously mishandled and piss customer.