Ikea Warranty

May 2, 2016 10:49 AM

Any experiences with Ikea warranties? We are girding our loins for a return and want to be best armed.

Our Karlstad sectional is f-ed up. The arm has somehow janked itself up and a cursory inspection shows it to be a construction issue. Ikea warranties everything for 10-15 years, EXCEPT: I was told we have to bring in the whole sofa in order for them to assess it. I don't want to drag a sofa in a rented U-Haul if I'm going to get screwed.

Any experiences with trying to get a replacement under warranty? Any tips or tricks? I was told to bring the whole sofa, but I thought of trying to just bring the arm first. Also, we had to cut the lining (the inside, white lining, not the cover) to diagnose the problem. Will that void any warranty? Our phone rep was particularly unhelpful.

posted by mrfuga0 to Shopping (8 answers total)

I don't have personal experience, but one thing you could try is taking a whole bunch of pictures of the sofa, and then bringing those with you along with the arm to your closest Ikea. At the very least, maybe you could get a guarantee that they will give you the replacement. Or maybe you could even arrange to have them deliver the new sofa and pick up the broken sofa.

I have no idea if they'd be willing to do this, but it is probably worth a shot just to save the hassle and expense of bringing the whole sofa there.
posted by litera scripta manet at 11:04 AM on May 2, 2016

I had three pieces of not particularly cheap/small IKEA items fall apart on me -- like, my bed literally collapsed while I was sleeping on it; the construction was probably fine for a single but too flimsy for a king. I live out in the sticks. I wrote a three-page letter to the store manager and explained:

-- I have been shopping at IKEA since I was a kid and looked forward to getting the catalogue and begging for stuff in the kids' section every year
-- I don't own any furniture that was not bought used or from IKEA; I just don't bother with other stores. We have (laundry list of all kinds of their products)
-- I've trusted your stuff for four decades
-- so this really sucked and I am shattered by it
-- I do not want to stop being an IKEA customer but this is not acceptable
-- I realise I do not have receipts but [list of solutions that were kosher with me]

Probably just so s/he did not have to deal with a six-page letter, they sent a truck out to collect the dead stuff, and gave me -- none of this was under warranty -- a gift card for the full value of all three pieces.

So my advice is to escalate to management, but very politely, while stressing what an IKEAphile you are. Ask if they will cover the cost of your bringing it in. Ask if there are alternatives that would be acceptable, such as bringing the arm in, taking detailed photographs, et cetera. You are, of course, escalating because "Our phone rep was particularly unhelpful." Which you were extremely surprised by, because you have never had anything but excellent customer service from their store. You are wondering what you did wrong. Gently hint at solutions you are hoping for -- if the idea of returning the entire sofa is to prevent people from having two sofas, ha ha, could you solve that by sending a picture of the sofa spray-painted into a mess?

I complain (and compliment) at companies a lot. The manager is your ally (or at least that is the attitude to go in with). You love the store; it's the best store ever. Which is why you are so shocked that this happened! Here are some subtle hints about possible resolutions that would keep you telling your friends how great the store is (which are all reasonable, and not angry or greedy).

Again: manager is your friend. If manager = jerk, persist with friendliness -- "Hi Mr Robinson, just thought I'd touch base; I'm still confident we can work this out!" -- if manager = total jerk, just keep escalating. I once sent a crap pair of Gap pants to the CEO when the local store wouldn't take them back, with a letter detailing my experience (the pants were trashed on wash #1, puckered seams etc; local store would only accept 'unused' items, ignoring the 'defective' part of the return policy). I detailed my history of Gap-pants-buying, etc, my shock and embarrassment (do not forget to discuss your feelings over the whole thing; the manager is your friend and you can tell him you are sad and hurt) on trying to return them, and got a cheque that included my postage costs sent via FedEx.
posted by kmennie at 11:13 AM on May 2, 2016 [5 favorites]

I've returned a mattress (10-year warranty) after having it for about 4 years; it was one of their firmest but sagged after year 2.

I called in first to ensure they'd accept the return, and they said yes. When I brought it in they accepted it no problem, but asked me to review their current offerings more carefully to make sure I got the right mattress for me next time (eyeroll).

Also, I believe my refund was in the form of an IKEA gift card. I can't remember if I had the original receipt but as an avid receipt-collector, I'm pretty sure I did.
posted by homodachi at 12:02 PM on May 2, 2016

I've had no problems, store credit for no receipt, full charge-back if you have the receipt. Generally, it seems that a corporation this size sees more value in having you be a repeat customer than lose you over a piece of flatpack that cost them about $15 to produce. They'll also get to sell it in their damaged/return section, so they won't lose too much.
posted by Think_Long at 12:21 PM on May 2, 2016

My boss just bought a closet system and got it all installed only to realise one of the widths doesn't have a door. She was able to return it no problem. This was last week.
posted by jrobin276 at 12:26 PM on May 2, 2016

I had a great experience with a Pronomen counter-top. I installed it and after a year it started to curl up. I took pictures and spoke to some folks, with my paperwork, and got 100% refunded along with the $100 I paid to install it!

It helped a lot that the piece of countertop they had on display was doing the exact same thing.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 1:02 PM on May 2, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm in the UK, but I once returned a bed I'd bought 6 months before that had screw holes in it where I'd put big screws in it to try to stop the sides bowing out and dropping the slats on the floor in the middle of the night.

I just put it on a trolley, pushed it into the returns bit, handed my receipt over and they gave me the money back, which I went and spent on the bed I should have bought in the first place.
posted by chrispy108 at 1:27 PM on May 2, 2016

A few years ago I took my Karlstad loveseat back to IKEA, with a crack in the frame near where the left arm attached. I think it was about 3 years old at that point. I didn't have my receipt, but I had my credit card statement from the month that I bought it. I got a lot of pushback for not having my receipt, but I politely insisted that it was under warranty because at that point, the Karlstad line was only about 5 years old, therefore it was definitely under the 10-year warranty. After about 30 minutes of waiting in the returns area while various managers were called over to look at the damage and ask me for my receipt, I eventually wore them down (with politeness!) and they gave me store credit for the price of the loveseat, but not the cover. I told them to keep the old cover and bought a new one that I liked better, anyway.

And then a month later I found the goddamn receipt.
posted by donajo at 3:26 PM on May 2, 2016 [2 favorites]