[karenaviva]

I just had my first experience with the notoriously bad CS! I phoned the 800 number & routed myself to the Atlanta store (only got dumped once) and I asked if there was an installation video (looooong pause). I asked again & the gal said, "We'll that only comes with certain lines." Well, I just bout $5,300 worth of cabinets, so maybe I should get one? She said, "You actually have to visit the store to get one." Okie dokey. So then I try a zinger: "I understand you recently had a gift card promotion in kitchens, did I just miss it by a day or two?" "Ma'am," she says, "I'm CUSTOMER SERVICE, not KITCHENS and the store isn't even OPEN yet."

Okie dokey. So how do you think I should go about getting my questions answered? She said I should call back when the store was open.

Hmmm . . .

Any of y'all have an extra video or know about the gift card thing (ie when it ended & if I'll be able to weasel anything out of anyone)?

Thanks in advance!

[DesignDiva]

There is a link to the video here
http://www.ikeafans.com/instructions.htm

The deal ended November 5, so I think it's been a bit too long.

[Susan]

Karen --

It is so sad that IKEA accepts that type of CS. I know they're a huge multi-national corporation, but that doesn't mean that each of their customers isn't an individual deserving of individual attention. But hey - that's why we're here.

As for your video - it's available as a streaming video on the Fansite side, if you go to IKEA Instructions, there's a link at the top of the page. I know that may not be ideal, but it's there. Perhaps someone who's done with theirs can send it along? I think we may have one here..if I can find it, I'll let you know!

As for the promotion, I think IKEA has a policy of refunding money or honoring a special if you bought your stuff before the event only to find that the price was halved the next day - I'm not sure about the other direction, but it's certainly possible. I would talk to noone less than the Kitchen After Sales (sometimes known as the Expeditor), the Kitchen Manager or the Store Manager. Good Luck!

Hope that helps!
Susan

[Karpaasi]

I realize no one has posted on this thread in over a month, but I wanted to add my .02 cents. We (my wife and I) have had similar bad customer service with IKEA Direct. We don't live near an IKEA, so we ordered direct.

1. The actual kitchen was fine. Shipped fast. There were some extra items we didn't need, and not enough of some items we needed (drawer dampers). It wasn't a big deal, the kitchen was intact and complete for the most part.

2. We never received a receipt for the $3,500 we spent. Not a huge deal, but I'm off to IKEA this weekend to take back the items we didn't need (and don't have a receipt). I've called IKEA Direct kitchens 3-5 times, have requested an itemized receipt with a live person, gave them my fax number, and NOTHING has shown up. Ridiculous.

3. We ordered in early Novemer, when they had some free shipping and 24 months free of finance charges. To this day I have yet to figure out why we paid shipping, and IKEA credit says we only have 12 months of no interest financing. They say to call kitchens, kitchens says to call credit, yadayayada.

This weekend I'm going to speak to the store manager of the store we're visiting. Not that I'm mad at the store, but he/she needs to know that IKEA Direct really gives IKEA a bad rap.

[C.B]

Just to hit the other side... I had great customer service.

I got overcharged for a piece of trim ($30) and called them up. It wasn't in the system yet, so they took my name and number and 24 hours later they called back, refunded my money, and I got a new receipt in the mail the next day.

Also, in Seattle the kitchen people are really nice and patient, and the warehouse folks were very helpful. You can kind of tell the people that work their for a career, and others see it as just a job they are "passing thru". Posture, facial expressions, and lots of indicators give this away, and I try stick to the good ones!

I know bad experiences really can stick out and be a pain in the rear, but they're not all bad

[gwen]

Karen -

I'm so sorry to hear about your bad customer service experience. I get so frustrated with the general treatment that companies can get away with these days. Fortunately, there are good experiences to be had too . . . and I've had quite a few positive ones at IKEA.

I have an Installation DVD I'd be happy to pop in the mail for you. Another kind IKEAan sent it to me when we were starting our journey. As others have mentioned there is an online version available here at the site but if you have a slow internet connection an actual DVD might work better.

[karenaviva]

I think IKEA should give us all discounts for holding each others' hands whent their CS is crummy. I was able to see the installation video on the computer & the guys who will assemble these cabs WATCHED intently & asked to see the posters! One of these two brothers was the one who spent 5 hours helping me plan the cab layhout & drove up to ATL with me to load all cabs (3 HOURS worth of loading) into my van (yes, they ALL FIT).

We are going to start with the corner cab assembly tomorrow & I'll take lots of photos -- they want to have a few lower boxes set up for when we can get onto the floors