$69 delivery fee for Ikea dining chair stickers

An Ikea shopper from Lower Hutt was charged $69 delivery after his dining chairs order was cancelled but stickers were still shipped. Photo / Corey Fleming

By Susan Edmunds of RNZ

An Ikea shopper who tried to buy a set of dining chairs was left fuming after the order was cancelled – except for the stickers on the bottom of the chairs, which still carried a $69 delivery fee.

“I placed an online order for four dining chairs through their app very early on the second day since Ikea launched in Aotearoa,” Rana Ghosh told RNZ.

“I double-checked that it was in stock before placing the order. I was fast in ordering because I knew this product even before their app officially started listing all the products. Per their app recommendation, I added stickers [$1.25] for the legs of the chairs to prevent these from scratching the floor. They added $69 for shipping my order to Lower Hutt.

“On Christmas Eve, the stickers arrived in a rather large box. They informed me that they have already unilaterally processed a refund of the cost of the chairs. I think you can guess where it is going with the shipping charges… Friendly person from Mainfreight laughed out loud when I shared this anecdote.

“Soon after singing the receipt for the chair stickers, I received an email from Ikea that sounds more like mockery than a Christmas gift with the subject: ‘Have fun with your order from Ikea’.”

There have been a number of problems reported in recent weeks for Ikea, which opened its first New Zealand shop in early December.

Another man said he had only the legs of a desk delivered and was charged $79.

Earlier last month the company said it would shut its customer support centre for a period to focus on resolving outstanding issues.

Ghosh said the experience reflected badly on Ikea and seemed to suggest it had not invested adequately in training staff or understanding the local market.

Ikea said in a statement it had made significant progress in resolving the majority of cases and delivering outstanding customer orders since it opened.

“While we don’t comment on individual cases, instances like this are not aligned with our high expectations for customer service at Ikea, and all teams across our business are working hard to ensure these don’t happen.

“We remain fully committed to constantly improving our processes to consistently deliver the reliable experience customers expect from Ikea.”

– RNZ