Daddy is very supportive of Ikea. When we moved in to our new house, we tried to get most of our furniture from Ikea. People had adviced us against getting wardrobe and kitchen cabinet from Ikea, claiming they are not suitable for our weather. Daddy, however, thought the 10 years warranty given were good ‘guarentee’ enough.

So despite the advice, we bought our kitchens (both wet and dry) cabinets from Ikea.  It was the Nexus Oak series that we got, doors were just oak veneer but we paid quite a lot for them.

After just 2 years, the doors started to have stains, a darkish patch started spreading like some kind of disease. Even the plinth (or the skirting) caught the stain.

Daddy started making calls to Ikea. At first, they claimed we need to bring the items back for exchange. Kitchen doors! To uninstall them and bring them in for exchange!! Daddy asked to speak to higher management, his voice was louder with each calls made.

After a few more calls, the Ikea contractor who did the installation were called in to do inspection, followed by Ikea folks, snapping photos here and there. Then, we were told Nexus Oak is no longer available, how about if they replaced the affected doors with aluminium doors (or was it glass?) or Nexus Birch (similar in price to what we paid). We made several trips to Ikea, to see how we can mix and match our doors, i.e. the current Nexus Oak coexisting with a few aluminium doors or Nexus Birch. I just couldn’t see how they will match.

Daddy made more calls, speaking to various people mainly from customer service, voicing his concerns. Eventually, they agreed to replace our doors and plints with whatever material we choose from their available series! We chose solid oak (Ulriksdal Oak) to replace the oak veneer, it’s more expensive, but the closest we can get to our original doors.

We made our decision in the little room in Ikea.
Customer Service : “Blah blah blah…. Solid Oak then?”
Me : “But they look odd, some with grooves (Ulriksdal Oak) and some without (Nexus Oak)”
Customer Service : “All your doors will be replaced.”
Me : *pupil widened*“At no cost?”
Customer Service : “Yeah, we bear the cost”
Daddy : (usually a bit slow) “How can they charge us? But yeah man, the doors will be a bit mismatch, some with grooves some without.”
Me : *nudged Daddy” “She said ALL doors lah!”
Daddy : *pupil widened (finally got it)* “ALL the DOORS? At no cost?”
Customer Service : “Yes.”

Few days later, doors and plints were sent over by the delivery guys (at NO COST), then Ikea contractor dropped by to install them (at NO COST), and the old doors and plints were packed and brought back to Ikea (at NO COST).

We got our kitchen cabinets upgraded a few days later AT NO COST!

Daddy was happily exclaiming, “See, that’s what I call customer service. And that’s why I don’t want to buy my kitchen cabinets from some Ah Chong company. With Ikea’s 10 years warranty, I don’t have to worry if anything goes wrong”

This is true, but not without some noise making though.