It has been a while since I last visited an IKEA store and will never do so again
Here is why. I will be forwarding my complaint to the Department of Fair Trading or ACCC as soon as possible.
This is the letter of complaint I intend to lodge detailing my visit to IKEA Rhodes.
IKEA inside Waterside Hopping Centre @ Rhodes
1. The amount is quite significant - if it was only a $5 - $20 voucher I would not have minded but $200 is a very significant amount and all vouchers over $50 should be be honoured regardless of expiry date with the exception of a business going into administration for example
2. The manager said he could attempt to look up the details of my gift voucher but no guarantees he would be able to find it on the system as it is so old and could have been marked inactive. I argued that I purchased it and would have used my Ikea Family card to collect points from its purchase therefore there should be some record of it.
3. There is usually an expiry date either written on the gift voucher or somewhere on the back of it in the conditions in very small writing. There was nothing on the gift voucher itself front or back but on the cardboard sleeve there is the amount of the gift voucher hand written and nothing else. Expiry date is not even written in the conditions. It could have been a condition that back then there was no expiry date. Therefore the onus was on IKEA to have hand written the expiry date with the amount inside the cardboard sleeve which they neglected to do. Where I work in retail we always hand write the amount, gift voucher number from the system, expiry date and even sign our names on the actual gift vouchers as well as advising the customer not to misplace them and to treat them like cash as we are unable to look them up on our system if they are lost. As long as the customer physically had the gift voucher with a voucher number we are able to look it up for them and even go to to the extent of allowing them to redeem it if they are a little expired as a gesture of goodwill. The difference I work for a small business - IKEA is multinational and international therefore I am disgusted at how I was treated.
4. I was advised if I had the proof of purchase that went with the gift voucher from IKEA which they advised would have had the expiry date on it. Of course I didn't. Who gives the original receipt with the gift voucher to the recipient? It's a gift voucher! Being asked if it was an IKEA gift voucher was also an invalid question - the gift voucher card itself had IKEA printed on it. What other gift vouchers does IKEA accept?
Postscript : On Saturday morning I rang IKEA's customer service number and after selecting through several menu options and being on hold for 20 minutes I finally got through to a customer service officer to speak to - yes an actual human! I explained the above situation hoping to avoid having to esculate my complaint to the Department of Fair Trading and or the ACCC. The result was an apology and a reissue of a new gift card now valid for 3 years only. After providing the gift card barcode number which was all the information that was on the gift card, the customer service officer performed a search on the card number ( after putting me on hold again) and found that there was a small batch of IKEA gift cards that actually did not have an expiry date on them and mine was one of them hence the reason why details could not be found on the system. I now have to wait for the new gift card to arrive in my po box as my case has been esculated to the payments department. They had all my current details correct therefore my gift card could not have been that old therefore making it still valid. I knew I was in the right and the manage on duty that night at Rhodes IKEA was in the wrong.
TBC.....
Thursday 16th May 2019 - Still waiting for my IKEA gift voucher - by the time I receive it at this rate it will have expired!!
Finally received my replacement IKEA gift voucher in the mail by registered post. It now expires 12th May 2022.
Went back to IKEA again on Monday 27th & Tuesday 28th May 2019 to spend it on essentials. On Monday I purchased a white queen fitted sheet and 2 matching pillow cases ( the cheapest cotton one possible but much better quality then the polycotton from K mart which I purchased and making me sweat.), a white coat rack which I realky like, a bsr of dark chocolate on sale and 2 different packets of gummy jellies - onr sweet the other sour. Tuesday I am returning to find a white desk top and 4 white castor legs to match. I reslly wanted an oak/white desk top but it is unavailable- could not find any legs on website showing up on catalogue therefore hopefully both available when I get to IKEA. TBC
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