Confusion at IKEA: Angry customer complains on Facebook - "Are you still okay?"
Created: 2022-02-07 18:05
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
Two different prices and the response from customer service to her request annoyed an IKEA customer.
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
An IKEA customer complained on Facebook about two different prices for one product.
The furniture store has now taken a stand on Merkur.de.
Munich - If you want to redesign your house or apartment, many people usually stop by IKEA.
There you will find furniture, but also smaller needs such as accessories, kitchen and consumer goods.
The Swedish furniture store is also famous for country-style furniture and cult products that have been standard in the range for many years.
Occasionally, however, the furniture store also causes trouble for customers, for example with complicated instructions for use.
A customer from Mannheim was very upset about two different prices and publicly expressed her frustration on Facebook.
She accused IKEA of "customer deception".
The furniture store commented on
Merkur.de
.
IKEA customer angry: Wardrobe probably more expensive than expected - "This is customer deception"
The IKEA customer stated that she had bought a wardrobe which, according to the photos she posted on Facebook, is the "Sundvik" wardrobe with a price tag of 169 euros.
However, the customer experienced a nasty surprise at the checkout, as it turned out that the wardrobe actually costs more than stated.
When she was paid, she was not deducted 169 euros as promised by the award, but 199 euros.
In fact, the prices on the label and the receipt differ from each other.
She contacted the local customer service, but apparently without success.
There they replied to her objection that with the many prices that have to be changed, it could be "that one is forgotten".
"But you also have the option to view our prices on the website at any time," customer service is said to have remarked.
"Oh, so I'm supposed to verify on your website before I buy, whether the price is correct?
Is it still okay?” the angry customer wrote to IKEA on Facebook.
This is "misleading and not permissible" and "customer deception".
"Never again IKEA - especially with these price increases," she clarified.
IKEA statement on the customer's price complaint - "we apologize"
At the request of
Merkur.de
, IKEA positioned itself on the incident in the Mannheim branch.
"Of course, we take the utmost care when it comes to price labeling at all locations to ensure that the prices for our customers are correct and up-to-date," the furniture store said.
"If the new price of the product was not shown correctly in this individual case, we apologize," IKEA replied to the inquiry and stated that colleagues at the IKEA store in Mannheim would be contacted.
The furniture store also apologized "that the customer did not receive the desired support from our local customer service".
IKEA also appealed to the disgruntled customer to "also feel free to contact IKEA customer service online again to find a satisfactory solution to this matter".
IKEA price confusion: legal situation regarding different prices - label is not a legally binding offer
In the comments on the customer's complaint, there was also an exchange between two other users about the legal situation in the case of different prices.
"By law, sellers are obliged to sell falsely labeled goods for the price, even if it said €10 on it," claimed one user.
Another user responded promptly.
The comment is incorrect, because after all, price tags are “not a legally binding offer from the shop owner”.
What is the legal position in such a case? In fact, the latter user is right in his objection. The price labels in shops are not legally binding offers. The seller merely invites the customer to make an offer. In legal jargon, this is called “invitatio ad offerendum”. The price on the sign is only a signal to the customer which offer the seller is likely to accept.
If the scanning at the checkout reveals a different price, this is merely a counter-offer from the seller to the price on the label.
A contract has not yet been concluded.
This only happens when the customer accepts the checkout price.
At the same time, of course, you also have the option of rejecting the offer and not buying the product.
In any case, there will often be arguments about the prices of furniture in the future, because prices in this sector are also rising due to inflation.
(bb)