A couple has won a court case against IKEA after buying a kitchen from its flagship Bristol store.
Stewart and Bridget Wilsdon, from Cheltenham, endured a two-year ordeal trying to get the furniture giant to admit it had not properly installed their kitchen.
IKEA will now have to pay the pair more than £5,000 after a court found the store's kitchen base units "did not have enough legs to support the worktop."
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As Gloucestershire Live reports, IKEA had initially admitted to not properly installing the kitchen, but later changed its mind and refused to accept responsibility.
After an exhausting amount of arguing, the couple decided to take legal action - filing a claim with the county court in Gloucester in order to get some of the money they will need to help get their kitchen fixed.
And at a hearing today (Tuesday) the delighted couple were awarded damages and costs, meaning Ikea will have to pay them £5,452.
It was slightly less than the £6,611 they had asked for but nevertheless they were thrilled to have won the case.
There were a few tears of joy as the couple hugged each other after the court hearing ended.
Mr Wilsdon said: “It’s such a relief after all this time. We knew we were right.”
His wife added: “I can’t tell you what a relief it is. I’m over the moon.”
The kitchen was installed in 2018 but in late 2019 the problems began, with the units starting to collapse as a result of not being supported properly.
The court heard that IKEA initially agreed to pay for the problem to be fixed but later changed its mind and claimed that the problem was due to the installation of a heavy worktop by Cheltenham-based Hatherley Worktops.
IKEA's representative, Korina Holmes, gave evidence to the court via speaker phone as she was not able to appear in person.
She said: “Legally, we’re not liable for further issues that arise between Hatherley Worktops and Mr and Mrs Wilsdon.”
She added that the company that installed the kitchen for Ikea, the now-defunct Bristol-based BJC Contractors Ltd, should have informed the couple that the base units were not sufficient to support the worktop.
Ms Holmes said: “The fault is with the installers and not IKEA.”
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But Mr Wilson, who represented himself, told the court that Hatherley Worktops had come back to the house to check on the situation and had confirmed that the problem was with the base units and not the worktop.
This view was backed up, he said, by an experienced independent fitter, Cheltenham-based Jamie Godwin, who he asked to examine the kitchen.
Deputy district judge Chappell ruled in favour of Mr and Mrs Wilsdon, saying that IKEA’s kitchen base units did not have enough legs to support the worktop.
She pointed out that the fitting of the kitchen came with a five-year workmanship guarantee and she said: “I’m satisfied that this applies to the fitting of the units.”
She ordered Ikea to pay a total of £5,452, including £4,355 in damages.
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