In NI, Ikea kitchens are templated, produced and fit by Sheridans -- or rather, by "Barry" and his team. Whether he's employed by Sheridans or is an independent subcontractor is unclear. That, and the murky relationship between Ikea and Sheridans as others have noted, complicate efforts to raise complaints about the quality of the service Barry/Sheridans provides.
In our case, our initial complaint concerned Barry's team, who dripped (black) sealant on our (white) cabinet doors and drawers; ran out of black sealant before setting the (underlaid, stainless steel) sink and so switched to white sealant (as opposed to black or clear, either of which would have been invisible), which they applied so sloppily great gobs of it could be seen from a distance as well as when standing at the sink. They also managed to chip the worktop and failed to seal one of the joins.
Barry came back (eventually) to correct these snags but it took two visits because he did not have the necessary tools the first time. Not long after his second visit, the seal popped out of an unrelated join. Again I contacted Ikea, who contacted Sheridans, who contacted Barry, who arranged another call out but didn't appear. I waited all day in the hope he would show up eventually. He didn't. The visit was rearranged. This time he came not with the original type of sealant but with some kind of paste that he mixed up on site. It was visibly different in colour and texture from the original. More importantly, it popped out again within a fortnight. Again I emailed Ikea, who contacted Sheridans, who called Barry, who arranged to come out on 17 August between 8 and 11 a.m.. He didn't, and once again (so we've been told) has been unresponsive ever since -- and yet, presumably, is still fitting worktops for various companies throughout Ireland (north and south).
Since then Ikea has apologised several times and has assured me they're pursuing the matter with Sheridans. The worktop itself is fine, Ikea has been responsive, but it is now four weeks since Barry failed to appear as scheduled to repair the unsuccessful repair he made months ago and I've heard nothing from Sheridans itself.
In its role as an Ikea subcontractor, Sheridans has been the subject of many complaints on various platforms (e.g.Trust Pilot, Money Saving Expert) besides this one. I have sent links to these threads to Ikea, who cannot be unaware of them and yet continues to work with this company across the UK. What irks me most is Barry's failure to let us know twice! and many other complainants have reported the same thing happening to them more than once that he would not be coming, and the lack of an explanation, apology or offer of resolution from him or Sheridans ever since. We are all under pressure these days, I understand that, but it is discourteous and unprofessional to blow off an appointment without explanation. I work from home, so I did not need to take time off work -- but it does take time to pursue a complaint which in this case began when the kitchen was fitted in November last year.
If any of you have a similar story, I would suggest you spread the word widely and copy your comments to Ikea Customer Service.