A friend of mine couldn't put her flat pack Argos bed together.
Significant pieces of the bed were missing and it took two weeks to get the replacement parts. At least 10 of the holes for the various locking bolts were drilled to the wrong depth or in the wrong position requiring several artful dodges and bodges by me to get the thing to fit together. How can that happen with modern manufacturing techniques and millimeter accurate drilling jigs?
Overall an unsatisfying expereince putting the whole thing together.
I'd guess the reason could be that the manufacturing process is far from perfect - but the samples shown to the Argos buyers were hand- crafted to be perfect. Then when the product arrives from the far-east in volume it is straight off the production line and contains many imperfections.
When this happens, it is normally "out of stock" until the new catalogue is published - where it is no longer listed and it's product code is invalid.
I think it's IKEA that claim 10% of Europeans are now conceived on an IKEA bed. I looked on their website but I could see where you signed up to have a go on it.
To restore balance to the world Clive wrote in snipped-for-privacy@b1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com
I have put a number of Argos flatpacts together including beds with out problem.I normally find a lot of the problem stem from the assembler,as the instruction are not the best with Argos!
They were bits for a different bed, or a previous model ?
It would be. We got a bed from MFI and the instruction sheet was missing, so we put it together as best we could (and made a sideboard
- no, just joking) .
We remembered from the showroom model the bed had an open slatted base so assembled it with the 12 x 50 mm chipboard slats we had, put the mattress on, and climbed aboard - and went straight through to the floor, demolishing the chipboard slats on the way through.
The old bed had been put outside for the council to collect but it had since rained. :-((
Turns out there was a whole steel frame and a second set of hardwood slats plus the instructions in another package that hadn't been delivered. Back up at MFI the assistant gleefully explained they had had "production problems" with this bed and there would therefore be a
10 week delay before the missing bits could be delivered 8-((((((
We escalated the problem with the manager and eventually ...
"Her face was shut".
After about 1.5 hours of "full and frank discussions" in the middle of the showroom they ultimately were more than happy to make a "Solomon Binding" agreement to pinch bits from a display model here and a bed awaiting delivery (but not yet really needed by the customer - so they said) there, and we got the bed together.
She should have followed the instructions, or got someone who could.
Someone that could follow instructions and not mess things up would have been better. The instructions are fairly easy, so God knows what you made a mess of it for!
I wonder how many people are put off posting to this group because of the gobshites who post answers like that?
There always seems to be someone intent on scoring points rather than making a positive contribution.
I've put together more flatpack in the past two & a half years than most people would do in a lifetime. I've had all the problems Clive listed and more with Argos. Its complete & utter s**te.
We had some bedroom furniture and there was a bit that was broken (well not quite lined up right) so we rang the number on the leaflet and a fresh part arrived the next day. I was impressed. Loads less effort than trying to take somethign back or argue in the shop.
With some flat packs the manufacturers may have already pre-assembled certain parts but not updated the instructions. I've had fair few bits from Argos and not had any issues. They're not exactly the best quality but fair enough for the price. Plus Argos will be buying off various manufacturers who will also supply other retailers. You can't claim all Argos beds are crap from one example.
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