Wardrobe carcasses: Alternative suppliers to Ikea?

[Adsibob]

Ikea appear to have reduced their range of wardrobe carcasses. The internals for example now only come in a choice of two finishes: white or oak colour finish. Also, as far as I can tell from their website, the available widths are limited to 100cm, 150cm and 50cm, although there is one arrangement which comes as 175cm wide, which appears to be made of 2 x 50cm plus a 75cm unit, but I don't think you can buy the 75cm wide carcass on its own.

 

Just wondering if anybody has made wardrobes with carcasses from another supplier at more or less this price point. Would be good to find 80cm wide carcasses, or as close to that as possible but in quality that is at least as durable as ikea. This company for example, https://www.larkandlarks.co.uk/fitted-bedrooms, do make bespoke size carcasses, but rather than the 10 year guarantee that comes with ikea carcasses, it's only six years, so I'm guessing it's not as good.

 

If anybody has good experience of other suppliers, please share.

[LaCurandera]

I might be a cynic, but I think any guarantee over 3-5yrs is basically worthless (in terms of likelihood the customer will actually claim on it) and basically for marketing. 

How many customers with an Ikea wardrobe are realistically going to still have the same furniture, going to have their receipt, want to uninstall it, go through the claims process because a couple of hundred quid carcass breaks? They're more likely to be 1-2 house moves later and just buy something new that's perfect for the new place. From Ikea's POV there might be a few, but the benefit to them of saying it's 10 years guarantee and getting more sales/peace of mind (like this post) is much greater than the realistic cost of it being redeemed, regardless of quality.  

One exception for long guarantees are white goods, as repairs are costly and failure is big inconvenience. Even TVs I'd wager most people would just buy the latest tech. 

[Seren161]

I see @LaCurandera’s point one guarantee is probably as good as the other and it is probably true re the unlikelihood of claims after a certain period.. I searched this and struggled to find alternatives within the price bracket. The trade joiners do have companies that allow them to order “bespoke wardrobes” and then assemble on site but I am not sure the price would be similar to Ikea.. also a few Ikea upcycling or customising  companies who use ikea carcasses you provide to give an end product that looks “ bespoke”. Horrendous word “Bespoke”…but you need to make contact, get a consultation and all that.

[Adsibob]

15 hours ago, Seren161 said:

The trade joiners do have companies that allow them to order “bespoke wardrobes” and then assemble on site but I am not sure the price would be similar to Ikea.

I don't mind paying a bit more to be able to change the sizes. Anybody know of such companies?

[Adsibob]

On 02/01/2023 at 09:25, LaCurandera said:

I might be a cynic, but I think any guarantee over 3-5yrs is basically worthless (in terms of likelihood the customer will actually claim on it) and basically for marketing. 

How many customers with an Ikea wardrobe are realistically going to still have the same furniture, going to have their receipt, want to uninstall it, go through the claims process because a couple of hundred quid carcass breaks? They're more likely to be 1-2 house moves later and just buy something new that's perfect for the new place. From Ikea's POV there might be a few, but the benefit to them of saying it's 10 years guarantee and getting more sales/peace of mind (like this post) is much greater than the realistic cost of it being redeemed, regardless of quality.  

I'm not sure I agree. It all comes down to probability and actuarial calculations, in that the guarantee of a major manufacturer (and supplier in this case) is a form of insurance in economic terms and so the accountants at ikea will work out how much it costs to give such guarantees. Take this scenario for an example:

These carcasses are sold throughout the EU and UK, maybe throughout the world. Let's estimate they sell 10 million carcasses a year. Let's estimate that the percentage of buyers who are careful enough to keep their paperwork (all online these days anyway, so not very difficult) AND go to the trouble of dismantling the wardrobe, taking it to ikea and making a claim is only 4%. That is 400,000 customers a year. The chance of product failure must surely increase the longer the product is owned.

So it is more expensive for ikea to guarantee it for longer, it's just that the difference will be fairly minimal in the grand scheme of things. However, for a smaller company than ikea, a 4% return rate each year becomes more costly. Hence why they limit their guarantee to a shorter period of time. 

[SuperJohnG]

On 03/01/2023 at 11:49, Adsibob said:

I don't mind paying a bit more to be able to change the sizes. Anybody know of such companies?

It's very late but PWS do these and kitchens but the whole thing is a bit of a faff. But their wardrobes and doors are regarded as excellent

[Dave Jones]

cutwrights can make you a flatpack to any design you make.

 

It does need you to do the measuring/design part though.

[LaCurandera]

14 hours ago, SuperJohnG said:

It's very late but PWS do these and kitchens but the whole thing is a bit of a faff. But their wardrobes and doors are regarded as excellent

Hi, 
Is that https://www.pws.co.uk/?

 

[SuperJohnG]

11 hours ago, LaCurandera said:

Hi, 
Is that https://www.pws.co.uk/?

 

Yep