Isku leaves customer waiting five months for bed promised in six weeks

Teemu Henriksson has waited more than five months for a bed ordered from Isku, despite being promised delivery within six weeks, Yle reports. Isku says delivery problems are linked to increased demand and the terms of its supply agreement, while the manufacturer says the issue concerns the commercial conditions between the two companies.

Henriksson ordered the bed in April and paid half of its 2,150-euro price, or 1,075 euros, in advance. He is due to pay the remainder when the bed arrives at Isku.

Isku first told him in June that delivery would be delayed and gave a new estimate of a few weeks. The delivery was postponed several more times. In August, Isku said by email that the bed would arrive in September but could not provide a precise date.

When Henriksson asked at the beginning of September whether the bed had entered production, he received no answer.

“Inevitably, you start wondering whether the ordered product will ever arrive,” Henriksson said.

He said customers could accept delivery delays if they were informed openly. Isku has promised compensation of 1 percent of the purchase price for each delayed week. In Henriksson’s case, that amounts to 21.50 euros per week.

According to correspondence reviewed by Yle, Isku had attributed the delay to production-related difficulties at the factory that makes its beds. Henriksson was told that the factory was dealing with a backlog and had been closed in July because of staff holidays.

Henriksson then contacted the manufacturer directly. A factory representative told him that the delay was not caused by production capacity. The bed could be made within the agreed time if the commercial conditions between Isku and the factory were in order.

The manufacturer confirmed to Yle that the issue concerned commercial conditions but declined to provide further details for contractual reasons. Yle is not naming the factory or its representative because the representative said publicity could have financial consequences for the companies’ cooperation.

Ilari Jääskeläinen, chief operating officer of Isku Koti Oy, confirmed that the company is currently experiencing problems with bed deliveries.

He said demand had risen sharply towards the end of last year and at the beginning of this year. A campaign held around the turn of March and April temporarily drove sales to an unusually high level.

“In a few days, we sold the normal sales volume of a couple of months,” Jääskeläinen said.

He said the supply agreement between Isku and the bed supplier also contributed to the delays. The agreement sets the number of beds Isku can receive within a given period, and the company was unable to increase deliveries after the surge in demand.

Jääskeläinen said the issue was not unpaid invoices or another direct financial problem.

“It is not a question of paying invoices, but of the contents of the supply agreement,” he said.