Wednesday 25 February 2004

I hate Ikea

I hate Ikea. I hate how they force you to meander through a long maze of displays. I hate how friendly and convenient it is. It's so easy to buy more than what you originally went there for! I hate that I just can't order it online but I actually have to go there. I hate how clever they are. Very clever right down to the last detail. I hate how popular they are and I absolutely refuse to go there on a weekend. But it's not so bad on a weekday....

I'm not that fond of many Ikea designs. Very good for utilitarian furniture of course. Very good value. The office furniture is all right. However, I'm not into minimalist boxy modern stuff that much. Boring.

It's very clever how they're using old broken computer and audio/visual equipment for their displays. They're not just fake plastic boxes any more. Excellent use of product placement by the people that give them the equipment. Reinforce that brand!

We're moving furniture around the house and getting a few new things so both Jenny and I have offices. And a few more things get purchased of course. The place is worse than Costco!

180 comments:

  1. i like there food! it tates nice! leave ikea alone! wot did it ever do 2 u?

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  2. Yeah, I've eaten there and I remember it being pretty good. But I can't remember any memorable Swedish dishes and I certainly wouldn't go there just for the food!

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  3. If you don't like it don't go how stupid.


    I love Ikea, it has some niggles but don't we all?


    Grow Up.

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  4. It turns out that "hate Ikea" is one of the top search phrases that brings people to this site. Amazing.


    I read an interestig article in Ethical Consumer (Feb/March 2004) about furniture manufacturers. IKEA, GUS and B&Q are singled out for high praise for their policies on timber sourcing. In fact, IKEA comes out top overall as the best environmental choice for new furniture.


    http://www.ethicalconsumer.org


    All the other manufacturers turn out to be pathetic. You have no idea of where their wood comes from.

    Given that the UK is the highest per capital consumer of industrial wood and much of the wood is illegally logged, you can help by shopping at one of those stores or making sure a product carries the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo.


    http://www.fsc-uk.org/


    So I'll still be shopping at IKEA.


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  5. yeh well i used to work for IKEA, so naturally hate em!

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  6. Also, everything you say about them is true.....


    they dont have a clue........bunch of incompetent arses!

    trust me i know how you all feel .........


    eyekeeyaaa!


    just dont do it.....

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  7. i bought a kitchen from them

    they gave me the wrong size carcus for a kitchen cubbord

    they then refused to believe that i did not take the right one from the store

    and they would have to check the security camera footage to prove it

    i then showed him my account card an folded it in 2 saying thats what i think of your service

    he then said you will have to leave the store

    and deal with it on the phone i said for the price difference of only £1.00 its not worth the time just give me a refund and i will purchase a new one and you can keep the pound he refused

    so i went to the kitchen department to purchase the correct one i thouhgt i will take the other one back someother time

    but guess what the toe rag put a stop on the sale of that item even though they had 47 in stock


    well i think i shall have to take them to small claims court now


    what fantastic customer service

    like it was worth wasting 5 ponds in petrol to rip them off for 1 pound they can stick there security cameras up there ar*****

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  8. So good to see people slating IKEA. On the outside, they look like a bunch of hippies, wanting to good with the world.Ha.

    Ingvar Kamprad (His initials are the IK in IKEA)once wrote a booklet on how his philosophy would let all and sundry have cheap furniture, of a good design, and good quality.

    Nonsense. I live in a small house, not some swedish farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.

    YOUR SIZES DON'T FIT ANY FUCKING HOUSE INGVAR!!!

    Quality? The packaging will last longer than the furniture.

    Add to that totally incompetent management out on a powertrip, and you have a recipie for disaster.

    Listen people. A local carpenter will make the same thing to your specifications for half the price. He may take a week to do the job, but face it, thats half the time you usually wait in the full serve department. If your product isn't perfect, the local carpenter will personally put it right. You don't have to wait a year in their customer service queue. The choice is yours. Buy into their cuddly wuddly advertising, or make a real choice. Buy from someone who gives a shit, and that ain't IKEA.

    I have spoken

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  9. On Sunday, June 6 my wife and I were in your store to purchase a bedroom set. After picking out a bed we went to the customer service area and were told that the bed was in stock and to pick it up down stairs. After paying for our purchases (over 800.00 worth) we went to the pick-up area and turned in our slip. When our number came up the only thing I was given was the bed slats and center rail. I was told the cashier forgot to ring up the bed and to go back in line and pay for the bed. After doing this I was told the bed was not in stock, even though I had an invoice from upstairs that said it was.

    So I asked how this could happen. I was told it was a mistake from upstairs, he should have checked the inventory. Can you tell me what’s the point of having the guy handing out orders for things you don't have in stock? So I asked when would there be a bed in stock and was told “I don't know." I asked how can I get a bed as soon as possible. I was told that someone would have to "Check it out, and get back to me."

    I just found out IKEA has a store in Palo Alto, they have 4 of the beds in stock. It would have been nice if someone from your store would have checked that out for me while I was in the area. I live in Sacramento over 80 miles away. But I guess that would have been too much like customer service! Unfortunately this was my first and LAST time I’ll ever shop at IKEA. Your store is too cluttered, there is no customer service and I was hung up on by your phone staff, someone named Luz. What a way to run a business. I know I will never hear back from anyone as this will more than likely be thrown away. But in the mean time, I will make sure I tell everyone never to shop at your store or any IKEA store.


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  10. i work for ikea, basically becasue they pay pretty good, but dont b fooled by ikea, althought they claim theyre friendly and convenient etc, FUCK that shit! ive never known such a bunch of cockheads who like to b called managers, theyre the most arrogant cunts in the world, beurocratic shitheads. Theyre furniture is made of second rate chipboard, and they still charge extortionate prices, its a complete rip-off so if u ask me, dont even bother. if ure gonna do up your home go for quality stuff, dont pay 500 smackers for somethin thats gonna break within a few weeks,

    FUCK IKEA!!!

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  11. The furniture and storage units remind me of bad scandanavian kindergarten room furnitre.

    Didnt we use plastic tubs to put away blocks in 1970's they're still ugly.

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  12. 12:15 am. Eyes wide open. Brain running on empty now, after a day of trying to figure out just what the hell was wrong with the way my wardrobe unit was not fitting together. Checked the instructions. Twisted my spatial abilities around a problem that seemed impossible to solve. Called a friend, an IKEA survivor, who assured me that as bad as the products can be, the furniture (as awful as it is) usually fits together pretty well. That is, the pre-drilled holes usually match up. But not now. What's going on?


    Turns out the two bottom drawers have a difference of .5 cm, and that one must go on the bottom, the other on the top. But no indication of this anywhere. No one in the store could assist over the phone, citing that they don't "do installation," and that it would cost me money to get that service. Terrible instructions. No service. And for what? $400 worth of SHITTY furniture that, after my time and psychiatric bills, probably cost me three years of my life.


    Never again.

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  13. Yes I'll agree that ikea can be stupid. but the reason is because the people who choose to shop there are the stupidest bunch of customers i've ever had to help. These people need to remember to switch your brains on when coming to shop so the employees working don't have to service retards. For instance..."I'm going to sue IKEA because they won't let me return an assembled item WITHOUT my receipt". Stupid asses. customers are never right at ikea.

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  14. My wish is suburbia, my dream is mediocrity, my goals in life are 2.3 kids, a white picket fence and I have asperations of owning an imported car...god bless, i love Ikea....

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  15. I live in New Haven, Ct. Ikea just opened a new store here last week. For a long time now I've had problems with Ikea's products. Their furniture which is made so poorly it warps, chips. cracks and scratches it's self to death costs just as much as buying a quality antique or vintage modern furniture. But, casting my opinion away my partner and I decided to go and check it out. Yikes, Ikea is even worse now then they were 5 years ago (my last time there.) Their product line hasn't really changed. No innovations to speak of and no real reason to pay their prices.


    In response to a posting here where it was said that Ikea is a more environmentally sound product then most manufacturers.


    The product may be made from well sourced lumber but considering the disposability of it and intern the amount of future garbage it creates, any environmental benefit is lost.


    Aside from the quality and price problems with Ikea they offer a great service.

    Their whole schtick is that they take all things into consideration. They are generous to the communities they put stores in, they offer good pay and great benefits to their employees, etc. They run their business right.


    Anyone who offers such a bad product has to be sure to cover all their bases so as to not go out of business. Ikea knows that, they are clever business men and make sure to distract you with well set up show rooms, cafes, bright colors, geometric designs, things that shine, all the tricks of product design and merchandizing. Smoke and mirrors!! They are not selling functionality, quality, value and design, they are selling the idea of these things.


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  16. I LOVE Ikea…


    I love getting the Ikea nesting habit when you want one of everything in the store, all the little glass bowls and floating candles…even one of those small pencils they leave around for you.


    I love the way I’m wafted past one staged dream room after another the trance only broken by the screaming of badly behaved children…why do their parents bring them in? After all there is a medium sized funfair outside the entrance with clowns and a nice soft ball pit for the little darlings to break their necks in.


    I love dear old Ingvar Kamprad who you may find in person walking round one of the warehouses, if you do, smile and shake him warmly by the hand for he is truly a god among men.


    I love queuing in the car along the north circular road as the prelude to a visit to the Brent Park store or along the Purely Way to the Valley Park branch, two of London’s largest furniture pleasure pavilions.


    If the units don’t fit in your home then move to a more modern place that’s been designed in metric like Ikea and not British gas pipe reverse thread imperial.


    If you find you’ve got the wrong stuff when you get it home its because you either measured up wrong or you picked the wrong packs out of the warehouse, you cant blame Ikea because you have to do it all yourself.


    If that Swedish sofa turns out to be too hard…well…you sat on it in the store didn’t you? Why on earth did you choose a hard sofa?.


    If the units fall apart, you probably can’t understand a simple assembly diagram or you used the wrong screws and tried to reassemble it repeatedly. You only need to use a light touch and put it together one time…that’s what it’s made for.


    Finally, the only things I don’t like at Ikea are those stupid people who walk in the opposite direction to the arrows on the floor of that wonderful maze.


    So stop moaning and get down to an Ikea near you NOW.


    FatBloke – West London - UK

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  17. Al Gore invented IKEA13 September 2004 at 17:34

    can you imagine going to Walmart and having to walk past every item in the store just to get to the plastic storage container you wanted. Then what if Walmart made you continue to walk past every other item in the store then take a stroll through their warehouse before allowing you to checkout. Thats not the American way, thats how they do it in Sweeden, ooohh they are so much smarter. And what's with those goofy names. I bought a GORM and when I put it together it was BJORKIN.


    Why does IKEA have their food store outside the checkout lines. After you check out, you must hang around with paid for stuff and you are an easy target for theives. we got a bag of IKRAP stolen while getting a cheese sample.

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  18. Hi, I used to work for ikea.. (sadly) I cannot stand it. The furniture is crap. Honeycomb fucking shit. billy book cases are only good for roasting marshmellow's over.


    Ron, I feel so sorry for you. lol


    I dont understand how so many people can be fooled into thinking that something you pick up with your prick can be of good quality. Its shit. I would like to see a lifetime survey of furniture and quality. Imagine how many times you would have to re-purchase your ikea crap thoughout your life compared to something that costs 4 times as much? Take for instance a table and chairs. go and spend the fucking money first up and save yourselves the headache when ikea crap breaks 1 to 2 years later. If you move regularly, forget it. Put it up, leave it alone. That should be written on EVERY ikea product.


    As for the workers in ikea. Some are nice. Most are dickheads. especially mangement!! these fuckers couldnt get a fuck in a brothel with a fist full of fifties!! I've never seen so much wasted time and money spent on a single operation.


    I just can't wait untill i see my old boss on the road. Imma run him down! lol


    he drives like a fucking maniac. (german) what can i say, probably thiks he's still on the autobarn!


    Also, if you EVER intend to work for ikea, watch your back.


    You WILL be stabbed shot killed and hurt many many times.


    Ooh, and in case your wondering, i resigned. didn't get the sack. :p


    I will NEVER shop at ikea again. If my future wife, whoever she is wants to buy there, i will fucking slap her senseless and go to the competitor. lol


    :)

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  19. BBC PROGRAMME

    Is your home a flat-pack paradise? Does your house look like an interior design showroom?

    Or do out-of-town furniture warehouses drive you insane? Are parts always missing?

    The BBC is considering making a witty 30-minute programme about the ups and downs of flat-pack furniture shopping - especially IKEA.

    If you have a funny, outrageous story or are simply obsessed by IKEA etc, please contact Bella Falk on 020 8752 5821 or bella.falk@bbc.co.uk

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  20. I Love IKEA ... best furniture shop ever!

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  21. I fully endorse what the guy three comments earlier said. I used to work for them, and if you think slavery was abolished, think again.

    In line with the other unnamed ex-worker, I would happily drive over a couple of the ex managers there, and then sue them for damaging my car. When you make the call to complain about poor quality and missing parts, do you honestly think the poor schmuck on the other end of the line knows whats going on? I was one of those schmucks once, and even ordering spare parts to replace missing pieces was harder than finding a pork chop at a bar mitzvah. The staff are paid no bonuses for good service, and get slated by crap management if they take too long on an issue. Work it out, would you give your all day in, day out, if you get fuck all thanks.

    I too resigned in disgust at the way the store is run, and I urge all other IKEA employees to do the same. There are good employers out there, who take time to train staff, reward them well, and want to give their customers a good experience.

    IKEA ain't one of 'em

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  22. Ikea's home delivery service is a fucking joke. Where do they hire the pond life that is responsible for dispatching orders. Must be smoking some might fine weed all day to cock up my order for 5th time in a week. I've had 3 sets of clowns round with wardrobes in the wrong colour, size and of course missing hinges attachments etc. Customer service can't be arsed to help because it's lunch time now and all their dopey chav's have to buy another set of hooped earings installed.

    I'll never go there again, it will destroy relationships, marriages, friendships and that's before you even try to build the cunt of thing.


    Easy

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  23. Actually I found Ikea's "customer" service quite quaint. In the age of computers, instant communication systems telephones it must take some special skill to give a medieval service.


    A wandering lumberjack with a donkey and an axe could have delivered our fitted IKEA kitchen faster.


    The semi drugged oracles at Delphi would have been clearer about their intentions than the helpless souls who are damned to wander Ikea Customer Services department.


    When we fianally received an apology from Ikea and an offer (albeit derisory) of compensation it was like a revelation. I had become sure we had offended them so deeply they were doing it to us deliberately.


    By the way BrainNoodles, nice blog and thank you for this opportunity.


    Regards


    Mike H

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  24. We'll i only have one thing to say about these comments! "your all adults, you chose to go to ikea"!!! you get low priced furnature! and a relitivly good service! and lets face it the amount you save compared to other retailers, warrents you walking around a store for an hour!!!


    and the moral of this story is... you get what you pay for!!!!


    regards zack

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  25. The only time I've been to Regina is when I was 6, and while my parents shopped I hung out in the 'ball room.'


    We were going to order some furniture from their online store, but after reading these entries I'm a little nervous about that. Maybe we'll just go to some sweatshop-slinging outlet store like the Brick, instead.

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  26. I have had a tremendous problem returning a couch that we purchased on line...It was one of their new hida-bed couches with the trundel bed...It looks like crap when you lie on it...the cushion gets crinkled and slumped...


    So we sent it back..It has been 6 weeks going on 7 weeks. They can't locate the couch...how hard is it to misplace a couch...give me a break...they could not find the arse with both hands...We had to supply with proof of pick up...


    The on-line service has no concept of customer service...DON'T GET SUCKED IN TO ON-LINE PURCHASING, THE DELIVERY PERSON STATES THAT ROUTINELY LOSE RETURNS....


    IKEA ON-LINE IS A JOKE...


    BUYER BEWARE

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  27. I used to work for IKEA, in Scandinavia, and it was a pretty good workplace, all in all. Managers were decent (then again, my other jobs have been military or Disney World, both havens for craptastic management), pay was decent, chance for promotion was allright.


    Yes, the furniture is not the highest quality, but unless you are a complete idiot and don't break it when assembling it (take it slowly and relax) it will last a while.


    The latest kitchen lines are among the best flatpacks out there, though no competition with a good carpenter's handywork.


    I'd never buy a "NEW DESIGN PRODUCT" there, or something that has its moving parts (hinges or sliderails) made from plastic, because most of these products tend to be the ones that break down. Usually the kind of crap that looks "cool" and "spacey". Avoid at all costs.


    Also, the halogen lamps they have that are new products tend to be hit or miss.Either perfect and never break or break on the first turn of the switch, not good. So I'd avoid that too.


    The new bathroom furniture line is only a few years old, and it took them a few decades to get the kitchens to a decent quality. Stay away from the bathroom furniture.


    The reason the shops are so guided and makes you follow a path (Although there are always ways around this if you keep your eyes open) is that Kamprad simply followed the supermarket idea. Just check if the eggs, bread and milk are next to each other the next time you go grocery shopping. Hell, Walmart are the biggest retail chain in the world and do the same and if you don't notice it you're plain dumb, much more agressive/hostile company.


    So, IKEA is just an average company with relatively cheap products. No one forces you to go there. If you get bad customer service there ask to speak with either the customer service manager or the warehouse manager, document everything and archive your receipts. Email adresses for management usually go something like firstname.lastname@ikea.memo.com and the warehouse managers name should be visible somewhere in the entrance area.

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  28. Teejay in Denny, Scotland3 June 2005 at 22:37

    I hate IKEA because you go through their maze with all the other lemmings, pick a product that you want to buy, get to the tills, and then you are told that it is not in stock. Puleez! Save us the trouble by putting a notice on the damn thing that is out of stock!

    I however bought one item from IKEA that was worth the money, a harmonica that cost £1.50, upon which I sit and play "IKEA blues." Funny thing was, when I got to the till, the assistant called it a clarinet!

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  29. I work at IKEA and I do understand the frustration. Yes you drove half-way across the world (down the block) to buy an item that turned out to be not in stock. For the love of God --- IT HAPPENS. And sometimes product is damaged. We do that deliberatly, by the way. I like to call them "character marks."

    There ARE valid points. You've had to exchange the same product 9 times cuz some of my co-workes are idiots. Sigh! But really, name me a company where there aren't. Sometimes -and I know some of you will find this hard to believe- the co-worker just made an honest mistake. I know they should be tarred and feathered for your troubles right now but we only do that at Friday morning meetings.

    We do put up with a lot of crap. SURE! You can exchange the bag full of glass bits that used to be 14 vases cuz you stuffed them all in one bag and - surprise- the handles broke! Of course you can! With a freaking smile!!!! And that cardboard box that you bought for $4.99 a year ago and the handles ripped cuz you stuffed it full of books... Why your right I too would expect it to last longer. Need I say more. DUMBASS.

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  30. we have a new ikea opened in Turkey, first in the country.. to say the trurh, we were looking forward to have one as it serves spacey solutions for young copules having limited room and cash ;)

    i was disappointed with what i read but i will try my chance out personally to judge them.. ecpectations shape the results..

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  31. i hate ikea because i used to work at one. they treat their employees like shit. they think were all slaves to this stupid ass furinture store. i say fuck ikea. they all full of shit.

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  32. after ringing the ikea "customer care line" to find out if the item i wanted was in stock at brent park, i was told that i had to actually go to the store to order an item that can only be delivered, which isnt very 2005! and then was told i couldnt do this at the closest store because it was having refurb, so we spent two hours (ok we got lost for one hour but thats not the point) getting there to be told that the picture on the website is misleading and not what i needed at all. We then hunted the warehouse for a wardrobe i also wanted, to find that they had all been damaged, so the whole evening was a complete waste of time (having paid a babysitter, and as for customer care, the security guard was more helpful! who told us that it was pointless phoning to speak to the store manager as he gets other people to pretend that they are him so he doesnt have to speak to anyone! This is the short version but it was so tedious i can't be bothered to write much more other than to say IKEA IS A WASTE OF TIME.

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  33. I work on the phone for IKEA and have to listen to you bunch of idiots all day, dont you lot realise you get what you pay for!!! You cant buy cheap furniture and expect it to be fantastic. All the complaints about the home delivery, they arnt anything to do with IKEA its just some random company that rents space in store. If you buy the wrong thing its your fault so dont expect me to get shouted at by you and then want to help you out!!!! When someone nice rings up and it was a total mistake by either you or some toad in the store (store workers are stupid, dont expect help from them) then i will help, just dont shout, it really just makes me think your a w*nker!!!!!

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  34. I work for Ikea too, Elizabeth is right, Ikea is crap but what do you lot expect!!! you pay cheap prices and expect good quality!! such fools! the dickheads complaining about the service on the phone can fuck themselves because there is only so much we can do. all the call centres are there to shield the store and we dont want to protect them but its our job, its what we get paid to do. workin for them aint so bad, its easy and well paid but we have to listen to you retards that shop there. if you leave something, tough, if you lose your reciept, tough. its your fault, if you pick up the wrong thing because you didnt read the article code in the SELF-SERVE warehouse then take the fucking thing back, dont expect me to send you the thing you actually wanted out in a taxt, get real. if you but something from a clothes shop and its faulty you take it back, same as Ikea, its a cheap, cash and carry place. you save money because you do all the legwork like picking up your item and building it yourself you fucking pricks!!!!

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  35. This has really cheered me up. I know the furniture is not the best quality ever, the cheap prices etc, but the customer service is really appalling.


    We returned two sofabed covers, basically because 1:wrong colour, 2: poor stitching. We were told we could get the cover we originally wanted (but told was discontinued)from Leeds, who would send them to us. My wife was given a credit voucher.

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  36. To continue!!!

    We lost the credit voucher - for 125 pounds. We have the original receipt, and two returned receipts for the goods. Guess what? I kea say that it is impossible for them to void the voucher (although I have been told by an employee that this can be done) so I have paid for goods that I have never had!

    BE WARNED. NEVER TAKE A CREDIT VOUCHER FROM IKEA. I will now make it my life's work to warn the good citizens of the UK against Ikea.

    I am seeking legal advice. Surely this cannot be right? If anyone out here has a similar experience, please contact me at Camus68uk@yahoo.co.uk

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  37. Look Steve!! if you lost £125 in cash you wouldnt phone the bank and tell them to void the notes, u prick!!! you were on the phone the other day and we were all laughing at you because your such a thick wanker who loses money! dickhead! go on then, warn people not to shop at ikea, it would make my job piss easy!!!!!

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  38. Look, i also work for IKEA on the customer service department i would like to say that first of all there is too much swearing on this forum. OK has anyone hear ever been to those big cash and carry places where shops get their stock from? Well IKEA is like that, its not a high street shop its a gritty first come first serve place. Its cheap (which id dont think it is) because they dont inest a lot in services. Know your all saying customer service is terrible. To be fair i actually do care about the customers i talk to, however all i can do is pass messages on to the store for the store to contact people back. The way the systen is struchture allows for the stores (which are a franchise) to have total control over their own customer service. This is why it takes time, the stores are more or less connected in name only.

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  39. I thought that some of you might be interested in my new website. :) Please sign my guestbook and voice you opinion on IKEA!

    Ivy,

    creator of www.fuckikea.com

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  40. Please people... life is too short to waste time on really uninteresting tirades.


    There are more things in the world that deserve tirades... REAL injustices.

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  41. I mean i work for IKEA and that is totally unacceptable!

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  42. Thomas de Gerondins4 August 2005 at 00:38

    Je detest IKEA, Pourquois? Parce que ils porte les tres crappy tricots jaune!

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  43. Regular Guy from La La Land4 August 2005 at 00:40

    I hate Ikea because those dudes are really, like , uncool, with their stupid dumbass yellow shirts and all, they are like bananas in a trance man.

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  44. Herr Grubenheimer4 August 2005 at 20:33

    I hate IKEA because mein frau choked on one of their stupid Swedish Meatballs!

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  45. I found some curtains that I liked during my first (and last) visit to an IKEA store in the US. I didn't purchase them there, knowing that I needed to measure the windows, check the color, etc. I thought it would be simple to order them online from home, or directly order from one of their stores (the nearest IKEA is 5 hours from my home). What a joke. Endless wasted time waiting for a person to answer any phone (I think all store numbers must connect us to the same useless phone) and giant frustration dealing with their online robot, Anna. Never more IKEA. For a humorous blog on Anna, visit http://thepissedkittycometh.blogspot.com/2004_10_01_thepissedkittycometh_archive.html This site and that one have almost been worth the frustration.

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  46. Herr Scnitzelgruber11 August 2005 at 02:16


    I LIKE IKEA because mein frau choked on one of their Swedish Meatballs!

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  47. Ordered a worktop on 26/06/05, was given 26 July as a call date, didn't receive a call,

    called myself, was told that I have to wait for 48 hours from the given date.

    Called on the 28 July, was told, that I would be called tonight or tomorrow. It didn't happen.

    Called on the 30th, was given ID number, told that there was no record of my previous calls in the system, that the system was down and I would receive a call tonight or tomorrow. No one called.

    On the 31 July, 11 o'clock in the morning, called customer service, was told that "100% you will receive a call today".

    No call, called 4 o'clock, was told that I have to allow 12 hours for a call, that I'll receive a call tomorrow".

    On the 1st August received a telephone call from Helen Thomson (Petersborough), was told that my kitchen worktop order was not sent to manufacturer and it will take another 4 weeks for it to be made.

    On the 2nd of August received a telephone call from Helen Thomson, saying that my case will be dealt by somebody from Customer Service called Tanya. Later that day got a call from Tanya who said, that next day I would get a call from a kitchen specialist.

    Only a week later, 9th August received a call from Rupal from the Kitchen department, who (to my surprise) said, that did not read my file and asked me to tell her what my case was about. She said, that would go through my file and come back to me later. Though I would expect her to read my file first and then update me with it status.

    11 August, got a call from Rupal (Kitchen department), saying that my expected delivery date is 24 September.

    So, 24 September instead of 26 July!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    It is too much to put up with. I am cancelling the order and buying a worktop from Homebase, not the same as I planned initially (from IKEA) which matched my kitchen, tiles, table, floor. Doesn’t matter any more. I just want to get out and not to have anything to do with IKEA any more.

    ReplyDelete
  48. I hate Ikea 'cos their furniture collapses when I sit on it, I think I ate too many Swedish meatballs!

    ReplyDelete
  49. I hate IKAE because I am dyslexic

    ReplyDelete
  50. Ask me how much I hate it - this may give you some idea

    Does a heavy metal fan hate getting a sore ear ?

    Does a raging alcoholic hate pubs that have no beer?

    Does a phobia treating therapist hate peole with no fear?

    Does a cyclist with a sore ass hate having dirrhoea?

    Add all these things together and it becomes quite clear

    That I really really really really really hate Ikea!

    ReplyDelete
  51. I love nothing more than leafing through a frazzled Ikea catalogue and each time discover yet more items that I could use for my already storage-solutioned 1 bedroom apartment. Sounds quite silly, but looking at the picture perfect showrooms in the catalogue (that although 100% fake, awake that Sunday morning feeling in you) you can almost picture yourself on Page 123, lying on the birch veneer bed, embraced by soft swedish duvet covers, sipping milky coffee from a white and blue sturdy Ikea cup and looking up at the uniform framed pictures hanging on the wall.

    The reality only hits when you have brought your items home and it truely and dissapointingly looks nothing like Page 123. I am quite proud to say that I have managed to combine some lovely Ikea pieces in my home and have found many different ways of preparing the meatballs.The Salmon, by the way, is excellent for breakfast with some boiled eggs on brown toast and butter! Yum!

    Now...the only things I really hate is...the customer service, the ques, the mess, the feeling of being ushered along like cattle, and the fact that you cannot get a catalogue on location, in Croydon, anymore.But most of all I hate what it does to people. The many times I have been at the near-divorce-stage with my poor husband, fighting over the finish of our new Billy shelf.

    But the again...it has taught us a lot of patience, team work and endurance.

    I guess like most good things - it is a two-way street...

    ReplyDelete
  52. Ikea is dishonest and unethical. They have strung me a long a 6 month period of having no kitchen as they either were delayed or sent damaged and erroneous items to me. They promised compensation and an extension of my deferred payment as I had not received my kitchen till the 6 month deferred had expired. They did not come through on any of their commitments and promises and twisted their information as to lie to the head office, myself and media. I cannot express enough how I wish to warn people of their unethical practices.

    email:allactive@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  53. Ikea is a complete monkey company. A big business with competitively priced items and lots of cheap tat alongside some good designs to confuse the punters.


    The problem is that the employees really don't give a flying fig. Stock records are always wrong, which is a major headache when arranging large transport having checked beforehand. They promise to ring you like a boyfriend who has moved on to other girls. If you're unhappy - tough !!!


    Some excellent design products. Many crap items. Totally useless staff.


    NB - I am sure not everyone working at Ikea is a useless waste of space - but if you work there and you work hard you will no doubt agree that your colleagues are utter ***!!?*

    ReplyDelete
  54. I've been waiting since the 17 July for a sofa. Had three delivery dates. Still sitting on the floor. Latest word from Ikea is that because they've lost the sofa (pretty hard to do, well done you useless shits) we have to re-order it and wait another 4-6 weeks.


    And thats just the tip of the iceberg. We ordered a kitchen too... explaining that saga would take about another 5000 words.



    I used to like Ikea, cos I just walked in and bought stuff you could carry home. It's when you have to get anything delivered it all goes tits-up.


    I'm tired of ringing up the customer services line every day trying to find someone who knows what they're talking about, just to get another poor wage-slave monkey assuring me "someone will ring me back within 12 hours" (which they never do, of course).

    I'm tired of feeling physically sick every time I heard the word "Ikea".

    I'm tired of seeing my girlfriend crying.


    I'm thinking of spending the weekend running off some leaflets to hand out outside their store advising people not to shop there. Nothing libellous - I'm too smart for that. Yep, it'd be a massive waste of my time, but a drop in the ocean compared to the amount I've wasted on Ikea over the last 7 weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  55. HATE HATE HATE


    Right now, I am sitting at home seething having just been told that my worktop delivery is AGAIN not happening. I have massively rearranged my work to be here today, and have just heard that the delivery will now be tomorrow. This is despite waiting 3 months for this delivery, after ikea failed to order the worktops and didn't tell us until after our first delivery date and only then told us what they'd done after we had phoned about 20 times and visited the store twice. Since that fun week we have continued at an average of 3 phone calls a day to ikea and excel to clarify their constantly and repetitively conflicting messages about when the worktops will be delivered to us. There is absolutely no effort to prioritise us or treat us appropriately considering the appalling service we've received. Needless to say we've also got no kitchen to use as our builders removed our old one in preparation for the original delivery date two months ago. Ikea and excel are run by incompetent imbeciles. No amount of discount warrants this kind of treatment.


    I am now calling trading standards.



    ReplyDelete
  56. I hate IKEA because...


    They think Sweden is the centre of the universe. They have photos of their designers in the catalogue, pretentious and posing with their dark glasses on.


    They sell ordinary things that you can buy in other stores (some of them identical) and give them names like 'Krappvik'.


    But my biggest gripe is the ridiculous checkout tils, those small conveyor belts that are not designed to do the job.. and they way you can't order anything mail order etc.


    You have to buy a sofa, take it through the til and arrange delivery. !!!!


    'That's Why!'

    ReplyDelete
  57. you are all so stupid. How is it possible to hate IKEA. they are brilliant

    ReplyDelete
  58. I actually quite like ikea, because I am barred from all pubs within an eight mile radius of my house, and I go to Ikea, where can I sit and drink their peach flavoured cider which costs little more than a quid per can. Only things is though, my flat is full of really crappy pine furniture that I can never remember buying!

    Cheers, hic..

    ReplyDelete
  59. I'm barred from IKEA

    ReplyDelete
  60. I purchased a couch,2 beds,a chest of drawers and 2 cabinets from Ikea by phone.We were told 15 business days for delivery.After 2 months of waiting,we received our shipment only to find half our couch was missing,the chest of drawers they sent us was the wrong one,and we were overcharged 350.00 on our credit card.After 2 more weeks we now have the whole couch but Ikea customer service refuses to refund our money for the wrong item they shipped to us,nor will they cover the cost to ship it back.The customer service lady informed me Ikea will only offer refunds for damaged or defective items.Too bad ,so sad if Ikea screws up your order..I warn anyone I know to NEVER order Ikea by phone.Once they have your payment they care nothing about you or getting your stuff to you!

    ReplyDelete
  61. I went to IKEA Croydon yesterday. This always put me in a bad mood but yesterday was particularly bad.


    The Swedes gave the UK so much grief about the impact of acid rain on their precious lakes in the 80s. Now they have now created a worldwide temple to environmental waste. How much CO2 have all you people emitted when travelling there? Aren't you ashamed that you have stolen so much petroleum from your descendants?


    I say boycott Swedish hypocrites. Turn the flue gas desulphurisation off at Drax and squirt as much SO2 their way as we can. Get to your local store. Buy decent furniture from sustainable outlets.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Ikeas good


    Just misunderstood


    Selling furniture to the poor


    How couldnt you adore?


    So no one can help you


    Not even the law.














    ReplyDelete
  63. there's nothing wrong with ikea.. i like 'em.


    so there

    ReplyDelete
  64. So some people have posted here that Ikea is cheap and you get what you pay for, the problem is they advertise that they sell high-quality furniture less expensively. How? Easy because they ship smarter and sell higher volumes than others. They don't say the furniture is semi-disposable.


    I am NOT an attorney but have personally sued Ikea and they have been very, very ugly. I could list all the horrible things they made up and did during the litigation but one is just priceless: They repeated over and over again that no one ever in the history of mankind complained about the chair model that really hurt me bad when it collapsed under me. For 9 months of litigation (in every court paper they filed) they said how crazy I am because I wanted them to look into the design of the chair (which I since learned from a structural engineer that it IS DEFECTIVELY DESIGNED AND IS A DANGER TO ANYONE USING IT). How dare I expect my chair not to collapse and hurt me seriously. On the eve of trial they finally revealed that they actually have had numerous complaints about the model SANDI chair. They claim to test "all chairs approved for home use" 20,000 times with a 220 pound weight, they have denied my chair is approved for home use- what is it approved for?


    Let me know if anyone else has had Ikea products that didn't work for their intended use- broke easily, hurt you or family, etc. The only way to stop them is to force recalls of their dangerous crap like I am doing. I can help and I would love to stop Ikea and their false advertising. It hurts the mom and popy furniture stores who don't spend hundreds of million a year to lie about their products. Be careful with this Ikea junk- a little girl was crushed in NJ, when her parents sued Ikea counter sued them and claimed they didn't watch their own kid well enough.


    Any stories contact me at fabfonz at yahoo dot you know what.

    ReplyDelete
  65. My Sandi chair just broke under me, I can not believe it!

    And I only weigh 336 lbs!

    What a con !

    ReplyDelete
  66. If I ever meet that Ingvar Kamprad skulking around at the Braehead store, I will give him a "Glasgow Kiss," e.g., stick the heid on the big Swedish bam.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Don't order anything from IKEA!


    Whenever I've gotten stuff that was in the warehouse, that I could pick up right then, it's turned out as expected: decent priced, cheap-quality furniture. I don't have super-high standards. What I expect is that it's not damaged before it gets to me.


    The five times I and or my next door neighbors have had to order things from them that were not in stock the experience has been miserable. They have not gotten it right once even!


    There's the time I ordered a bathroom faucet that took three months because the whole company needed to order more from the factory in China.


    There's my kitchen cabinets, that arrived with the wrong sized doors for some of the bodies. I returned them, and they shipped new ones to me.


    There's the kitchen cabinets my neighbors got that came missing half the doors and half the shelves. Complained, and then they sent the rest of the doors, but they never got the shelves, and gave up & made them themselves.


    There's the kitchen cabinets that arrived in the correct sizes, but the doors and the cabinets were mismatched sylewise. They sent the correct birch doors, but sent white cabinet bodies instead of the standard fake birch. Neighbor kept those because they fit right, it didn't look so awful, and they didn't want to deal with the hassle of going back to IKEA.


    Then there's my storage cabinets. First, I ordered & paid for it. They told me it would arrive at the store in 2-3 weeks. After a month I went there and asked about the cabinets. They told me they canceled my order because I never paid for it! I then showed them my receipt, and they told me it was a computer problem, and they reordered it for me, except the one item that was temporarily out of stock in the central shipping warehouse. They put a rush on it. A week later I get a call, saying that they had ordered the last items, and asked how the rest was doing. I said I didn't have it, because I was waiting for the call to come pick it up. After telling me it had been in the store since the day they reordered it, I came down to pick it up. Lo and behold, nothing was there. A week later I got the call, and came to pick it up. I bring the 20 boxes home, and begin unpacking and find that one is damaged. I bring it back and they reorder it for me, this time saying they'll ship it to me. It arrives at my house. I unpack it: damaged again! I return it, and I'm still waiting for the replacement. 10 weeks and counting.


    This is complete incompetence.


    How can they make money on the stuff you have to order? The whole system is a mess!

    ReplyDelete
  68. Blind Boy Kiwi-Fruit16 October 2005 at 02:32

    Woke up this mornin

    With a mighty fine idea

    Woke up this mornin'

    With a mighty fine idea

    I think I'll spend the whole day

    Just layin' round and drinking beer


    My wife woke up this morning too

    And she said, forget about the beer

    Yeah, she woke up this mornin too,

    and said forget about that beer

    Because this is the day you promised

    That you would take me to that store they call Ikea


    Came home this evenin'

    With crappy furniture in my truck

    Came home this evenin'

    With crappy furniture in my truck

    If my wife asks me to go there again,

    Well, I think I'll tell her to go and take a ....!

    ReplyDelete
  69. Hi from Sweden

    Hope that hating IKEA will become a world-wide movement. A friend just came home with a bed that he had changed because it had scratches. Well, when he opened the new one it was broke ,too! And IKEA says that they can come with a new one, but it takes 10 days, or he can photograph it and get "some" money back. But here we are in Kamprad-land today with nowhere else to buy relatively cheap furniture.

    Thanks to Ingvar Kamprad, the old ex-nazi


    Freddy

    ReplyDelete
  70. Hershey Weisenheimer21 October 2005 at 00:47

    IKEA? SCHMIKEA

    ReplyDelete
  71. Yeah,


    found this site via "hate ikea" as well


    I bought a nice bed from there last year, and now I need a new mattress; ikea does funny sizes, so we cannot get a replacement from any other shop; so we've gone online, found the one we want, but we can't order from store even though we will need to get it delivered; so we go to store, find it and go to info desk to find out the aisle to pick it up; we pick it up and go to cash desk, only to find that they gave us wrong aisle no., and we have picked up the same size mattress in a similar name, but not the one we wanted; obviously, first queue for cash desk was 15 mins; then the girl at cash desk wouldn't even let us leave the wrong mattress with her, so we had to take it back to the aisle ourselves! Then had to queue for half an hour at information desk, for the information that the mattress we wanted wasn't in stock. they hadn't known that upstairs. So we have to go back up to beds, find another mattress, find that in store, queue at cash desk for another 20 mins, then join the 40 min delivery queue; needless to say, we left with nothing.

    This is not the way human beings who want to spend money should be treated.

    ReplyDelete
  72. Ikea? Don't go there sister!

    ReplyDelete
  73. Ikea is shit which is why I am writing this. Today, my order arrived without any fixtures and fittings. Getting these sent is proving to be a nightmare.


    Ikea direct is especially shit. Have you ever noticed how they will ask to read your cerdit card number back to you but cannot be arsed to read back either your address or order whcih would be a simple check.


    However, I do have two tips if you want the furniture to last more than two years or to survive any moves.


    1) only buy solid wood stuff


    2) when you assemble the solid wood stuff GLUE TOGETHER ALL THE JOINTS WITH WOOD GLUE. The silly screw things do not last five minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Although Ikea is very good at what it does, does anyone know anything of the founder? Well, some people know that he travels economy class most probably because the Swedish socialist model dictates that he has to pay extortionate taxes therefore is not a super billionaire. No merely a couple of million. However, does anyone know that he is a staunch facist? Until very recently, he refused to let anyone of black, asian etc... origin star in any adverts or work in any store. He has been forced to change this policy slightly do to legal pressure from the EU. But hey, although the ideology of this man is somewhat "clumsy" to say the least, he does have a very good business idea going - and in the entrepreneurial spirit only, well done to him.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Wow!


    Having worked in retail for over eleven years I am doubled over with laughter at some of the responses here. Allow me my two cents:


    1. If you don't like IKEA, don't shop there.


    2. You get what you pay for. IKEA has some of the best designs and, yes, quality (for the price) in the business. Where else can you outfit an entire room, say a living room, for under $2K (sofas, entertainment center, tables, chairs, rugs, art)!?


    3. IKEA's guest service is not the typical car salesman approach like may other retailers. The set their stores to be self-servicable. I, myself, hate to be bothered when I shop...if I need something I will ask someone. If you're so self absorbed that you feel the need to be waited on by hand and foot, shop somewhere else.


    I've worked too long in the home firnishings industry. And those that worked at IKEA with beefs, while some may be legitimate, just set fire to your own lives and leave those who enjoy IKEA to themselves...as brainwahsed as you might think we are.


    Pass me the meatballs and lingonberry sauce...

    ReplyDelete


  76. I have a beef!

    Just What the hell are home firnishings?

    I also have a chicken! and a fish!

    ReplyDelete
  77. I just put together a unit of theres, the instructions were wrong, the doors are too small, the doors dont' line up, the sides (also the legs) are diffrent sizes and not level, the shelfs are so warped they could carry water, the top has a hole where a knot has droped out and finial one of the screw threads stops half way up. But the back and base were ok tho, 2 out of 9 pices isn't bad tho, I just hope they never try and make cars.

    ReplyDelete
  78. i hate the fact that they will sell you a table with legs missing and then tell you you have to come back and beg for the other legs...


    ReplyDelete
  79. My room is much nicer than it used to be.

    ReplyDelete
  80. the place and company is shit....

    i used too work for the home delivery at a store in northern england where the man management from the duty managers is totally shite,bollocks,crap,2faced,back stabbing,money laundering bastards

    ReplyDelete
  81. IKEA is the worlds largest furniture brand company - it didnt get where it is by being bad! Dont be critical of the worlds largest provate company -

    IKEA is cheap, high quiality and very stylish. The idea of Hating IKEA is pathetic - get a life and shop somewhere else

    ReplyDelete
  82. Just what is a "provate company? and I cannot find " quialty" in my dictionary either.

    ReplyDelete
  83. I = Idiots who shop there

    K= Killing that they make on the idiots

    E= Ethics? they have none

    A= Absolutely crap merchandise and customer service

    What does that spell?

    IKEA!

    I HATE IKEA!

    ReplyDelete
  84. Ikea furniture reminds me of the last Tory government, a few misplaced screws and the whole cabinet collapses!

    ReplyDelete
  85. Never go to IKEA again they are thieves!! I have been charged 102 euros more in my receipt and i realized it the next day when i was checking it out.They had charged a huge door( i was alone how it was supposed to carry 260x60 door alone..?)I called 5 times the customer service and declare the mistake telling them to check all the appropriate controls that may have (warehouse cameras whatever) and after 2 months i am still waiting for an answer.....!!! Not even a simple sorry ...nothing...Of course i am not pissed off for 102 euros but for the whole attitude of the management....for sure if they will continue like this in few years they will close having grabed millions euros,pounds from all of us...

    ReplyDelete
  86. They are just a useless bunch of incompetents. Staff quite often do not know what they are talking about, they are impolite and unresponsive

    They keep you waiting over 1 hour at the warehouse in Brent Park after you paid cos’ they can’t get more staff doing the job you’ll do quicker and better.

    Can’t deliver when they said they would. They should fired all their “so called” managers.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Customer # 3293029302903920927 November 2005 at 03:37

    The semi-disposable nature of Ikea furniture is the product of its price.


    This can be considered a good thing depending on how you look at it. I for one do get bored of my shit over time and enjoy the idea of changing up my living environment.


    Ikea keep their "staple" products around for a long time but are constatnly comming out with new items that "try" to reflect the latest trends in furnishings at a subtantially reduded cost relative to what else is out there.


    This reduced cost allows the buyer to replace their existing furniture over time without breaking the bank.


    I personally don't like the idea of keeping all my furnishings for a lifetime because times and my taste do change.


    I feel that the majority of the quality complaints relfect people's complete lack of understanging in material costs and the manufacturing process. If there was a way to produce lifetime warrantied furniture, built like a fucking tank and sold at an affordable price Ikea would be out of business.


    "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR" Don't expect Mercedes quality afte signing the papers on that Kia hatchback you just bought.

    ReplyDelete
  88. I am a kitchen remodeling contractor.This stuff shows great.But it really is junk,meant to fall apart.I install it but I tell the people ikea is lying to you and i take no responsibility for it's performance.and still they buy it.

    ReplyDelete
  89. There's no magic but IKEA is pretty good value for money. There are some products I wouldn't bring home but others are OK items of carpentry at reasonable prices. Here in Sydney we have a new store opened near the Olympic site and it seems to have largely eliminated the old 'always out of stock' problem that plagued its predecessor.


    As an engineer, my only real beef is with the quality of the assembly diagrams. In this day of ubiquitous CAD software it should be possible to produce MUCH better visualizations than the pathetic line drawings which accompany most of the self-assembly products. Needn't cost that much to do either - any competent junior engineer should be able to make fair inroads into the entire product line in a year or so. This would go a long way towards eliminating the errors that come from careless and/or incompetent assembly.


    My advice is to calibrate IKEA with a few simple purchases - same as any retailer. If the shopping experience offends you, or if your spatial/visual/manual skills are limited, go elsewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  90. As I am a relatively virginal shopper at Ikea and have just purchased my own home, I was wondering whether there was anyone in the world called Corrina who had shopped there so they could give me some top tips (nice name by the way). So I am a bit apprehensive about my first visit.....expect the worst and it can only get better, but I am sure I will still come away with a new kitchen clock or 1,000,000 tea-lights for £ 4.00 (half price)......blah blah blah....see and I haven't even got there yet!....to be continued....

    ReplyDelete
  91. I hate them too (notice that the people who love IKEA can't spell??). I'd write a long list of reasons why I HATE IKEA, but I have to go buy new office furniture. Damn, I hate that there's not one closer...

    ReplyDelete
  92. Corrina:

    My name is Corrina, and I not only hate Ikea, but I hate anyone else with my name... Please change it today; hey Agnes is a great name for a nice British girl!

    ReplyDelete
  93. You'll be very pleased to know that I have erased my former self from existence. I now liked to be called Agnes and I think that I am going to love IKEA! I didn't think that it would work with two of in the universe.....we'll have to plan to go shopping at different times so never to meet (especially in IKEA).

    ReplyDelete
  94. Corrina, Corrina,

    Gal, where you been so long?

    Corrina, Corrina,

    Gal, where you been so long?

    I been worr'in' 'bout you, baby,

    Baby, please come home.


    I got a bird that whistles,

    I got a bird that sings.

    I got a bird that whistles,

    I got a bird that sings.

    But I ain' a-got Corrina,

    Life don't mean a thing.


    Corrina, Corrina,

    Gal, you're on my mind.

    Corrina, Corrina,

    Gal, you're on my mind.

    I'm a-thinkin' 'bout you, baby,

    I just can't keep from crying.

    ReplyDelete
  95. Hey man, I wrote another verse!


    Corrina, Corrina,

    Gal, you ain't got no idea

    Corrina, Corrina,

    Gal, you ain't got no idea

    I been worr'in' 'bout you, baby,

    Because you keep on goin' to Ikea!

    ReplyDelete
  96. Come on people... Just listen to urself. If you dont like the service at Ikea, then just dont go.. Target, Walmart, Pier One... Go there... I work for Ikea at the Nation Call Center and yes, i have to listen to you call in and tell me how much you hate ikea... or you are missing a screw, or what not... SO is it just Ikea that you have a problem with? Purchase somehting at Target, get it home and its broken, what do you do? YOU BRING IT BACK! Why should Ikea be any different? On the other hand, think about all the loyal customers who do believe that WE are still human, who makes mistakes ow what not... I think the service we provide is just as good, if not better than everywhere else. Of course you get ur Employees that just dont give a crap, but then you have others that are truely trying to help you...Well, Time to go to work... Happy Shoping all :)


    S

    ReplyDelete
  97. The Man in the Long Black Coat,13 December 2005 at 09:03

    ¡Corrina, Corrina, muchacha, usted no tiene ninguna idea

    Corrina, Corrina, muchacha que usted no tiene ninguna idea

    me preocupo de usted, bebé,

    porque han estado yendo a Ikea!

    ReplyDelete
  98. They are very hard-nosed and unforgiving about paperwork.


    I can't believe I had such horrible customer service over a clearly defective $30 drawer. All I was asking was for them to replace a $5 side panel with another one that wasn't miscut.


    I will not make any more major purchases there and I'll only make minor purchases with the greatest caution.


    I wasted 1.5 hours of my life trying to get them to replace an obviously defective (miscut) piece of wood worth at most 5 bucks.


    ReplyDelete
  99. yes i work for ikea27 December 2005 at 18:34

    i would have to say that many of their products come from forests that are not intact and that the majoirity of their products arent made from wood, its woodchip and crap all mixed and glued together with a veneer at the top!!

    open up a malm bedframe and you'll find it hollow with some cardboard if you are lucky!

    overall the number of complaints are low in comparison to the number of products sold!!

    ReplyDelete
  100. I love Ikea because people hate it and do you know why? In my line of work I get to assemble lots of lovely Ikea wardrobes, chests-of-drawers, beds, etc..I rescue frustrated wannabe assemblers from their flat-pack hell!!


    If you live in the south east of London and you gotta problem with yer flat-pack check out my website, www.flatpackrescue.co.uk


    Yea yea yea, I know, I'm advertising, so what! I am providing the 5th emergency service, so don't complain, just remember, 'the ASSEMBLER transforms your flat-pack nightmares into daydreams'.

    ReplyDelete
  101. Hey, that Angelika from Toronto is a girl after my own heart. I thought that I was the only person perverse enough to enter ikea via the exit door. Everyone should try it, and as you make your way through the onrushing lemming tide, you will feel strangely invigorated, even if the rest of your family think you are just plain crazy.I think it must be something about trying to prove that you are a non-conformist, when you know that by simply going to the damn place you are conforming totally with all the other lemmings. Maybe if everybody walked through ikea the wrong way backwards it would freak the hell out of out the yellow and blue drones, you never know, they may even make eye contact.

    ReplyDelete
  102. Joe Toldo from Chicago28 January 2006 at 02:06

    The best thing about Ikea is the exit door, and the second best thing is the road home.

    ReplyDelete
  103. The Best thing(s) to come out of Sweden

    1. Henrik Larsson

    2. Abba- especially Agnetha


    The WORST thing to come out of Sweden

    IKEA! It Sucks

    ReplyDelete
  104. I have purchased a Borgholm leather SO3($1599A) and a matching Recl($999A) today at their Rhodes store.I found the customer service efficent and I am expecting delivery tomorrow morning.I will let you know the result.

    ReplyDelete
  105. Re the above post

    I received my order on time,in perfect condition.I would recommend Ikea to all.

    ReplyDelete
  106. john from reading15 February 2006 at 09:10

    There always seems to be a screw or washing missing from their self-assembley furniture. Store policy to lure one back in?

    ReplyDelete
  107. Message to Peter in Sydney- Get a life man!

    ReplyDelete
  108. I hate IKEa because it saps your will to live, and even when you want to leave because of their incompetence you can't. No wonder Sweden has the highest suicide rate in the world. Reading this string it seems that Incompetence and Ikea go together around the globe.

    ReplyDelete
  109. IN TODAY'S WORLD OF CONVENINCE AND LUXURY..PEOPLE ARE NEVER SATISFIED...THAT'S WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE! IKEA IS THE BEST ...IKEA RULZ!!!


    I'M IT'S BIGGEST FAN...LOVED IT WHEN I WAS A TEEN LOVE IT EVEN NOW BEING OLDER AT MY 30'S


    IT CANNOT BE COMPARED TO ANY STORE... BASED ON PACKAGING! SMART FOLDED STUFF...EASY ASEMBLY...MODERN AND ECONOMICAL STUFF WITH DESIGHNER DESIHNS...WHERE CAN YOU FIND THAT?


    GO BUST YOUR WALLETS AT FINE FURNIUTRE STORES AND FIND OUT! IKEA RULES MY FRIENDS...OPEN YOUR EYES!

    ReplyDelete
  110. Disgruntled IKEA employee22 February 2006 at 10:39

    IKEA is the most horrible company to work-anyone you don't kiss up to will make sure you get terminated. you don't need any talent or skill to work there, just need to blow up someone's but. All the talented and personalities get terminated. They want only clones of no personality talentless anti smart people. They need to totally terminate all and give up and realize that america doesn't have room for worthless people or furniture!

    ReplyDelete

  111. Long ago in days of yore

    It all began with a god named Thor

    There were Vikings and boats

    And some plans for a furniture store

    It’s not a bodega, it’s not a mall

    And they sell things for apartments smaller than mine

    As if there were apartments smaller than mine


    Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen

    Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men

    Everyone has a home

    But if you don’t have a home you can buy one there


    So rent a car or take the bus

    Lay your cash down and put your trust

    In the land where the furniture folds to a much smaller size

    Billy the bookcase says hello

    And so does a table whose name is Ingo

    And the chair is a ladder-back birch but his friends call him Karl


    Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen

    Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men

    Everyone has a home

    But if you don’t have a home you can buy one there


    Ikea: plywood, brushed steel

    Ikea: meatballs, tasty

    Ikea: Allen wrenches

    All of them for free

    All of them for me


    I’m sorry I said Ikea sucks

    I just bought a table for 60 bucks

    And a chair and a lamp

    And a shelf and some candles for you

    I was a doubter just like you

    Till I saw the American dream come true

    In New Jersey, they got a goddamned Swedish parade


    Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen

    Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men

    Everyone has a home

    But if you don’t have a home you can buy one there




    ReplyDelete

  112. The actress is always breaking things

    The things you made and she took you for

    And I’m so tired -- I’d be lying -- I hope the prarie buys you more

    The fitness coast is growing near

    The shores they don’t stay blond this year

    That’s why the marble lawns stay clear and warm in time


    I want to stay but my time is wasting

    The magic lands call my name

    They want to fire a missile launcher

    But I know I need to stay


    We all know that by staying here it’ll be a good high this year

    So what’s the use to staying there if you’ve got no use for time

    The fitness coast is growing near

    The shores they don’t stay blond all year

    The continent moves with growing fears

    It’s all for expensive lawn


    I want to stay but my time is wasting

    The magic lawns call my name

    I want to fire a missle launcher

    But I know I need to stay


    I know I need to stay

    (and fight the day.)

    I know I need to stay

    (and fight the day.)

    I know I need to stay

    (and fight the day.)

    I know I need to stay

    (and fight the day.)

    ReplyDelete
  113. Tim Gadzinski and Charlie Cheney24 February 2006 at 22:52


    Broken glass on the floor, wish we weren't fighting anymore

    Another tear, another pout. Remind me what we're mad about


    I wanna go to IKEA

    I want a new CD rack

    I wanna live like the Swedish

    With something lacquered and black

    I wanna go to IKEA

    I want to sponge wash the walls

    I wanna strengthen our feng shui

    With a Zen waterfall

    And paneled screens


    Flowers sans flowerpot, you're mental but damn it if you're not hot

    You like drama, I like gin. Sure would be keen to begin again


    I wanna go to IKEA

    I want a new Oddvar stool

    I wanna live like I'm neutral

    Without reducing my cool

    I wanna go to IKEA

    I want to redefine "self"

    While reducing our clutter

    With a slick Värde shelf

    And Slugis box


    Ideas for better living

    Ideas for better living


    I wanna go to IKEA

    I want a teak cabinet

    I want to live a life modular

    With no financing threat

    I wanna go to IKEA

    I want to consolidate

    And make everything better

    With inexpensive plates

    And nicer stuff


    I wanna go to IKEA

    I wanna go to IKEA

    I wanna go to IKEA

    I wanna go to IKEA

    ReplyDelete

  114. I think that I

    Wanna try

    Getting work with the guy

    Who makes the plastic television sets for Ikea

    So they can put em on show


    I think they must

    Cost a lot

    They look real and they're not

    They're only fake and they put em on the shelves at Ikea

    So when the customers go

    And wonder what the stuff would lool like at home

    It's all set up so they know


    I'd have to learn about plastics and all the industrial techniques

    I could branch out on a sideline and make plastic food that you can't eat

    And plastic trees

    But my first love is TVs


    I'll make them big

    Make them fake

    There's a lot that's at stake

    I'd serve the world by making plastic stuff for Ikea

    The stuff that isn't for sale


    You feel so good

    So at ease

    There's no grime or disease

    My plastic stuff would make the customers feel happier

    Plastic world at Ikea


    There's no electrical problems on a plastic cd player

    And you can't hurt your back carrying a hollow fridge

    You'll never see a singe murder on the blank screen of the telly

    Plastic printers don't use paper not a single tree is killed


    I think that I

    Wanna try

    Getting work with the guy

    Who makes the plastic television sets for Ikea




    ReplyDelete
  115. If you hate ikea so much why dont you shop elsewhere... oh, thats right, its because you love ikea really, but its trendy to say you hate them. Love IKEA, most things remain to be done, a glorious future.

    ReplyDelete
  116. Paul R Opposite6 March 2006 at 10:45

    Daniel

    If you love ikea so much why dont you shop there... oh, thats right, its because you hate ikea really, but its trendy to say you love them. Hate IKEA, most things remain to be undone, an inglorious future.

    ReplyDelete
  117. i brought a kitchen but it was of a very poor standard

    ReplyDelete
  118. Yep, I don't think I will be buying anything there again any time soon... I spent a lot of money on a wooden desk with a glass top. As I was constructing it I noticed many sections and joints that were quite off mark and that required some type of brute force to get them to fit with each other and join properly. One of the screw latches even split in half becasue of weakness in the metal combined with a bad measurement. After a few little modifications I finally got the thing built in the end. Still has gaps (1 large one) and few crooked panels.

    I think they need to be a little more accurate with the measurements over there. Though most of it was correct, 1 bad measurement can ruin the whole thing. They should try a bit harder to stamp out errors like this. I would have heaps more respect for them if they did because ikeas concepts are great.

    ReplyDelete
  119. Ikea is perfect if you are an idiot who does not appreciate quality!

    ReplyDelete
  120. Lack of funds after buying a house forced me to IKEA, against my better judgement. I should have listened.


    1st. A curtain which they tagged at checkout, somehow didn't make it home, I believe the assistant removed it to get to other items in the trolley but didn't replace it.


    2nd. While I was doing some other house moving chores, my girlfriend, with the 'help' of IKEA staff collected some furniture, but on open the goods at home, we discovered that she'd been given half of one, and half of another model. I called to request they sort out the error, but delivering the correct item and taking away the wrong one, and was told, 'tough luck, your problem, you sort it out.'


    i don't use a car in London, and had hired a Van to do the move and the IKEA trips, and I'm damned if I'm going to hire another one. The letter to Garry Deakin is in the post, although if his attitude is anything like the rest of the customer service staff, I'm not holding my breath.


    I HATE IKEA!

    ReplyDelete
  121. IKEA is Scandinavian and I have found out it works differently depending on what country your in. I lived in Denmark and IKEA there worked fine. Good service and I couldnt complain about anything. Now since a year I live in Turkey and here I get annoyed each time I go there. Nothing works here. Bad service The whole place stinks. I think IKEA shouldnt be everyhere.

    ReplyDelete
  122. Ikea is great: the interiors of all our houses look are now identical!

    Soon they will make our clothes and cars too, and we can all be exactly the same.

    Thanks Ikea!

    ReplyDelete
  123. You may get some relief from
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yPGiMRHg58

    I wrote it some years back and it's proved astoundingly popular.

    ReplyDelete
  124. I am of Swedish descent, but I HATE Ikea. I have been there and half of the workers were not Swedish by how I looked at them! The nerve of some people. (sigh.) GOOD POINT!

    ReplyDelete
  125. Hello!!!
    all the way here from singapore
    i bought a fucking chair for $165
    a bed/chair kinda thing, i thought they would give me 3 big pieces so i can fit them together
    but NOOOOOOO they gave me 20 wood planks and told me to fit them together wit...well 30 screws...
    I HATE IKEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    i coulda got a beanbag chair BUT NOOO I HAD TIO GO IKEA DAMM MAN MY FUCKING MONEY

    ReplyDelete
  126. joe bossendorfer5 June 2007 at 12:38

    ikea at edmonton, north london has a lad handing out leaflets at the top of the stairs on sundays. he's off braniac, seriously. thats what he does between series!!!

    joe

    ReplyDelete
  127. Dont get fooled people. IKEA is American thats for sure. Its an American idea made by Walmart. First when it came many people like it then people started to criticise and Americans came up with this that IKEA was a Swiss or whatever country. Its laughable. Switzerland or Slovenit are small tiny nations and couldnt have department stores like this all over the World. Face it Americans you cant fool us. At least not here in Lebanon

    ReplyDelete
  128. Cornelis Jansen25 June 2007 at 21:47

    Those Swedes must be wizards! I mean they can sell shitty furniture, having bad service, yet manage to expand all over the world. Soon they will open at the Fiji Islands. Of course IKEA is so big and is everywhere so there must be problems at least sometimes. Im a Dutch Journalist and work for ADR and we check and write about department stores which sell pieces of furniture in Europe and elsewhere. The fact is that the IKEA customers in UK are the most satisfied on the Globe, yes a close cut with US and Germany but yet. This means UK customers are even more satisfied than Scandinavan IKEA customers!! Over all Americans and West Europeans are very satisfied. Where You find real problems are in Eastern Europe and in Middle East. IKEA must educate their staff there much better. They must also think about the infrastructure in Middle East. I mean whats the point in building a IKEA department store in the middle of a desert?!

    ReplyDelete
  129. Ha ha haha ha ha ha ha hilarious!!!
    (I hate IKEA because...

    They think Sweden is the centre of the universe). .

    Come on Duncan..give me a break. I havent laughed so much since Ali G shows went on I wet my pants.
    Check this out.
    Swedes are like the most moderate, the most timid, the shyest people in the World. They excuse its surrounding for existing. A Swede cant hurt a fly and he surely dont see Sweden as the centre of the Universe. I have heard more bragging people in Mongolia than in Sweden. Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Duncan try something else.
    Jens Lehman
    israel

    ReplyDelete
  130. Igor climkovsky8 July 2007 at 21:39

    I hate IKEA and their parking places at least here in Warzaw but no wonder the Malm bed falls apart when Americans is lying on them. Most Americans weigh more than 400 pounds and sure not the best manufactured bed within a reasonable price would make it. I ve been to US I know how its people look like.

    ReplyDelete
  131. I love IKEA. The place is great but I hate Swedes. Why isnt IKEA American?? It should be.
    Couldnt Walmart give Ivant Kampat or whatever hes fucking name is an offer he couldnt refuse.
    Instead of blue and yellow start painting the American banner instead.
    Ooh say cant you see.....
    Yihhae

    ReplyDelete
  132. Another frustrated customer in Burbank, CA! That was the last straw for me. I now hate iKea and will never step another foot in the store again. I was a bit forgiving at first but when they kept 35% of my refunded money that I wanted to exchange. I even had a receipt. I really blew some steam.

    Almost everytime I went, there will be a costumer screaming and I couldn’t believe I became a victim.
    Yeah - you get what you pay for. I was looking to save money but not lose it.
    I bought various furnitures and I just remodel 2 bathrooms (everything in it is iKea product except the tub and tile.)
    I spent well over $1000 within a month.
    I can fix everthing in a household that needs repaired. I’m very quite handy. Putting together the products with their pictured assembly manuals should be idiot-proof.

    MISSING PARTS:
    I was missing a dowel once. Did I want to go back just to up a tiny wooden dowel? Not I just used glue.
    One bathroom cabinet was missing a white plastic spacer to mount flush against the wall. I was unable to install it without getting the part first. My wife went and they gave her a hard time about needing a receipt. She eventually got it and came home upset. (and that’s not the end of it)

    ReplyDelete
  133. Robert Andersson26 July 2007 at 12:26

    ATTENTION ,ATTENTION JOIN THE TOM SHERMAN CRUSADE AGAINST EVERYTHING THAT ISNT AMERICAN HERE IN US.
    Hi Goofy what are you doing here are you some kind of demonstrator?

    I work for the great Clan-leader Tom Sherman. He wants to get rid of things here in US we thought were made by Americans but it wasn’t.

    Sounds cooool Goofy.

    But not just that. Have you listen to the latest news Sparky?

    No I haven’t Goofy. Tell me.

    It wasn’t any extreme Islamic fundamentalists that flew into the WTC. It was fucking European IKEA workers who wanted to take control over this country!!! So we owe Osama Bin Laden an excuse.

    OMG you’re kidding me Goofy.

    It’s the truth of the day Sparky. Another thing, listen to this. Those great cars Mercedes. BMW, Porsches. They weren’t made in Detroit by Americans they are fucking made in Germany.!!

    Holy shit Goofy!!

    You aint heard nothing yet Sparky. Here comes the worst. That greatest car ever made, Lexus is made by those yellow skinned Japanese.

    I feel like I want to kill myself Goofy.

    This country is facing a catastrophe soon mark my word . It’s great we have people like Tom Sherman who can open our eyes before it’s too late. You know Silicon Valley sparky.

    Yes of course Goofy. It’s our pride and joy isn’t it. Wait a minute ..Don’t tell me Goofy you know..

    Sparky , a lot of the Scientists and inventors there are not Americans.

    Holy holy crap I can’t stand it any longer Goofy what the fuck are trying to tell me Goofy.

    No Sparky I swear by my father’s grave most of the people at Silicon come from Europe, India and China.

    Goofy now I know there is a meaning with my sucking life. I will join the Tom Sherman crusade at once.

    Great Sparky. Go to Tom Sherman and tell him you are a volunteer.

    ReplyDelete
  134. it may be shitty furniture with bad customer service, but you dumb fucks keep going back.

    ReplyDelete
  135. If I want to build an entertainment center then I wood have bought the wood and made one. Holly crap what a pain in the ass IKEA is next time i'll pay a couple extra bucks to have one brought to me from a real furniture store.

    ReplyDelete
  136. I stopped going to IKEA several years ago as they never had the items I wanted in stock and I wasted too many hours choosing things in the store and then being disappointed when they weren't available, or worse, only part of them was available. I was delighted to find you could order on-line now until I discovered that the 2 week delivery they promised on the site was actually a month!! It's the same old story. Shoddy goods and shoddy service. So I'm back to being an IKEA avoider again. I wish more people would indicate to IKEA that they won't put up with being misled all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  137. Went there once into the Murcia store in Spain friends actually recommended it! Only went because after asking several tradesmen to quote for the job they either didnt come back or failed to turn up at all!(this by the way typical Spain!)

    Hmmm no probs can sort it myself...went there selected wardrobes, got them delivered (had all the bits too!) Took two days to put together and fit them and did a reasonable job of deciphering their somewhat incorrect instructions too.

    So far all good and enjoyed two weeks of use. Then the larger of two different sized doors decided to part company with the frames. The second followed within a week and now I have six all together successfully committing suicide and falling to the floor The shattering of the glass is also quite spectacular as the frames part company. This of course never happens when we are opening or closing these doors..oh no they wait until the dead of night for maximum effect.

    Ikeas response has been to supply me with more doors so that they can fall on the floor in the dead of night too. Recognise a design fault, you must be joking, return calls, you are having a laugh, try to honestly take any responsibility, oh please, don´t...just don´t.

    Shown me the way, of course they have because now all roads lead in the opposite direction.

    I will of course continue to fight the good fight after all I still live with junk (and NOT cheap junk either!)

    Any employee of IKEA like to throw in a gauntlet that says help is at hand. No abuse given nor taken either way. Help, customer service and professionalism greatly accepted.

    ReplyDelete
  138. hahaha.

    how fuking sad.

    Ill tell you something now you pathetic people,i work in customer services call center for ikea,there only call center and deal with people like you day in and day out.

    im 17 years old and i can appretiate how ikea works,its obvious you are too immature to realise.

    i actually find it funny how you all slag ikea off,but u still go and shop there.hahaha

    you do not realise how many times customers like yourselfs have talked to me on the phone and said how stupid it all was,and asked me the question i must hear 100's of times a day "do you no how far ikea is from where i live!?" when asked to return to store for refund/exchange ect and the answer i would love to fuking give you all is "Dont Fuking go then,there is plenty more friggin furniture stores closer.Try argos."

    and i despise it when people ring and becuase they have a faulty part or something damaged they expect us to deliver a new one out,hahahaha
    hahahahaha

    you fuking losers,not in your wildest dreams.

    imagine you went to buy a pair of shoes,you got them home and realised they were faulty,they had a scratch or something you would call them and demand they deliver you a new pair out you would simply take them back with the reciept and that is all ikae asks for as well.

    get a life,its furniture.

    its a luxary.

    fuk off

    ReplyDelete
  139. I work for IKEA Logan in Australia and I dont know what its like overseas but IKEA in Australia is among the top 10 in the world. Our As-Is department sits in 5th position in the overall world. Not bad for a store that opened only in August 2006.

    I work in the Self-serve department and I know how frustrating it is when customers have come downstairs from the show room and cant find what they want.

    How hard is it to read the sign and realise that you need to write down the aisle and location? Customers are just arrogant because they dont want to change their pathetic shopping habits. If it is so hard to understand the concept of writing it down, going downstairs and finding it yourself to save some money, then assembling it yourself, simple.. shop elsewhere. I dont see IKEA employees trying to 'hard-sell' you a product. I'd rather shop where I can wander around for a bit looking at everything and not have some sweaty foul-breathed greasy employee try and hard sell me a sofa I clearly dont want, just so he can make a comission.

    IKEA employees dont make a comission so back off and give them a break. We deal with all your shit day-in day-out and get asked the same shit over and over. No wonder we look like shit.

    I work for IKEA because they are a good company to work for. If it was so shit I wouldnt stay. If you bother to look at the top 100 companies to work for, you'll find IKEA listed. As for 'dickhead' management - well thats just your store. Unlucky.. IKEA Logan has great management. The management team are great people who care about the co-workers.

    How is it our fault if you cant follow the instructions in the guide to build your ASPELUND chest of drawers? It clearly cant be that hard or people would be boycotting the stores.. Clearly there are a majority of people out there that can build it. You must be stupid.

    As for the box not coming with the right assembly screws etc, you probably lost them you stupid moron. The same stock gets shipped worldwide and somehow.. somehow you just happen to get the box that doesnt have the right amount. Did you bother to check you got everything when you opened the box. Its all listed inside the first page of the assembly guide. God its not rocket science. As for that missing screw is probably wedged between your fat arse cheeks.

    I shop at IKEA because like the majority of the population I am able-minded and competent. I can follow the instructions written on the tag and can locate my item in the Self-Serve department. I am witted enough to be able to follow the assembly instructions in the guide and put the piece of furniture together.

    As for people whinging about particle board.. Hello you just paid $150 for a chest of drawers.. what did you expect solid timber?? Go to Super Amart or Harvey Norman and try buy the same thing.. Good luck. Particle board is strong enough for its intended purpose. The chest of drawers is to put clothes in. Thats all. Dont whinge when your disillusioned child wants to jump all over it and you complain when it collapses. Hello?

    The queues are too long? You live in the UK. You should be used to it. You do it at McDonalds so don't bitch when there are a million other people who want cheap furniture/food. They are there for the same reason you are. Its cheap and affordable. Like McDonalds.

    You get to the store and its out of stock. Have a whinge. Its a cash and carry store. We order it, it sells. Someone else like you looking for a good deal got in first. Bad luck, you werent fast enough. If it was so bad to go there, dont go! You people act like its forced on you to go. Get a brain and make your own decisions.

    Ok I've had my rant.

    ReplyDelete
  140. All the people who defend IKEA saying that you get what you pay for - if that was true IKEA would be advertising "come an buy our cheap shit!". But no, their emphasis is on quality. They have a glass box with a robotic arm opening and closing a kitchen drawer endlessly to prove their quality. But the real proof is the display units that get used by real people in a real way, day in, day out, not by a finely tuned robotic arm. See how many of those are falling apart in the showroom.


    ReplyDelete
  141. I think it is a great company with great products but need to improve many things that frustrate customers. Such as having a line for cards only at the checkouts.

    ReplyDelete
  142. They are complete useless thieving cunts. I have been without a kitchen for over a month now. The customer service is completely bankrupt. I feel so helpless. It is by design. The sub-contracting of deliveries and kitchen installation allows them to distance themselves when things go wrong. Everything is stacked against the customer because you have already paid for the kitchen before it is installed. You have no choice but to endlessly call customer service or drive back to the store. But when you do they never seem to resolve the problems, they just pass the buck and fob you off with idle promises. The only option is to return the boxes to the store at personal cost and get a refund. Then start again or .... I don't know what the fuck to do I've already had all the electrics, plumbing and plastering re-done in preparation for the ikea kitchen but they are stalling on the installation. I am several thousaund out of pocket without a kitchen to use. Beware!

    ReplyDelete
  143. There are lots of other stores that sell ready-to-assemble furniture (flat pack furniture) of good quality with good customer service while still maintaining low prices:

    the Pier
    Kalusto Contemporary Furniture
    Early Years Direct

    Check them out any of these stores for great furniture at low prices!

    ReplyDelete
  144. They are not clever. They are devious to the point of being evil.

    The shopping experience at Ikea is a fruitless and soulless one. It leaves me exhausted and enraged.

    ReplyDelete
  145. Ikea, the $36 Billion charity? Sounds too good to be true? It is!

    http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=6919139

    ReplyDelete
  146. Hermann Grubmuller16 March 2008 at 22:39

    Hi Guys Im an Austrian Engineer working in a lot of countries over the last 25 years. In Europe as well as in US. There are things I dont really get. I have purchased IKEA Items all these years and in Europe I have never experienced any problems. Neither having faced any stupid retarded salesmen or bad service.Ive never either had any problems assembling the things. But while working in US which I did from time to time between 2006-07
    I went to IKEA Schaumburgh in Chicago a couple of times. I ve never met such stupid incompitent and lazy salesmen in my entiire life before. They couldnt provide any service at all. Such crap place. The items were bad as hell. The scandinavians say they use the same items all over the world. Thats not true. American IKEA items have bad quality. I dont understand it. I mean Americans cant be more stupid than Europeans.can they? On the other hand I came across figures about satisfied IKEA costumers and Americans and Germans are the most satisfied, 90% satisfied? while Swedes
    only reached 70%. IKEA is Swedish. Spoke to a Swede the other day and he said there is a new furniture retailer that has come up recently named "Marbodal Kvick" and they will out compete IKEA within short he claimed. In Sweden only young couples and students purchase IKEA stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  147. guys stop wasting your time what you say is never going to do anything so stop whining.
    we live in a society thats booming in prices and technology so ikea is good for our lives its not expensive. its just another company that someone thought up of and is making money
    why dont you think of somthing to do with your life
    btw i was just trying to find a bus that goes to ikea and i found this hahaha
    your all gay

    ReplyDelete
  148. Snicker Hershey4 June 2008 at 14:58

    Never pay for AA batteries again! Due to the location of battery recycling at my store (by Customer Services near the exit) I carry my little ziplock bag of used batteries through the store with me while I shop and dump them in the recycling box as I exit.

    At least, that is what I should do. What I actually do is pick up a fresh pack on the way round, and in the unfathomable depths of my Ikea shoulder tote I discard my spent batteries then decant the fresh ones into my ziplock. At the checkout I brazenly present my ziplock (now containing new batteries) and casually say, "oh, must remember to drop these in recycling!"
    Ha! Ikea 0, me 1. Only thing is the Ikea batteries are so crap it is hardly worth bothering.

    ReplyDelete
  149. correction @memo.ikea.com !!

    ReplyDelete
  150. All you IKEA haters amaze me!

    You all declare; "I will never shop in IKEA again" - truth be told you'll be there 2 days later with another complaint.

    I work in Customer Services at IKEA as a supervisor. I have to put up with all your shit, day in day out. Yeah ok, sometimes the staff can be slightly rude - but most of the time it's because you are a bunch of arseholes who seriously need an education.

    Take the other day for example;

    I had to explain to a customer EIGHT times that i was not going to issue them with a full refund for a wardrobe which she picked up incorrectly. under normal circumstances I would have, however this wardrobe was bursting out of the packaging and her children had drawn all over what was left of the cardboard box - a full refund seriously? How the fuck do you expect me to sell that to another customer at full price?

    You all moan that the queues are massive - u can clearly see that before you join it!

    You all moan that items are always out of stock ("put a sticker on it to say out of stock") - have none of you heard of asking staff to check before wasting your time and seriously we sell over 1000 products, do u want someone to circle the store all day putting tags on things - that would never happen because you see a blue and yellow uniform and bug the fuck out of them, the wouldn't get past dept 3 in a full days work!?

    You all moan that the products are crap - most of the time it's because you are so dense you cannot assemble them correctly.

    You all moan at the staff - have you ever considered that the staff are there to do a job. Would you shout at a nurse that didnt know an answer right away? Then why should it be any different for an IKEA co-worker?

    Let's face it, most of the people who moan about IKEA are who i like to call "Serial Complainers". You shout abuse at me and my colleagues in store and declare you are never shopping in IKEA again because it's so shit as well as this you are going to your lawyer, because you have a good case! (THAT IS WHAT CUSTOMERS LIKE TO SAY WHEN THEY KNOW WAS THEIR FAULT BUT WANT IKEA TO FIX IT). So that's why I never hear from your lawyer (I answer all letters to my store) and I see you complaining to other members of staff a few weeks later about a totally seperate issue! GET A LIFE!!!!!


    Seriously, safe yourself the embarassment and give IKEA the pleasure in never seeing your face again! Don't shop there if all you are going to do is complain. Most of the customers I speak to always tell me about other people the know's, bad experiences. Well if you were warned off to begin with, then why fucking bother?

    I'm not saying IKEA are totally innocent, however one of these days I will see one of my annoying customers at their place of work and OH MY GOD - I will be the worst customer you will ever have to deal with. All I need to do is pretend to be as dumb as you losers and ask for you to make products appear from your arse cracks when they are discontinued in every store in the UK!

    Ok rant over! Best go to work and deal with even more delightful customers like yourselves!

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  151. Folks...My wife is IKEA lover. Actually she is addicted. And now we moved into another house. Usually IKEA stuff is ok. I can understand many of the complaints here (too expensive, too ugly). But the assembling never made a problem. This time it should be the kitchen...that was too much for me. So I ordered IKEAs assembly service. And- listen all IKEA haters: it sucks! There is no service. There is only a bunch of dumbheads trying to follow the papers with even more questions marks on their faces.
    So: nice kitchen at IKEA stores but not in our house. We're still waiting for a solution.
    D from Munich (germany)

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  152. I have been in customer service for some time, so I can understand the problems that IKEA has to deal with. The bottom line here however is this. They make cheap press board furniture. The cost in my opinion is not cheap however. Consider that particle board is prone to chip and crack and absorb moisture like a sponge. it will sag over time. Consider the cost of replacement over time and the look of the product. You will be better off spending more money up front now for a quality product then dealing with the hassle and failure of the product in the short term. If you buy based on some kind of green mentality consider the glues and chemicals used in the process of manufacturing particle board. You can easily get low to no VOC stains and varnishes for cabinets and the like.

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  153. GUESS WHAT IKEA DOESN"T ONLY SUCK


    THEY BLOW

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  154. but the reason is because the people who choose to shop there are the stupidest bunch of customers i've ever had to help.

    - HEY KIM. the stupidest? seriously. you sound like an idiot. No wonder you work at Ikea, you dumbass. Get an education then maybe people will take what you write seriously.

    Ikea has great furniture, I personally love it.
    You have clearly shown you are the retard, not the customers.
    If you don't like your job, quit. Don't put the customers down. No wonder you hate Ikea you have a bad attitude and probably stay there because you are poor and you are jealous of the people buying nice things. therefore, you are a piece of shit. get a life, quit your job, and go work at a walmart.

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  155. well i work for ikea and i hate the place.

    but guess what customers? you all get talked about, the co-workers just laugh at you.
    you might call customer services and your problem is all around the smoking room in an hour.

    furniture looks crap..is crap!
    ingvar is a nazi supporter
    management have no clue
    ikea values what a load of crap!

    my recommendation is go to MFI.
    you will be way less disappointed.

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  156. Ikea should be banned from this country. it is a shame that they still are alowed to have stores here. My daughters table was delivered broken. It is a darn shame

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  157. IKEA is absolute garbage, it's the McDonald's equivalent of a furniture store. If you enjoy spending a ton of money on very cheaply made crap, then they are the store for you. IKEA is very successful in attracting the brain-dead, wannabe "trendy" sheeple into their stores to part with lots of their hard-earned money for absolute drab, mediocre junk.

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  158. I like IKEA, I live in Sweden, It´s cheap, Ok quality, Easy to build. I dont know about the services, Maybe because I always make sure that I´ll buy the right stuff? Ingvar Kamprand travels econmy class because he likes to live cheap. But he loses more money by taking the bus than driving his car if you consider the time that he loses by going by bus, and his time is quite expensive, so it´s just stupid in a way. He drives an old Volvo 240 to=) And to that "Ahmed Sellam" guy, Did your mother drop you on the head or something? Why in the bloody hell should IKEA be American? Created by Walmart? Just that comment of yours, shows how stupid you people in Lebanon are or whatever the country was. Btw f*ck England for polluting our Lakes with acid rain!

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  159. I like IKEA, I think it's great. But the only thing that drives me crazy every time I bring something home from IKEA is when I spent 20 minutes getting rid of stickers on the products, and they usually leave glue residue. And the worst thing is that they usually have stupid messages written on those stickers, like "don't let your kids sit on top of the table" in 20 different languages! Such a pain in the ass! Other than that, I like the store.

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  160. I AGREE! IKEA IS CRAPPPPP>

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  161. Imagine a businessman lugging two suitcases and 20 pounds of tools and parts on a train to NYC to repair an IKEA dresser. Yes, it was a sobbing phone call to "Hey Dad" that expensive IKEA dresser I bought at IKEA Brooklyn Navy Yard is falling apart (sob sob) OK on my next trip I'll see what I can do. So after packing my suits and Makita tools I lug it all on the train. The end product was a far better than what came out of the box (any repair is better than what IKEA sells) dresser. Yes I charged my lovely daughter for these repairs, the charge was a promise... NEVER to buy this substandard junk again. Just look at craigslist for IKEA stuff, get the picture? I hope the photos help someone else fix their junk. The cost for parts was about $15 and about an hours work. Don't overload these dressers! They may work for light clothing but no books or anything of any weight. "Just a Dad"... Oh, and by the way, she also bought a stainless steel kitchen rack, it required 12 stainless screws but IKEA only packaged the parts kit for a single rod towel rack that had two screws. So on my next business trip to Gotham City guess what I'll be doing...

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  162. Cheap? I find their furniture very expensive! Don't buy any office chairs, couches and other chairs to be uncomfortable despite their snobby trendy designs.

    Nearly everything has to be assembled. I get lost every time I go in there. It's the worst example of greedy global capitalism. Half the time I don't even know what all those accessories are for and those decriptions? Who wants to read 200 words about a frickin "down" pillow? As soon as you get glazed over that means you don't need Ikea, it needs you. Walk out.

    I can't believe Ikea charges 2.50 for a low grade thin and short 2 oz. hot dog and a mushy refined flour bun full of GM wheat which is loaded with pesticides. It's like prison food.

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  163. "I had to explain to a customer EIGHT times that i was not going to issue them with a full refund for a wardrobe which she picked up incorrectly. under normal circumstances I would have, however this wardrobe was bursting out of the packaging and her children had drawn all over what was left of the cardboard box - a full refund seriously? How the fuck do you expect me to sell that to another customer at full price?"

    If she had a receipt and, as you say, there was no damage to the merchandise itself and she is unhappy with the product your decision to refuse a refund by overriding store policy violated Ikea's terms and conditions for refunds/returns.

    Why would you care if a multi-billion dollar company has to repackage the wardrobe for resale? It's not your store! Do your job and pay your employees a liveable wage.

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  164. I work @ ikea don't like it don't shop there

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  165. paid good money for some shit blinds, that lasted less than a week. (bunnings ones work for ever compared to yours. Also got a wire draw set a few years ago where the wood top had 1" overlap yet was so out of square that could not position top on without frame protruding. had to redrill holes. Its not a bargain if you buy Shit

    100% fail rate so far

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  166. Pickled Herring21 March 2009 at 14:23

    Detest it. Why do we all keep falling for it? (myself included). Since when has cardboard = furniture? There is a common fallacy at work here - people think Ikea is good value because it is cheap. Ikea ain't that cheap folks! The prices they have the audacity to charge never fail to astound me when you remember that what you are buying is glorified cardboard. Mr and Mrs Ikea must be laughing all the way to the bank. Where does our hard-earned money go exactly? Hmm let's see - quality materials - no, assembly - no, customer service - no, well-qualified and trained staff - no (no need for this as staff at Ikea need to do very little, the customer does everything.). Ikea gives whole new meaning to Do-It-Yourself. And they have the cheek to market it as some sort of forward-thinking/eco/ethical/empowering/consumer choice nonsense. It's simply outrageous. Then, just to add insult to injury, they try and flog us some processed meatballs and other Swedish 'delicacies' before we get to leave the place.

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  167. First item I ever bought from Ikea was a desk lamp with a pair of telescopic arms (bit like a pair of radio aerials) allowing you to extend the light part from the base. I pulled it and the aerial thing just broke in two - no excessive force, twisting or anything - it just fell apart. 50% of items I've bought since have been of similar quality. Why do I keep going back? Got knows, they have some sort of evil control over my brain. The meatballs I had on that first visit must have been laced with something.

    Ikea comes close to B&Q, MFI (RIP), TalkTalk and British Airways for their shear incompetence and screw the customer attitude.

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  168. catherine Jones28 June 2009 at 09:40

    Yesterday my boyfriend and I went to Ikea to buy a bed. Worst idea ever. After loading the parts into the car and leaving the store my boyfriend realised that the quilt and covers were missing. We'd both assumed the other had put them in the car, as there was nothing left on the trolley we'd left with the IKEA trolley minders. We called the store and were told to come in with the receipt the next day. As it turned out we had to go back anyway, after finding that there were essential screws and parts missing from the boxes. After waiting an hour and a half for them to check the security footage, they weren't able to tell us what happened to the items outside as there was no camera working out there. How convenient. We were given an apology and shrugged off. However the staff member admitted that this happened from time to time but that it wasn't their problem.

    Screw you, Ikea.

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  169. i work at ikea also..you all need to shut up

    firstly, dont be so idiotic to not realise you had items missing..ikea is not responsible for it once its left the store beyond the cameras..why should we be out of pocket paying for your stuff you lost? screw you, not ikea.

    secondly, if you hate ikea so much..dont shop there! we have millions of customers every week who leave happy. if youre THAT peed off, go complain to someone who will make something happen about it instead of wasting page space on the internet. idiots.

    i have worked for ikea for 4 years..and ive bought a lot of stuff from ikea. and ive had no problems whatsoever that havent amounted from my own misuse of oversuffing my ikea drawers. dont buy cheap furniture if youre going to wreck it with your crap!

    stop coming from 90 miles away before checking an item is in stock by ringing up!!! if youre that DESPERATE to drive so far to a retailer that can sell out of an entire line in one day...then bloody prepare to be disappointed!!!

    stop treating ikea workers like shit, we dont get double or time and a half EVER, we have to slug our guts out tidying up after you messy cunts just to get treated like shit. stop dumping stuff you decide you dont want..it wastes HOURS EVERY DAY for us to put back where it was meant to go!

    i hate ikea...??? change it to I HATE IKEA CUSTOMERS±±±

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  170. Just read comments from LMM and view the amount of spelling mistakes, I fully understand why they work for IKEA.
    IKEA is total garbage..!!
    The staff are complete morons who coundn't be assed to do the job that they are paid for.
    After-sales is shite. Food store is filthy and under-staffed.
    You suggest complaining to someone who 'will make something happen'. Do me a favour. Who the fuck would that be then? Where is there someone with more than 10 brain cells? Where are the managers? All I've ever seen are snot-nosed, spotty, acid-breathed Igors who couldn't make something happen if their lives depended on it.

    And finally, yes, I agree that the only way to really show how shit they are is by not going there again.... So spread the word everyone.

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  171. Ikea is shit. Whoever said it was environmentally friendly is stupid. That Ikea shit would take a millennium to bio-degrade, with all the plastic and glue in their products. Not only that go to a used furniture store and pick up some real wood items. Or if you are really bold and talented garbage pick. Yes garbage pick. I just picked to beautiful black walnut end tables. With a lil sanding and some TLC they will be mint in no time.
    Cost to me $2 for sand paper various grits and $3 for stain and $4 for a good varnish. Both those end units when done will be worth about $500.00 each. There gonna look sweet in my bedroom.

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  172. Just been to IKEA Nottingham. Checked website beforehand AND rang to confirm stock availability. Travelled 35 miles, only to find that all the stock in question was stuck in the loading bay and none was available. Even the local staff thought that the Call Centre should be shut. Crap.

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  173. The only thing worse than people taking the time out of their obviously meaningful life to bitch about this shit is that I'm taking the time to bitch about people bitching about this shit

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  174. i hate ikea because if say you buy a lamp from there you can only get ikea bulbs. i must have bought at least seven lamps from there and they just keep breaking

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  175. I ordered a love seat online - this was a painful experience from the get-go because the shipping charges are outrageous, but my local store was out of stock of the sofas I had my eye on and I was pretty desperate to have something to sit on (and yes, I explored non-Ikea options in my area and came up short). The sofa I found online is pretty and because Ikea products are generally spoken of so highly, I bit the bullet and moved past my reservations. I arranged for delivery - rearranging my schedule to be home, so I could receive the product as soon as possible. Delivery day dawns bright and clear, and they present me with the sofa cushions for the love seat and a very nice glass topped table.

    I call to tell them that I received the wrong product and am told that they can pick up the table and deliver the correct product in about a week. A week? Really? They can't expedite the delivery process to correct their mistake, while I rearrange my schedule again to accommodate? I ask what else they're going to do to make amends, for example refund the exorbitant cost I paid for them to make a timely delivery of the wrong product (I didn't really expect this, but it didn't hurt to ask). They basically explain that the reason the shipping costs are so high is to cover situations like this...so essentially I nearly matched the cost of the product in delivery fees to cover potential mistakes. What? Really, Ikea? Really? I'd like to believe that this was explained incorrectly. No other solutions or apologies offered.

    I will say that the customer service people I spoke to were very polite (and I was as well - it's not their fault the mistake was made) and they did all they could; I understand that their hands are tied by procedures in place.

    The "if you don't like Ikea, don't shop there" advice is excellent, despite the spirit in which it is offered...but let's face it, this is a pretty ridiculous way to find out that I shouldn't be shopping there. I certainly won't be purchasing an item from Ikea online again, and I'll advise friends not to order online from them either.

    I'll reserve my judgment of Ikea products until the correct product has arrived and is assembled.

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  176. i have been to ikea once or twice, kind of got nervous from the shop and almost always returned home empty handed (apart from a couple of soup bowls) but i do have many friends who swear by the stuff they sell... though i can't see why. i've seen their kitchens falling apart, i see their billybookshelves made out of cardboard being trashed on moving days and ugly lighting devices. i don't want to go on with a rant on how much i hate ikea, however. i find the people complaining about the service and the quality as ridiculous as the furniture they buy. if you want a GREAT sofa, you'll pay twice as much, and i don't see what's the problem with that. you'll have that sofa for twenty or more years, and isn't that the point? i see a lot of misplaced hatred here, don't be such an idiot and start thinking in the long run. me and my girlfriend buy almost everything second hand, i made deals you wouldn't believe, for fifties furniture in perfect condition (two perfect danish teak sideboards for 20€), a kitchen from the thirties which is equally convenient as the contemporary ones (200€) and a very nice sofa imported from an english vintage dealer (400€), and i could go on and on.
    i myself find ikea's furniture to lack any kind of personality or sturdiness, something i do find in second hand furniture found via ebay or local garage sales (or even diy, putting it together with some plywood), so i buy that stuff, since it might be old and sometimes requires a little repair, but in essence:
    built to last!

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  177. I'm just sad that they have to have those plastic ridged nail things. Hammer them in and they can never be removed... only problem is my sister and I just assembled two drawers the wrong way... and now we really, really wish they had been screws.

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  178. Stay away from Ikea. Some people warned me already but I tried it anyway. I should have listened. I would never go back to that store and will campaign to people not to go to Ikea ever again.
    I purchased a couch cover at Ikea in E. Palo Alto. When I came home to put it on my couch, I realized that it doesn't fit. I went back to the store and waited more than an hour for my number at the return/exchange counter to be called. When I put my merchandise on the counter, the customer service woman asked me if I had a pet, looking at me like I did a crime. I found out that I couldn't return the merchandise because the package had been opened. How could I try it if I didn't open the package? The store manager named Ulices came and I showed him that the merchandise was in great shape, never been used, not dirty, nor abused (as mentioned on the return policy) and yet, he would not take back my merchandise. It cost me $170 and incrimination.

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  179. I also hate Ikea
    Waste of space

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  180. While sitting here and reading all these hater comments I get more and more depressed by the minute. Not because of ikea, because me myself have never ever had a problem with any furniture from Ikea or my shopping experience. I think people that writes these comments have such a boring life that the only thing they can do to feel better is to nag at something else. So what if you lost your carrige,shit happens. maybe you had a bad day or an attitude that made the staff insecure. I personaly wouldn't help a customer that came over to me and was angry or rude.
    The worst part about this is that You can complain how much you want but you will be back in like a month...still shopping. Every single time.
    I've heard of employees that had customers yelling at me, throwing things at them, pushed them and threating to go to the media.....just because the didn't get a screw for free because they lost one at home.And they always said they would never come back....but they always did.
    So if you don't like Ikea, if you can't understand why your furniture's are falling apart even though you assembeld it wrong or if you are one of these people that just has to hate something......then please oh please go shop somewhere else.

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