Why Ikea Sucks

Yes, Ikea does have interesting stuff and reasonably-priced furniture, I agree. But dealing with them is horrific. About a week and a half ago, my husband and I went to Ikea for the first time. We had received their catalog at the end of last year and wanted to see some of the book shelves in person. The parking lot was very large for a store. When we went inside we were amazed at how many people were there. There was a lobby area with some of their products on the wall and a large wire bin filled with shopping bags. We grabbed a bag and went up the stairs. There were sample rooms set up and a walkway with arrows pointing in some pre-determined circuit. The sample rooms were very appealing. There were also areas with little odds and ends, a bedding area, kids stuff, shelving units, etc. We spent about an hour and a half comparing the different shelves and beds. We wrote down our order on the provided info sheets, and we headed for the "checkout" area. We followed signs, we followed arrows, we went down stairs, we went up stairs, we passed a restaurant, a large coat closet full of kids (well, that's what it looked like). We could not find the way to the check out. We wandered through an area filled with bins of various small items. Other shoppers meandered around with the look of deer caught in the headlights. brrreeeport. It was ridiculous. 2o minutes later, we decided the heck with it-we just wanted to leave. We followed signs that said "exit" to find dead ends. (What would they do if there was ever a fire in Ikea!) Somehow, after numerous failed attempts, we pushed through an unmarked door into the lobby and escaped out into the rain. Was that enough for us? No. We figured we would go home and order the items online. We went to the Ikea.com website. Maneuvered our way around it, found most of the items we wanted and ordered them. I promptly received an email acknowledging my order and stating that I would be contacted in 5 to 7 days with the total for delivery and a confirmation. 10 days later I was wondering what happened. I went to Ikea.com and tried to look at my order. They have no capability for looking at your order online. I tried to find a phone number to call, that was another run around. When I finally called it, it was busy. I kept calling and it was still busy. Eventually, I got through, had to go through various menus until I got an option to talk to a person. Then, I waited 30 minutes (I kid you not) until I finally got a live person. I immediately cancelled my order. When they asked me why I was canceling I said that it is taking to long to get my furniture (I was trying to be nice, I figured this guy is just a phone guy doing the old 9-to-5 thing). I am never going to Ikea again.

So, after that fiasco, I decided to look up "Ikea sucks" on a search engine. Well, I hit the motherlode! There are people out there with worse stories than mine. Some of the sites are sad, some are funny, but I was glad I didn't actually get burned as bad as some people out there.