To Hate Ikea

[Gingerkittykat]

I was in big city today so decided to pop into IKEA on my way home to get some lightshades to brighten up my hall.

After trecking about 5 miles through various departments, including what they called a short cut, I get to the cafe.

I get the obligatory meatballs and chips and sit down. Then to the toilets which are always backed up with toilet paper because their water saving flush has no power.

Then downstairs to the marketplace.

I find the lampshades I want, then see they have a lovely patterned bulb inside them and a blank space on the shelf where they should be.

I eventually find the bulbs after playing trolley chicken with a couple also trying to find bulbs. I remembered the adaptor so they actually fit into my light fitting.

Onto the marketplace, I found the plates and bowls I had also wanted. I was told by a dietician to downsize my plates and bowls so my plate looks full with less. These ones are perfect, I love the feel of them and the chingy noise when you hit them and 50p each!

I get closer to having a nervous breakdown the further into the market I go. I loudly ugh and eye roll at a young couple having a PDA in the middle of the walkway, and am tempted to get exact revenge on all the kids with those damn mini trolleys.

Once I get to the checkout and load up I get a firm telling off from the checkout assistant for stepping over the yellow line before my time. The couple in front look like they are furnishing their entire house so my stuff gets mixed up with theirs as she doesn't wait for them to finish.

Then onto the food bit, and I grab some salmon, that lovely dill sauce and some daim sweets. I manage to resist the cheap hot dog but decide I need a coffee to fortify me on the way home. I press the button for a latte and it spits out more than a full cup of black coffee which spills over the top of the cup.

I get home and go to put the lampshades up and they don't fucking fit. I should have bought some kind of adaptors. The light bulbs are utterly gorgeous but outside the shop are too dim to properly light up my tiny hallway.

Total cost including 2 naff bulbs at £7 each, the food, the impulse bought candles and random crap was close to £60. I think the lampshades were around £15 each.

I can't go through the trauma of trying to return the stuff I won't use. How many people have cupboards full of random Ikea crap bought on impulse?

Should have been a blog.

haha yes I do and I work there so it's even worse as always see new things I want... in fact, shopping there before work tomorrow for nothing I need

I used to feel like this. However, we now have one in my town and I’m warming to it. I think it’s best to look at it as more of a learning experience than a shopping experience . Or, at the weekend, a kids’ playground experience.

Never walk past the cheap hotdog though, I think that’s basically where you are going wrong. Leave on a high!

I hate them too. I haven't stepped foot into an Ikea since I moved back to the UK in 2006 .

I walked out in huff in an Australian Ikea (I cant remember why now but it was an awful experience) when we lived in Australia, and swore to god I was never going back.

DH goes sometimes.

^Oh and liked them that much before that incident but that incident broke the camel's back.

^I never liked...time for bed

I don't really know how to vote as think a bit of both.
It's a big trek that feels like 5 miles (I do about 25k per part time shift) because it's a big store... 6000 items, often in very big quantities. Even then, not all fit on site, many are at the full serve warehouse. If it wasn't that big people would soon moan that even more items are out of stock
I'm always a bit at customers wearing platforms or stilettos, faces screwed up in agony, forgetting how far it is downstairs to the tills. Often they end up on a flat trolley with their DP pushing them.
Also the first to moan at the staff about the store 'being too big' and the short cuts not being quick enough

I can’t say YBU Ikea is ok in small doses. I go once or twice a year max. That’s it. I don’t stop for food or coffee. I get in & get out.

erm I meant.. 25 000 steps!

Not unreasonable at all!!! I hate it too.

I've been a grand total of twice in my life. First time I found I bought "stuff" I really didn't need, so I used it all as birthday and Christmas presents, I know, I know, cheeky.

We then went back just before Christmas, I left a blubbering wreck of a woman, it was to much for me (pregnant, first trimester) we knew what we wanted, we went in and I wanted to grab and go to stop myself buying "stuff" again, dp wanted to wonder round and have a look, so we did.

I found it too much, felt totally overwhelmed and had a melt down, he claims I had tantrum, I blame hormones...

My step counter measured over 2500 steps, or roughly a mile. I was pushing a trolley downstairs so no steps registered but probably another 1500 at least.

I go, vow to never go back but forget how traumatic it is after a couple of years and go back again.

Worst thing is I saw a small table and chairs which would be perfect once I redecorate......

I'm a glutton for punishment.

I occasionally get an Ikea catalogue in the post. Always hate everything in it.
At least I'm saved the torture you describe above. Sounds terrible.

YABU IKEA is not for browsing, it's for extremely focused purchasing, preferably previously researched via the catalogue AND the website on which you can check for stock

Haven't been there for years.
It's been said on here that IKEA feels like having a baby and you swear never to do it again. And then you do.

I love Ikea products but hate actually going into an Ikea store. I just hate the fact you have to walk through absolutely everything just to get to the one thing you want.

Pinkmalinky You've not been enough. If you had, you would know the shortcuts (admittedly you still have to walk through a fair bit of the store).

Personally, I love the place.

I love IKEA, live about 10 mins drive away from one. When my granddaughter went to Uni we bought loads of stuff for her, all at reasonable prices too.

If you don't like it then don't go, leave all the good stuff for us, it will be easier to get round.

I haven’t liked it in years. It may have filled a gap back in the day but nowadays you can get much better quality for the same price or cheaper if you look around a bit.

Can’t stand the huge amount of tat and all the stupid little ‘storage solutions’ - maybe because I’m entering a minimalist phase and I just don’t want or need loads of baskets everywhere to collect yet more crap. I also don’t have young children anymore so I no longer need to worry about things being ruined and I’d rather pay a bit more for things that are well made and will last, or even better not buy it at all.

We had a hotdog last time, which was a huge mistake. Nasty, nasty food in filthy surroundings (but I am spoilt, having experienced a truly great hotdog more than once in my life).

It’s somewhere I never want to visit again in my life if I can help it.

I agree. Ikea is not for browsing. The store size is too big for window shopping. You need to know what you want and head straight there.

Impulses buying candles is almost impossible

YABU for getting chips with your meatballs.

However I agree it is not the most straightforward shop (although I still love it).

Our return department is near the exit, past the tills, so you don't have to do the full thing to return - yours might be the same? IIRC you have 365 days to return...

We went when I was eight months pregnant and had a toddler DS. The loading bay at the front where you pull your car in was full and they have those stupid barriers so you can't wheel the trolley to your car. We asked the security guy to lower one for us just so we could load the car and promised to bring the trolley back. He could see how much we were struggling but refused. We've never been back.

I do think that for ‘sharp shock shopping’ (student, or first home) it’s great as you can go in and get everything you need in one place, no hassle, no multiple buying visits.

I like it either for focussed purchasing where you know what you want and have researched it properly.

Or for browsing and making notes/ taking picture for ideas and seeing what I like but no purchasing whatsoever allowed except fo lunch and possibly somethign really small and simple ( like plates, glasses etc) about what I like .

All my proper IKEA purchases take at least two visits, one for scouting and one for buying.

Once I knew I needed a particular door for two cupboards. I parked went in via the exit , used the computers in the warehouse to search for where the items were, picked them up, paid and left. Total 10 mins to buy 4 doors.
Dh hates it though. We always have a pact that we will not divorce as a result of an IKEA visit as we nearly always have an almighty row when we visit together ( which we rarely do any more )

If it's the lampshade ring things you can get them on Amazon and eBay, no need to be going back!

I love IKEA. I used to go mad buying stuff when I had to travel, but we now have one in our city, so I'm much more circumspect about what I buy. I was there yesterday and picked up a lovely rug for a fraction of the cost of ones I had been looking at in other shops (and far nicer), picture frames, and lovely garden lights. The downside though are other customers who crawl around the place in the middle of the aisle ;and no intention of moving to let others pass), and kids scooting around. Also I head straight for the market place - no faffing around in the showroom. At least now DH waits for me outside. I learned that particular lesson the hard way!