or were they being total 'jobsworth' meltdown in Ikea

[Ceci03]

So bit of a long one but... I applied for the ikea finance thingy, it's no interest so seemed good. Got the virtual card - its like a bank card, and on the website it said you had to show it at the till and then they would key in the numbers. So went on Fri eve, took about 3 hours to do all the shopping, mainly a bed, but you know what it's like there. Got to the till, and the guy said I had to have the app. What app? Ikea finance app, he said. So there I was trying to download this app at the till with people queueing behind me. When it finally downwloaded it said I couldnt use it as it needed 14+ update.

So then a 'manager' came over and said I could "do it" online. So she directed me to this website for the finance company. But I couldnt log in as it said I needed a family card number, but I don't have a family card.

She suggested I go over to the doors to get better reception on wifi. I said it wasnt the wifi that was the problem!

I then tried to login in the ikea finance website, but for some reason my phone kept doing the 'circle of doom'. - When I got home I tried it again, and it still did it, only conclusion is that my phone isn't new enough.

So I begged her, to let me use the card. She said no as she "didnt know it was me". So I had to just leave all the stuff and go home.

So back again on Saturday. I tried logging in on my laptop, which is how I applied for the loan and it worked perfectly. So I rang customer service, and said could I show my laptop at the till, no problem.

When I got there to be sure, I found a manager at the till, and explained the problem. I said I didnt want to do all my shopping and then get to the till and the same thing happened, so could I show her beforehand. OK she said. So I pulled out the laptop but couldnt login!!!!!!!!! I think it was the ikea wifi wasnt strong enough. So I went away and was able to connect using my mobile hotspot. Went back and tried to find her but she kept moving away and chatting to her colleagues and ignoring me. In the end after about 15 mins of me standing there trying to get her attention I went up and said 'excuse me' and tried explaining again. I showed her how I had logged in, and she could see the card etc. But... she said the rule was I had to show it at the till when I got there. I said but what if my laptop plays up and I cant get logged in, you've seen it now, cant you say that I can definitely use it? No, she said. I said that it didn't say anything about that on their website, and shouldnt it be a bit clearer. She said no, it was very clear, and nobody else had ever had a problem. It was getting a bit heated now, well I was getting upset. I asked her a few more times but she wouldnt budge. I jsut burst out crying, I was just at the end of my tether. I felt like screaming at the bloody mindedness of the whole thing. Eventually another manager came over, and he took me to a seat, and he phoned another manager, and then another manager, and eventually they said ok, they had seen me login, and "knew it was me", and if I did my shopping I would be able to use the card.

I'm still upset, stupid I know. I'm thinking as well is this just discrimination against people who don't have top of the range phones? I mean my phone works perfect for everything, just not this for some reason. It's a 12 update I think. So it's not ancient or anything. Surely they need to have some flexibility if the technology is not working?

Thanks for reading if you've gotten this far. I honestly don't know what I could have done different...?? I've tried to contact the bank they set up, Ikano , but impossible to get a response...

PS I was just reading about ikea finance, and I was right, it is a loan, it's not a store card, or a credit card. So people telling me I dont know what a virtual credit card is are a bit misinformed? If it's a loan they would already 'know its me' wouldnt they?

But you have to log in when you pay for the goods. Not show them beforehand, expect them to remember you and then wave you through when you get back to the till.

Anyway, you have your stuff now. You should be able to get it refunded with the receipt. I have no idea if they'll expect you to log into the app though.

Maybe borrow your daughter's phone?

[quote Clymene]@WhoIsPepeSilva - gave you heard if saving up? It's quite useful when you can't afford something outright. [/quote]
Patronising much?
Have you heard that over 14 million families in the UK are on or below the poverty line?

In all seriousness and totally without sarcasm I'd really love a link for the £40 smart phone that's up to date enough to download the various apps, that's something I could put money towards in the future and I'd be appreciative of the point in the right direction.

gave you heard if saving up? It's quite useful when you can't afford something outright.

Well aren't you a charmer?? People like you don't have a clue

Ugh. I'm not sure I follow all the ins and outs of this but it sounds like one of those Kafka-esque circles of hell where "computer says no" and blank looks follow every single attempt at introducing logic into a rigid and badly designed system! Not the staff's fault, as they are no doubt obliged to follow said system, but incredibly frustrating. I sympathise!

As you seem to have found, the trick is always to escalate high enough to find someone who actually understand the intended purpose behind the system so that you can have a logical conversation about what actually matters and what doesn't, and how the same outcome might sensibly be achieved! (This can take a while...)

Have a large glass of wine!

I woukd have cried too. And had a massive tantrum.

@Annoyedanddissapointed

How are people arguing that someone is too poor to buy cheap phone to run a finance app with a straight face. If someone can't get a cheap phone, should they really be getting ikea finance (or any). That's verging bit on irresponsible lending, doesn't it.

Exactly. How much does any sort of iphone cost anyway? £2/300 minimum, often well above £500, sometimes well into 4 figures. Or most people get it on a contract so are paying a minimum of £20/30 pm, often a lot more.

Even if you get second hand ones, they're always expensive and 'I always get DHs old phone when he upgrades so it doesn't cost anything' doesn't count, because a 2 YO iphone still has significant value.

The last time I changed my phone it actually cost the grand total of about £20 because I got an amazing Black Friday deal for £75 after Quidco cashback and I sold my old phone for £55 on ebay, which is hard to understand because it was an old crappy Huawei at the time when there was loads of chat around about them being banned from Google so effectively useless or something.

But anyway, being extremely conservative, if you run something like a £180 Moto G series phone and keep it for two years, you can probably get, say £60 for it after that time, so the phone costs you £5 a month. Whatever type of phone you have, you then just get a SIM only plan for £5-10 pm depending on usage.

Massively cheaper than any sort of contract with the phone included, hence illustrating the point that if you haven't been paying £30+ a month to run an iphone, you'll already be way more than £120 ahead to be able to get a cheap Android if you find yourself in a position where your old iphone is no longer fit for purpose.

That is typically how I've always done phones and it's extremely unlikely you can run an iphone that cheaply, so I don't understand how it's an unreasonably aspirational to run a cheap Android so you're stuck with this iphone that doesn't work half the time.

Have you heard that over 14 million families in the UK are on or below the poverty line

Last time I saw any decent reference on this, the 'poverty line' was defined as having less than £1600 pm after housing costs, so hardly a 'sitting in the dark eating cold beans' situation and, while obviously a subset of those people will be sitting in the dark eating cold beans, many many of them will be able to arrange their finances in a way that they are able to buy a £120 phone every couple of years.

There's even free money from the Government available to encourage people to put a little money aside each month to cope easier with the ups and downs of demands on finances.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-save/

If you're on universal credit or tax credits, you'd only have to save £10 a month and after two years, the government will buy that £120 phone for you.

@amitoooldforthisshit

another snowflake rambling on about discrimination, please read the small print

And yet another person who doesn’t understand that discrimination is a word that has meaning in its own right over and above the legal definition, so your attempt at being condescending and a bit smug fell flat on it’s face there

@SusannahSophia - sorry for tagging you in the post that I made yesterday. I don't know why but at the time, when I put the @ in, it gave me your name as the OP.
I was directing my post at the OP - @Ceci03

Just for completeness here is the post from yesterday and updated to tag the OP in it:
I fail to see how you having a phone that is unable to run the latest iOS update which would then allow you to run the software/app for the Ikea Finance is somehow Ikea's fault @Ceci03? I mean the way that the manager in Ikea spoke to you wasn't ideal but they were trying to advise you on what you have to do to use their app or their finance option. Perhaps try upgrading your phone so that it can take the latest iOS version and try again?

Oh, and it doesn't have to be the latest model of phone, just one that can take the latest iOS update.

@Ceci03

OK I take your points about having to verify it's me.

What about when I logged in and showed them 'it was me', but they refused to confirm that if I went and got the stuff I wanted and came back and for some reason could not login again I coulndt use the card? Looking back more calmly, surely that could be where a manager says 'ok, we've seen you login, we know it's you, off you go, enjoy your shopping, and you can use the card as we've seen you logged in'.

But they wouldnt agree to that. Or they did eventually when I basically bawled my eyes out. Embarrassing but I really sobbed. It was just too much!

Plus I had got lost on the way home, and didnt get back until after midnight the night before, and again I got lost on the way back there in the morning. There were a lot of road closures and I got totally off-track, and google maps wasn't helping.

I agree though, it's like punishing poor people yet again. The people able to afford the latest phones and updates, get all the discounts and benefits.

They wouldn’t agree to it when you logged in in front of a manager because who knows how long you’d be shopping? What if that manager was finished by the time you got to the till? No way of knowing which till you’d go to. No way of knowing whether manager would still be there to then come over and verify to the cashier.

The cashier isn’t just going to take your word for it. As horrible as that sounds. They can’t. If they did then there would potentially be consequences for them if it all went wrong - ie if you weren’t who you said you were.

Sounds like a bloody nightmare.
I would probably have given up the first time. I must say I admire your persistence !
IKEA is frustrating like this. Another option for next time might be apply for a 0% credit card and purchase wherever. I know IKEA is popular for their finance options.

@Clymene

The phone is £120 new *@callmeadoctor*. £40 refurbished.

But this isn't about being able to buy an expensive phone or not. It's got nothing to do with how much money the OP has or doesn't have. It's got nothing to do with ikea's crappy wifi

It's about the OP not understanding that this is a credit agreement and that they need to see that she has the credit before they'll sell her the stuff. Showing a screenshot of being logged into the app on a laptop is not logging into the app at the checkout. It's really clear on their website.

Is it a stupid system? Yes. But did the people at the store do anything wrong? No. They were doing their jobs. And it pisses me off when people have a go at people who are doing not fabulously paid jobs to the best of their ability and get slated for it.

That's my position.

Ok well £120 to me is a lot of money for a kids phone or even mine for that matter. (call me an old fuddy duddy).

@amitoooldforthisshit

another snowflake rambling on about discrimination, please read the small print

Have people just come on here to be nasty to the OP?

IKEA have an app that is accessible to a certain level of technical functionality on a phone.

Your phone does not meet that standard.

They are not to blame.

For companies to be obliged to make their systems and apps open to every level of technical functionality from the onset of mobile phone technology is nothing short of ridiculous

@BarbaraofSeville

Have you heard that over 14 million families in the UK are on or below the poverty line

Last time I saw any decent reference on this, the 'poverty line' was defined as having less than £1600 pm after housing costs, so hardly a 'sitting in the dark eating cold beans' situation and, while obviously a subset of those people will be sitting in the dark eating cold beans, many many of them will be able to arrange their finances in a way that they are able to buy a £120 phone every couple of years.

There's even free money from the Government available to encourage people to put a little money aside each month to cope easier with the ups and downs of demands on finances.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/help-to-save/

If you're on universal credit or tax credits, you'd only have to save £10 a month and after two years, the government will buy that £120 phone for you.

Really?

@Marni83

IKEA have an app that is accessible to a certain level of technical functionality on a phone.

Your phone does not meet that standard.

They are not to blame.

For companies to be obliged to make their systems and apps open to every level of technical functionality from the onset of mobile phone technology is nothing short of ridiculous

Nice to see a sensible post. Thank you!

@WhoIsPepeSilva

In all seriousness and totally without sarcasm I'd really love a link for the £40 smart phone that's up to date enough to download the various apps, that's something I could put money towards in the future and I'd be appreciative of the point in the right direction.

Here you go: second-handphones.com/motorola-moto-e-xt1524-2nd-gen-black-white-unlocked-fully-tested-working

And @gofg - I do very much have a clue. I have lived without being able to get any credit so saving was the only way I could get 'big' items. I've sat in the dark because I've not had 50p to put in the electric meter. So I do very much know what it's like to have fuck all.

[quote Ceci03]@lakielady yeah that would have driven me nuts too!!!!

I think 'at a certain age' women just get the brunt of all the boring shite in life DYKWIM. There used to be a great programme on tv years ago called 'grumpy old women'. I can relate to it now. There just seems to be an awful lot more shite to put up with now, than when I was younger.

Maybe @MeredithGreyishblue is right and I need to see my GP about it.[/quote]
Ey up - it wasn't me who suggested you saw your gp!

If people can't afford to save up a bit, they can't afford to pay off credit. Thus there is simply no need for argument about poverty and phones. If you cannot save 20 a month, you can't afford to pay back loan at 20+ month

Or maybe they want to prioritise their child's bed over a new phone ..... ?

Its a funny old world now though isn't it? Government are trying to encourage us to be more environmently friendly with our living, except with the use and buying of mobile phones.

www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/science/environment/the-hidden-environmental-toll-of-smartphones/

Argument about enviroment is bit nonsensical on this thread when someone was having hissy fit over not being able to buy some random stuff in Ikea on credit... (Bed excepted)