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...

Yeah @BigThumb I completely do agree that staff can be jobsworths and enjoy a little bit of power. But often that has come as a result of customers treating them like crap and managers bollocking them for the tiniest things or making them work in shitty conditions.

Sometimes, some days, they just don't want to go that extra mile for people because they're tired of doing it time and time again and it getting them nowhere.

And sometimes they're just dicks.

this would raise eyebrows with us....causing such a scene is a classic distraction technique

was security hovering in the background? either that or another scam/fraud. that could be why you were ignored and not given much help

its rife in retail

dont take offence at that op, its just how it may have looked

Poor people aren't being punished though. As a pp said a basic, dirt cheap £120 phone is able to run that app. The issue with your phone is its age, not that it's a cheap phone.

You can buy beds from IKEA online.

This part definitely makes it a jobsworth moment imo. People might not like to admit it but sometimes retail staff get a little kick of pleasure about being a dick to customers and playing computer says no when they can easily solve a situation (and often do after it escalates or a more level headed member of staff intervenes)

No it blooming doesn't. Would YOU put your job, your livelihood, your rent on the line for someone? Because that is what you are asking someone to do. Not a jobsworth. Someone complying with the company/legal rules to keep their job!

Terrible attitude. No wonder people get cynical working in customer service.

[quote gardeninggirl68]@lawnfever

ridiculous...if you want the benefits, get the gear

you wouldn't go scuba diving with goggles and plastic flippers from primary would you?[/quote]
But what if you can't afford the gear to get the benefits?

The scuba diving thing is a little silly because it's not a necessity but what if it were a bed or a fridge?

If you are on UC maybe your budget would allow the repayment amount on the necessary item per month but not the cost of a "new" phone capable of accessing the service required to buy said necessary item.

This is where comments like this ^ kind of annoy me, it just shows a lack of understanding for people who are on very low income or benefits.

It's just not as simple as "want the benefits, get the gear" for a lot of people and it does preclude you from accessing things and in some cases the thing you are prevented from accessing is savings that could make a huge difference to your household budget.

I appreciate the above sentence isn't what the OP was experiencing but still.

@nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut

Poor people aren't being punished though. As a pp said a basic, dirt cheap £120 phone is able to run that app. The issue with your phone is its age, not that it's a cheap phone.

£120 may be "dirt cheap" for you but it's a "huge expense I don't have the money for" for me, and a lot of others like me. *face-desk.

@WhoIsPepeSilva has op said she's on a low income??

you have to move with the times....apps,phones...i'm always helping out customers at work. they want to do a click and collect then they need to download the bloody app!!! they want to phone a store to reserve an item....no,times have moved on, click and collect it. we dont 'put things by' anymore

i have this conversation many times a day....and see tantrums at the till, whilst that persons companion sneaks out with a trolleyful of goods! of course all the staff are trying to help the crying begging customer, or alerting managers.....so out they go, another theft!

But there are other ways to finance essential purchases. It didn't have to be IKEA finance. OP chose this specific one and didn't have the required kit to use it with ease.
OP could have applied for a loan, credit cards or other finance plans.
I had a sofa which I bought on fiance through Ikano bank. I took out a credit agreement with them and paid it off monthly without needed a card or anything.

@gardeninggirl68 ok fair point. It just irks me people think it's possible for everyone to drop in excess of £100 on things like it's cheap when actually £100 is a lot of money to loads of people.

Not rtft but it does seem rather stupid on IKEA's part, not to make their loans available to people with older phones ..... surely the people wanting loans are going to be the people with older phones ......

@MiddlesexGirl

Not rtft but it does seem rather stupid on IKEA's part, not to make their loans available to people with older phones ..... surely the people wanting loans are going to be the people with older phones ......

Why do you say that?

Due to our situation, I can afford a £30 phone contract for a new phone (well, it was last year anyways) but can't afford to drop a few hundred on furniture. I could however do a payment plan quite easily.

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

I'm thinking as well is this just discrimination against people who don't have top of the range phones?

You lost me here too, this crap just takes away from what people who actually experience discrimination face.

They’re a private business, they are entitled to set whatever rules they like. You are not entitled to override them.

[quote Clymene]@WhoIsPepeSilva - gave you heard if saving up? It's quite useful when you can't afford something outright. [/quote]
Yes I have and that's what I do when I can't afford something outright at the minute.

Honestly I'm going to give up because you can't save if you need to buy a big ticket necessary item, sometimes a loan or finance option is what you need. I could save up for a phone and it would take me longer than you'd expect sure but in the meantime I would go without something else in order to allow this. There's other considerations too.

I'm sure there are people here who understand what I'm saying and I'm too tired to keep trying to explain to people if they are going to be deliberately obtuse regarding low income households. It's not the thread for it anyway.

you can't always* save up is what I mean.

If you can afford a £30 a month phone contract on top of the repayments for the bed then good for you. A lot of people can't. It's one or the other for them.

And the idea that £120 is "dirt cheap" is quite frankly soul destroying for someone on benefits.

@MiddlesexGirl

If you can afford a £30 a month phone contract on top of the repayments for the bed then good for you. A lot of people can't. It's one or the other for them.

And the idea that £120 is "dirt cheap" is quite frankly soul destroying for someone on benefits.

You get it thank you! Good luck though.

@MiddlesexGirl

If you can afford a £30 a month phone contract on top of the repayments for the bed then good for you. A lot of people can't. It's one or the other for them.

And the idea that £120 is "dirt cheap" is quite frankly soul destroying for someone on benefits.

What the hell has any if this got to do with people living on the breadline?

@phishy

I'm thinking as well is this just discrimination against people who don't have top of the range phones?

You lost me here too, this crap just takes away from what people who actually experience discrimination face.

They’re a private business, they are entitled to set whatever rules they like. You are not entitled to override them.

Discrimination doesn’t only have a legal definition, it’s also just a concept and has a meaning in the general sense of the word.

I don’t think anyone is suggesting it’s a legally defined discrimination but it is restricting people who don’t have access to a certain level of tech of having access to use this finance.

@Biancadelrioisback

But there are other ways to finance essential purchases. It didn't have to be IKEA finance. OP chose this specific one and didn't have the required kit to use it with ease. OP could have applied for a loan, credit cards or other finance plans. I had a sofa which I bought on fiance through Ikano bank. I took out a credit agreement with them and paid it off monthly without needed a card or anything.

That's what I thought I did too @Biancadelrioisback. I only took 300 pound to get dd's room sorted, cos she is 18 in a few weeks. And it was interest free, so it wont have cost me anything.

It does annoy me that after I did 'breakdown' and start crying, they WERE able to say, OK "we know its you" etc.

And yes I'm pretty broke tbh. Working full time but on UC.

Yeah I wish I had a spare 120 to get a dirt cheap phone - would get one tomorrow! this one is a refurbished 2nd hand one. It does everything I need it to, I havent had any problems until now.

And if you're a manager in a store, surely you're given that responsibility (and extra money?) so you don't have to just 'spout the rules', you can listen to the customer, and if it's reasonable, you can make a decision in individual cases? At least that's what I used to do in my job when I was a manager, not retail, but public-facing office. I mean given that IKEA's wifi is so crap, and there was no guarantee that I would be able to login again, they could have said 'ok' before I bawled crying?

I thought I was buying 'finance' not a credit card, so I thought I'd already gone through all the credit checks, and checking I was who I say Iwas. I had to give all sorts of personal details to apply. So I thought, naievely I guess, that I was 'approved' for the credit. Like in the olden days, you got a car loan, and the garage got the money?

@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.

OP, I’m not sure how old you are but this is… a lot. Admittedly our ability to encode new skills starts to decline in our 60s and 70s and it gets more difficult to “learn” new things (I know you’ve mentioned being “too old, too uncool,”) make new memories, etc, but what you’re describing sounds more like age plus possibly some cognitive decline that’s more than normal. Getting lost on the way home AND the way back. Not being able to problem-solve. Bursting into tears in public (I know we’ve all had end of our tether moments). But combined with things like, as you say, taking hours and hours to set up online banking for your daughter. Please consider seeing your GP. It may not be something “serious,” in terms of permanent; it could just be severe stress due to other issues? But no one should have to live with everything constantly being so, so difficult for them for some reason.

OMG just realised I think I bought the 'wrong' rug, its too big. Aaaarrrggghhhh I'll never be able to exchange it will I.....Please will the clever people on here help me????!!!!