is there a worse shopping experience than IKEA?

[bossykate]

went to ikea today. well, it was marginally better than the absolute hell it is at weekends. there was a woman going up and down the queues asking if anyone would like to participate in a customer service survey - in two weeks time! clever - when the irritation has faded. we bought two full service (ha!) items - no idea why they are called "full service" as they still come flat packed and you have to assemble them yourself. only difference appeared to be the 40min wait while they got them out from stock. this is after you have paid.

so why keep going back? well i'm not aware of a competitor who offers the same choice and quality for such reasonable prices. sigh.

IMO - the answer is NO! what do others think?

feel much better now...

I find that IKEA is a sure way to put stress on your relationship. I don't think my DP and I have ever got round without rowing at least once! DP is so impatient that he has walked out of the shop in a huff because the queue is too long and the staff too incompetant (sp?) and this is when we are at the checkout with a trolly full of goods and he has the credit card - aghh!

Why people keep going back is a mystery but we all do it. You can't help it. The consumer world we live in drives us back there for cheap, good (ish) quality goods and we are slaves to the hellhole that is IKEA.

Sorry bossykate, I think you touched a raw nerve!

bossykate, I agree, Ikea is hell on earth. There is a marginally worse place though: Trago Mills in Devon and Cornwall. Can't you order online from Ikea and get delivery? Would be less hassle although they do charge. Sympathies.

You are so right - I made a 'special' trip to Ikea (big day out from the countryside) & was so disappointed - especially when creche only takes them from 3!! What a nightmare, I used to work in retail customer services & we were 100 times better & still got slagged off!!

Can't believe any DP/DH would step inside an Ikea - I know mine wouldn't!

Only consolation - I walked away with four full carrier bags and change from a £20 note!!

Couldn't agree more - nightmare, but we all do it.
Makes me think there's a huge opportunity here for some enterprising individual to take local customer orders (based on the catalogue) then take a huge van to buy it all in one go, and deliver back.... bet I'd pay an extra 20% for someone to do that for me!!

WWW I didn't think Ikea did online ordering??? Do you have the link?

You haven't experienced a fraction of the hell of Ikea until a. half your kitchen doesn't arrive but your kitchen fitters have and b.The deliver the wrong things and you have to take them back.

The exquisite torture of trying to get through to a real person in customer services should be banned under human rights legislation.

Not exactly shopping but just try ringing the DVLA. There is NO option to speak to a person. Had to ring them from work once for work-related query. They wouldn't speak to me since I was 'not approved'. Had to then get my 'approved' colleague sitting at next desk to ring and for me to ask the same person I had spoken to my query whilst openly speaking to me at the same time.

This was a special tel number - just so I don't sound like a liar.

Did you see IKEA on Watchdog? The UK manager was on, and was basically saying he knew it was rubbish, but they were trying to improve it.

I've never set foot in an IKEA. HEE hee hee hee...

Customer services at Ikea told me I'd be better off going to Argos because so many people complained about Ikea! I bet she lost her job for that!

Have you ever tried returning stuff to Argos after Christmas? Nightmare!!

I was just going to say that the only thing worse than ikea is argos.
By the way, the time to go to ikea is in the evenings. They are open until 10pm and I gather that it's totally empty then.
And just in case you were wondering, in the usa, land of great customer service, ikea is just as miserable.

There is a worse experience than IKEA - the Coop in Stornoway! You can stand in a queue for hours while an old lady talks to the checkout operator about all the people they are both related to, in a totally uninteligible mix of Gaelic and English. Then the old dear leaves, and oh my! it turns out the next person is ALSO related to the checkout operator!!!
We like going to IKEA. We go as a treat when we are on the mailland, and dd jumps on all their sofas!

I never ever buy "full serve" items any more. I thought they offered free delivery if you had to wait over 30 minutes now... this was after I waited nearly an hour for my wardrobes mind you.

Apart from that, I love Ikea. Yellow bag crammed to the brim, day time, mid week, term time, NO DH... In my life before children, I used to go in the last hour before closing - bliss! (well, comparitively speaking...)

I despise the Co-op. Maybe I'm being a snob but the staff are just dreadful in our local ones. I keep wanting to shout "A smile costs nothing" at them. Tescos staff on the other hand all smile, are polite, flirt with DS2...

And phoning Telewest Broadband to sort out my non-functioning broadband connection is a particularly joyless task, Why they have the cheek to call the department Customer Services is beyond me - they offer no service at all that I can see.

If anyone sees or hears from "Hayley" from Telewest, I'll be interested to know. I'm beginning to think she doesn't really exist...

OK, I was wrong, sorry! Here's the link to Ikea online where they answer questions like "why do I have to q for so long and why are we so crap?" It's here
You can order online at Argos though.

You never know how much you would miss something until you no longer have it ...

I would do anything for IKEA to open a store in New Zealand (it is in Australia) ... there is no equivalent here and I just can not find any nice decent, affordable furniture for DS' new bedroom ...

The Argos site is here and delivery is free over £100

I wouldn't dream of going with my dh - the whole point is to wander around on my own without having to discuss things with someone else, and then filling my trolley with unnecessary plastic objects.
But I'd never go without checking stock levels first. By the way, I think if you press "4" on your phone then you get through to a person straight away.

My dh actually enjoys going!!! - as long as it's not crowded (first thing at the weekends isn't usually too bad)... and what he wants is in stock .... and he gets good service.... OK, OK, he usually LEAVES in a bad mood!

The reason he likes going is that he just loves the meat balls in the restaurant!

My sister and I almost caused a riot in the Bristol store, when we unloaded our trolley into 5 yellow bags....the checkout chap has the manager and security down to see us...and it still took 40 mins to pay!!! WE have our once-a -year trip too.