Complain about a product or service

IKEA

Kamran of Istanbul OTHER (06/19/08)
My book shelf was broken into 2 pieces by making noise. There was no reason. No overloading. It has mistake in production, it's attached with a few grams of silicone, i couldn't believe my eyes. Luckly no one is hurt, but we are really afraid of the situation. 10 sec. before my 2 years old girl was standing just under it. I'm now really mad about the situation. I've the pictures. I'm just considering my options, if anyone was hurt today i would go to court of law!

Tonight i will visit dealer in stanbul and i am absolutely mixed with feelings of mistrust of quality understanding. You may still see the bookshelf hanging on the wall of my house. I would do everyting about this extremly important problem until i am satisfied.

MY TRUST TO IKEA IS BROKEN! My bookshelf was broken, My wall has little damages on the painted surface..

Natalie of San Diego CA (06/11/08)
I bought a Kilan bedspread 102 x 110 on 5/31/08. I tried to return it to the San Diego store today because when I washed and dried the blanket on the stated normal setting the 100% polyester fiber fill inside the blanket melted and cracked. However they said they would not issue a refund because it was not a quality issue. If I had known the polyester would melt I would have hung it up to dry. I contacted Ikea via email and I am still waiting for a response.

The blanket cost $59.99 plus tax.

Jarome of Vancouver B.C. (06/03/08)
I am very busy and very rarely write such letters, but after a recent trip to Ikea where I spent over $500, I felt I had to write, as I have again had the same problem I have with almost every ikea product I have purchased.

I love ikea products because the designs are modern and attractive, and contemporary, and the prices are usually within my budget. We have our entire home furnished with Ikea products, sofas, coffe tables, beds, kitchen components, dressers, space savers, and bookshelves. We spend over $1000 a year on Ikea items usually.

But something that has been very frustrating is the level of quality of Ikea products. Every single item we have bought has had manufacturing defects or flaws due to very poor or non existent quality control. Either a piece of wood sticking out of a side panel or table leg, or cheap bolts that break when they are being used, to wood that is cracked or cracks when putting together.

I know that these products are manufactured overseas, and that at your prices, I can only expect so much, but this is ridiculous, we are taking about a few dollars in time for someone to check and replace these flaws and defects, or to use slightly higher quality bolts and screws.

Sure, you will tell me to just return it to Ikea and I'll get a replacement, but that's not practical when you have something half put together and realize that something is wrong, it is just too much of a waste of time considering Ikea is almost half an hour away from us.

We are starting to see furniture companies with the same nice design as Ikea that are better quality than Ikea products, so unless you can give me some reason to continue spending my money with Ikea, I will go elsewhere, where my time isn;'t wasted because a billion dollar corporation is too cheap to put a little QC into there products!

I had to repair the products myself and spend significant time to deal with the poor quality of products, and in some cases, the products became unusable.

Vikram of Fremont CA (06/02/08)
A week ago we purchased merchandise for over $2000 at the Ikea, East Palo Alto location. 2 of the items we'd purchased, a shampoo holder and a soap holder (total cost of $4.99) I took back to the store today to return.Both use suction cups to stick to the bathroom wall, and they both kept slipping and dropping to the floor. On taking it to the returns desk, the customer service representative said she couldn't take it back as it appeared to be used. I told her, Of course, I did try using it, but it does not function as designed, I'm going to be able to use it, I just wanted to return it. And all she kept saying was I understand, but I can't take it back as it's used, we can't put it back on the shelf.

SO, I asked to talk to the manager, after explaining the problem to the manager, he tried sticking the holder against the wall, and it kept slipping again. Despite that, he kept saying, but it works, I don't know what's the problem?

It seemed to me that both these customer service reps were poorly trained and didn't know a thing about customer service. Their attitude in general was appalling and by then I had already spent 1/2 hours trying to get this resolved. I didn't think it was worth anymore time, so I just asked the rep. to trash the items. He promptly thrashed both items and returned the receipt. In general I like Ikea, I've purchased mechanize for over $3,500 this year already, but i'm extremely disappointed by their customer service.

$5 , a wasted trip to ikea, 1/2 time trying to explain the problem

Chris of Montreal, Canada (05/09/08)
I have just returned from a visit to the Ikea in Montreal on Cavendish and feel compelled to write this complaint.For me to actually immediately come home to write you this , is an understatement of my frustration. I am in fact outraged.

Over the past several years I have spent several thousand dollars at Ikea ( would be willing to share account information to demonstrate this ) I own several buildings as a landlord and enjoy using Ikea products for furnishings. However, after today my wife and I are considering no longer ever shopping at any Ikea.

Over the past few months I have been renovating a property and was not able to put up the Numerar countertop 73 X 25 which I purchased in Dec 2007. Upon opening it today and seeing how it looks- size, we realized that is was far too large for what was required. The item was in perfect condition however the outer brown box ( packaging ) had some white paint on it. When we attempted to exchange this along with the Utby pedestals for a smaller version, we were only allowed to exchange the pedestals. We complained and asked for the manager Tanya. She informed us that the pedestals could be taken as they were still well packaged yet the countertop could not because it was no longer sellable.

Upon hearing this I was OUTRAGED and admit using the curse words in referring to the need for a nice box. I was informed that for one, I was beyond the 90 days and 2 that because of the paint on the box , could not EXCHANGE ( never asked for a refund ) . I repeatedly told Tanya to look at the pristine condition of the countertop, but all she cared about was the box. This policy is most flawed as even other Ikea members that I spoke to acknowledged that if returned within 90 days without a box but in good condition an exchange is almost always accepted. In our case the pedestals were exchanged because the box was nice but not the countertop.

I am extremely furstated that I have a countertop in mint condition yet is too large for my wife and I, and all because of paint on a box. Based on your response, we shall decide if we are too ever shop at Ikea again. I explained to Tanya how she was jeapordizing all of our future business over an exchange for $ 140.00 yet she did not care , said no exchange and simply walked away from us. Even though I did raise my voice, I truly believe that our treatment was not merited and that such rationale for exchange and treatment of a customer was unwarranted. The item is perfectly resellable and still an active product at Ikea.

Steven of Calgary OTHER (05/07/08)
. On March 29, 2008, I bought a Malm bed (birch) from the Calgary, Canada store. It has not been delivered: today is May 7. There are three problems here. First, I was not informed that this product was of stock when I purchased it. This information was provided only on the day that the rest of the order was delivered. If I had been told it was out of stock, I would not have bought it, and that would have been fine.

Second, the delay in delivering the product has been excessive. Waiting for it to arrive in Calgary by regular stocking procedures if irresponsible and insulting. If there is one anywhere in North America, it should have been trucked in for me by now. Third, the customer service follow-up has been less than satisfactory. I was not contacted. I made contact myself after over two weeks delay, and I spent over forty minutes REPEATEDLY giving the relevant information (date of purchase, receipt number, etc.) to a pleasant but inefficient customer service representative. I was told I would be contacted within 24 to 48 hours. A week and a half later I received two phone messages then a call that simply requested the date of purchase. I was told I would be contacted again shortly. That was over a week ago.

Ikea has my money in its bank account earing interest, while I am sleeping on a mattress on the floor. Because the mattress was paid for an delivered, and because returns are not allowed on mattresses, I am not able to take my business elsewhere.

Dolores of Palmdale CA (04/23/08)
Two sofas were purchased 4/20/08. When we got them home they were very uncomfortable, narrow and slippery. They were nothing like the display on the floor. They also had a very strong odor. We wrapped them up again with some of the material they had initially been wrapped and drove them back to the store Tuesday April the 22n. The store would not take them back.

The opened the wrapper and noted they were still in good condition but said since we had opened the original packaging they could not take them back. All over the store they have signs that say take it home if you don't love it bring it back or something like that. We figured with a policy like that there wouldn't be a problem. You really can't try a sofa without unwrapping it and testing it. My husband even offered to have them take a 15% re-stocking fee but there was no deal.

I called a number on the IKEA website but all I got was someone that would file a case number and have someone at the original store call me back. She did say they would normally charge a 30% (i never herd of such high fee) re-stocking fee. Nowhere on the store or receipt does it indicate any re-stocking fee. the receipt does say it has to be returned in the original wrapping. Again, you can't try anything without opening it. We really think they have very false advertising.

The signage deceives the consumer into believing they can return any item (except mattresses and sheets) if they are not happy with the item once they get it home. Than in small print and or the receipt indicate it has to be unwrapped. This ofcourse is impossible to do.

My husband has driven 60 miles two ways and we have no sitting furniture. Not to mention my husband having to lift the stuff in and out of the car. He was also treated very poorly by the IKEA staff.

Kimberly of Nolanville TX (03/18/08)
I have been looking for a sofa bed for a long time and found the one I wanted at Ikea in Round Rock, Texas. After looking at it online, I checked availability and it was in. So I drove almost 2 hours to get there and after spending 2 hours in the store getting the mattress, linens and accessories, I go to get the bed frame and there are NONE! A sign said they were currently out of stock.

I spoke to the ONE AND ONLY employee I had seen all day and he looked it up and said some would be in in 2 days. Now I had to drive home 2 hours all for nothing. A completely wasted day! When I got home, I looked back online and it still said it was available at the store, so I called customer service. After waiting on hold for over 30 min, the lady I spoke with said they had 7 in stock, when I told her they did not, she said there was a shipment due to arrive this week. When I asked her how to make sure I didn't waste another whole day driving back and forth across Texas for nothing, she told me to check availability online! Duh!! That's what started this whole problem in the first place.

She then told me to call back customer service check with them. Again...I had done that already too and they were also wrong! Now I'm just stuck. My only options are to pay a rediculous amount for shipping or drive all the way there and take my chances.

I have talked to several people who have had these same problems and we all seem to end up with the same results, nothing. The customer service is absolutely NO help and they really don't seem to care either! This was my first and ONLY experience with IKEA.

Suzanne of San Clemente CA (03/12/08)
I bought a couch from Ikea for about $1400, plus. Three months after using the couch, the cushions started breaking down like cheap pillows. Nine months later the springs under one part of the sectional came out of the wood. They were held together with plastic and a quarter of an inch nail. I took that part of the sectional back to have it replaced, and they begrudgingly replaced it--only because they had another one there. They would not replace any of the cushions. I was told by another manager to come back and bring them all in. I did, then they said no. They said that is how the cushions are made: with cotton balls--and just to keep fluffing them. In the couch department there are 20 huge signs that say: 10 YEAR WARRANTY, IF YOU'RE NOT HAPPY, BRING IT BACK! I did this, and they fought me on every cushion and even the springs. They were trying to say that it was not a manufacturer defect.

I am upset that I spent $1400 on a couch that broke down in 3 -9 months. I spent 4 hours driving back and forth, so lets say $100 in gas.

Maribel of Brooklyn NY (02/17/08)
My experience with customer service was that they were very rude workers.  They do not seem intent to help anyone at all.  They should have better workers, I was really upset by this.

Ar of Chapel Hill NC (02/03/08)
On Dec. 31, 2007, we bought a lovely bed base in the MALM series, queen, black-brown finish. They were out of the matching headboard/shelf set--that was our whole reason for buying the bed--but assured us they expected a shipment by the following Monday. Same story on an EXPEDITE desk, so we held off on getting the matching shelves. Boy, am I glad.

It's been four weeks, and every time we check, they are still expecting the shelves to be shipped to them next week. Meanwhile, we've had the bed set up a foot away from the wall so we wouldn't have to move it when we set up the shelves a few days later; suppose it's time to give up and shove it against the wall so we can quit hurting our necks. The bed itself had flimsy metalwork underneath that snapped in half the first time my husband sat down on his side of the bed (he's 170 lbs., hardly a behemoth given that it's a bed made to support two adults); we'd have bought slats if the self-service info had indicated this bed needed them, but it only indicated that "other" beds need them. My husband ended up making a trip to a nearby Lowe's to buy several planks at $4-6 apiece to do makeshift slats.

We went to a New Year's Eve party that night, where I mentioned we'd just finished setting up an IKEA bed, at which point the tiny woman I was talking to said, "Oh, I bought one of those. It's so cute, but the minute I lay down on it, the metal bars underneath snapped in half - pop!" This woman couldn't have weighed more than 105 pounds, truly, and I had not even mentioned yet what happened with ours. This apparently is a common problem with their beds. The shelves are available at other IKEA stores four hours away, but it's IKEA's policy not to transfer items among stores. As for the desk we'd planned to buy, their site shows the desk, but can't recognize the code when I try to check availability, so I had to call the store and be on hold to find out that it, too, is expected in the mythical next week.

Then there are minor inconveniences such as the fact that the fasteners included with one of our KASSETT boxes don't match up to each other and are thus useless to secure the sides of the box so it holds together. Hold times when one calls are just as bad here as everyone else is saying, and when you reach a human being, all s/he can tell you is that they're expecting a shipment next week. Apparently each product is contracted out to a different supplier, and when IKEA doesn't receive it as promised, they simply push back the expected date in the computer. The online capacity to check availability can't even do that much; it simply says yes or no and doesn't supply the estimated date of availability (not that it turns out to be meaningful anyway). My lesson is -- don't EVER, EVER buy anything from IKEA self-service on the trust that you'll be able to get the other component next week. If you are buying something to go with another item, don't do it unless they are both in stock right now.

Emily of Amsterdam OTHER (01/25/08)
I bought a bed from Ikea four months ago, and I still don't have any furniture as a part of that transaction. I agreed with the delivery driver, for the original delivery to be rescheduled, as they only had broken goods in stock. They brought the mattress, forgetting the rest of the bed, on a rescheduled date. I arranged for someone else to accept it, as I was on holiday. The delivery drivers claimed they couldn't get it upstairs, even though I had paid them 100 euros to do so. They suggested to leave it in the hallway on the second floor, for me to collect upon my return. I reluctantly agreed to this. But they then decided to leave it on the ground floor, blocking the door that exited onto the street, so it wouldn't actually close. Not surprisingly, the mattress was stolen. I have rung Ikea over 30 times, to discuss the stolen mattress and to try and get the remainder of my order delivered. Unfortunately, they don't keep any record of the matter, and I have to explain it each time. They promise to call back, but never do. I have now been without a bed for 4 months, and they don't care. I have endured a great deal of stress over this matter. The customer service agents try to tell me that they don't have any managers to complain to. How can they get away with treating their customers so poorly. Who is accountable for the service provided to the customers??

One mattress to the value of $1200 has been stolen. The remainder of the bed, with also $1200 is still unaccounted for. I have endured 4 months of Ikea hell.

Eleanor of Lafayette Hill PA (01/06/08)
I went to the Conshohken store and picked up an office chair, got it home and found the base and legs were not in the package. I called Ikea and could not get through, it was constantly busy. I tried their e mail address, but the page was not available. I will have to go back to the store, a task I dread because I am 84, fragile and I cannot find out whether the part will be there!

Justin of Oneonta NY (12/27/07)
We forgot nine large items at IKEA and our cashier did not tell us even though he could not start the next order. Now we cannot reach ANY IKEA number, not even the STORE NUMBER ON THE RECEIPT! The store will not verify anything unless it is logged in, and will not ship anything, so we are out $36.00 plus the additional $30.00 for shipping and tax for the same nine items as I had to order online for this furniture!

$66.00 in uncessary costs that are, as yet, unresolved, since there seems to be NO CUSTOMER SERVICE AT IKEA.

Rajalakshmi of Sterling VA (12/14/07)
I bought a chair (a self-service item) from Ikea for $300. On the day I bought it, it was out of stock, so I was told that they would call me when it was back in stock in a couple of weeks. However, nobody asked for a phone number, so I wondered about it. Anyway, we went to the front desk where they handle non-self-service items and insisted they take a phone number and call us when the item was in stock. From their helpless look and attitude, I doubted they will. Two weeks pass. No call. I check IKEA web site and the chair is obviously in stock. So, we march on to IKEA College Park about 3 weeks after the purchase.

At the front desk, they say that the item has not been fulfilled, please come back another day, and we will take care of it. (We had to drive 30 miles to this IKEA). Being a patient person, I tried to explain it, but the person won't hear of it. However, as an alternative they suggested we pick it up ourselves (it was on the shelves after all) and pay for it and get money back for the original purchase. I called my husband who was shopping inside for another self-service item, and he went livid, of course. Anyway, the front desk person came to his senses, went and got the item (mumbling that this was not the way it was to be done) and we walked out, my husband vowing never to visit Ikea again.

James of Washington DC (12/13/07)
Their kitchen design service is awful. Software not Mac accessible, no helpful telephone number; if you do manage to start, the software is agonizingly slow--it re-saves itself every few minutes! Staff is clue-less if you do drive all the way out to the store, and design service support is extremely basic. Their stuff is so clever, but their support to make it work is stone age. Caution if you need anything more than a VERY basic kitchen.

Jia of Hoboken NJ (12/11/07)
I bought furniture worth $500+ from Ikea and paid for the $100 delivery fee a week ago. Last Friday they called me saying I can expect the delivery from 9am to 1pm on Saturday. I waited until 2pm that day. No one ever knocked on the door, no one ever called my cell. Then I called them, checking if everything was going alright, and they claimed that they made the delivery at 9:30am, the time I was expecting the delivery at home. They said the delivery people called me but no one answered the phone, so they left me a voice msg, which was clearly not true. I told them I can show them my phone record to prove that I've never received any phone call from them, nor did I get any voice message. Then they immediately backed up saying that they had no obligation to call the customer at the time of the delivery! I told them that I didn't even see any flyer or sorry we missed you kind of notice on my door, and they kept telling me that they have no duty to do so.

I requested to talk to their manager, and the manager told me that this thing was between me and the shipping company only, and Ikea could do nothing to help but to charge me another $100 redelivery fee to make another delivery! Being extremely mad, I asked him to cancel my order. He said to do that, I would have to go back to Ikea store! I told him I am going to call my credit card company and stop the payment, and he responded, "it's your choice!" I definitely do not want to pay for the $100 delivery fee from which I've received nothing! But if I cancel the order, I will have to shop for my furniture somewhere else, which takes time. Either way it won't do me any good. So I am asking for a remedy of a free redelivery of my merchandise as soon as possible.

Catherine of Vancouver WA (11/12/07)
Today we took our five and seven year old sons to IKEA so they could have fun playing at IKEA supervised playcenter while my husband and I mulled through IKEA shopping. Before our kids' one hour expired several urgent calls for me to report to playcenter sounded over intercom. When I arrive all the children were huddled on staircase in playcenter (my son Reagan too) but my Robert, age 5, was laying on bathroom floor - bloody with the lady holding his wounded and very bloody frontal lobe.

NO ONE could tell my husband how this happened, where it happened in the play area. Paramedics were called to scene and my son was rushed to Doernbecher ER where we spent many hours getting MRI, xray, sedated to stitch several layers, top alone at at least 10 stitches - no doubt will leave an ugly scar above his eyebrow and doctor suggested putting sunscreen for the next year to eliminate scarring.

Never in our wildest imagination did we think Robert would be hurt-he has played here and other places and this never happeend. I call IKEA back and question their liability in all of this and that was when I was told a video showed Robert tripping over a stool and then banging his head on a metal post which is for the purpose of nine stairs that lead to a platform for kids to view movie.

Is it reasonable that they had no idea what happened to Robert, that he had to find a worker, crying and bleeding all over - WHERE WAS EVERYONE??? Is it reasonable that he was hurt to such a point of severity? THis gash was extrememly deep and wide. We signed kids play at their own risk when we check them in but surely there must be some responsibility on IKEA's part. Certainly it is not reasonable that on a Sunday afternoon a child be carted away with a bandage around his gushing head for playing in their play area?

I plan on contacting attorney tomorrow - IKEA did provide Liberty Mutual Insurance for me to contact - is that for them to pay for ambulance and other medical needs? What about pain and suffering? Just not sure what our rights are. Robert has been through enough with a diagnosis of medulloblastoma brain tumor on 11/22/05 - and all the surgeries, radiation and chemo and endless pokes and procedures He was so scared tonight - more scared then he had been before with the brain cancer. This just was not right for this to happen to him. He has a wish trip in less then a month to see Mickey Mouse in Disneyworld from Make A Wish. Thank God we didn't stop at IKEA on the way to airport.

Elena of San Diego CA (09/10/07)
Service concerning IKEA stores, customer service and support, also resolving the issue...

1. Had to call several times, since the time on hold is more than 40 minutes per call!!!

2. Was transferred to the claim department where I was asked to leave a message with the claim number ( I want to file it at first - do not have a number!!), name, phone, etc.. No one returned a call...

3. The problem is with the furniture we bought for my daughter to take to Berkeley... We purchased it in San Diego, brought it to Berkeley, put it all together.. 3 weeks later she called and complained that the furniture is all unstable shaky and bowed out. I can't drop everything here and fly to Berkeley to help her out..

I was sure that I will be able to resolve this matter with IKEA over the phone, but after spending 2 days!!! and having no answer, I an very frustrated!! I also e-mailed IKEA twice - no answer

Wasted almost $300, time to assemble, transportation fee and not being able to sleep or to store things in the furniture.

Mike of Santa Fe NM (05/29/07)
I ordered 3 medicine cabinets. The products, which were very fragile, were not properly shipped, they were simply wrapped in thin cardboard without any attempt to provide boxing to prevent breakage. All three cabinets arrived with all glass components in hundreds of pieces and the metal frames were all bent. My 5 year old niece could have done a better job preparing theses items for shipping. It would appear to me that Ikea really did not want to see these units arrive intact; they did every thing necessary to insure that the items would arrive broken.

Richard of Brookline MA (05/21/07)
Went to the store to return door handles not used. The clerk was rude, the manager was rude and the assistant store manager was even ruder. All in all if I never see or hear about another IKEA as long as I live it would make me a happy man. The parking lot alone was a 20 minute ordeal then in the store waiting for help took 30 minutes only to be roadblocked and stuck with a store credit that I will never use.

It Amazes me that in 2007 a store could be so unorganized to deal with customers in a better way. Great that they are against using slave labor and trying to be a responsible compnay but how about treating (potential) customers with a little more respect.

I am stuck with an in store credit that I will likely never use because the quality of the stuff they sell is nothing I would allow in my homes and none of my family or friends would use anything they sell either.

Colin of Teignmouth OTHER (05/21/07)
ordered loads of goods from Ikea, Bristol England over the last few years, no real problems. On advice from assistant at Bristol store, ordered goods for our house in s.w. France from Ikea Bordeaux, using English speaking service. Arranged to visit our home in France for 1 week at beginning of April 2007 to receive these goods. They arrived on the Tuesday, 1 large, expensive( to us ) sofa short. My wife contacted Ikea France who said they would contact delivery company and call us back, they didn't. We called the delivery company direct, and told them we were reurning to England on the Friday, they said they would deliver sofa on Thurday.When delivered, the sofa was badly damaged, very badly.

We contacted Ikea France who said they would deliver new sofa when we returned to France in June 2007. Since then, we have been unable to contact them my wife wrote to Head Office about 6 weeks ago, no reply. We have constantly been in touch with the Bristol store who are totally disinterested in our problem. As stated, Ikea France do not respond at all. Anyone know of any good no win no fee lawyers in France please.

At the moment Ikea have about £800 of our money, and we have a wrecked sofa. I return alone to France in June, and have no idea what Ikea France propose. I am disabled, and will not be able to dismantle damaged sofa, or build replacement. That's if it arrives at all. My wife has been dealing with this matter up to now, but it is obvious that diplomacy does not work with Ikea. I must admit that we had no idea that Ikea was just a frachise operation, and no store takes resposibility for the actions of another. We will not be using them ever again. You can moan at the likes of Wallmart, ASDA etc, but at least in my experience to date, you can find someone to help with a problem.

Alison of Woodside NY (03/21/07)
I bought the ektorp leather couch for 700$ in October 2006 from the new haven store. stopped off on the way home from a wedding (i live in manhattan) and picked it out. had it delivered. Its now March 2007 (6 months later) and the couch is broken. Called customer service, the first thing they tell me is bring the couch in to the store I purchased it in to be inspected? haha. um I have no moving truck. I paid YOU to deliver it to me. and now its broken. So, in order to get help, I have to take pictures of the couch (what do you want to bet they will tell me they can't tell anything from the pictures I take), rent a car (to the tune of about $150) drive to new haven (90 minutes or so) and talk to customer service about it. chances are they'll do nothing. Don't buy anything over $100 there. you'll regret it.

Lisa of Bayside NY (10/13/06)
On Oct 3rd, I ordered a chair and ottoman from Ikea's website for $120.98 and shipping $31.58. The website says an email confirmation will be sent in 24 hours. When I didn't get one, I emailed to inquire about the order. No response. So the next day I emailed to cancel the order. One Oct 10th, I received an email confirmation of the order with instructions on phoning to cancel. I called and was placed on hold for a solid hour until I finally hung up. I have not been able to cancel the order.

When/if it arrives, I will have to have UPS send it back and I will have to go through my credit card company to dispute the charge because no one from Ikea will respond to me via email and it is not possible to get anyone on the phone. Ikea's website is obviously not properly set up for Internet shopping where responsive email is essential. The company's treatment of customers is inconsiderate in the extreme.

Basically I have wasted hours of my valuable time trying to buy a chair and then finding the system to be incredibly flawed, trying to unbuy the chair. At this time, the problem is not yet resolved.

Paul of  NY (05/01/06)
On Janaury 16, 2006 I placed an internet order with IKEA for an "ANEBODA" model bed, article #S59825491, for a price of $119.00. I understood at the time of the order that the price did not include delivery but that IKEA would contact me within 5-7 business to provide the exact total cost. The order I placed was for delivery to my daughter in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Afetr three weeks I made my first call to inquire about the status of the order. After a couple of calls I was finally quoted a price of $180 for the delivery by truck. I provided my approval.

At that time they said delivery would be by tractor trailer truck. I replied, okay, but I reminded them that the delivery was to my daughter in Albuquerque, New Mexico and that they would have to contact her to nake delivery arrangements. I provided them with my daughter's cell phone number. They said okay and that delivery would be made by the middle of February. Several weeks later I called my daighter to see if she had heard from Ikea and she said  she had not. I called IKEA and they told me that the order had been processed and that the bed was ready for shipment. I once again reminded them to coordinate with my daughter.

Starting to get concerned I called IKEA back the next day to cancel the order but they said it had been released to the delivery company and that delivery should be next week. About ten days later IKEA left a message with me that they were trying to arrange delivery for the bed. I tried calling IKEA back but as was the case every time I called I continually got put on hold for up to 30-40 minutes. When I finally spoke to them they said they couldn't reach my daughter. I told them that they had left a message on my phone but that they were supposed to contact my daughter at the number I had provided and to provide her with a few days notice.

My daughter then called me to tell me that she got a call from the truck driver saying that he couldn't deliver to her address and that she should arrange for a pick up truck to meet her at a shopping center parking lot. Furthermore he was in Albuquerque only for the day and would be leaving for Texas that night. This gave her roughly four hours to develop a solution to this dilemna. to make a long story short, despite sevral panic phone calls we were unable to make this happen. Then began a series of phone calls to IKEA, I think it was Kathy, who replied to my request for a refund of the delivery charges with a firm "no".

It was her position that we accepted the order with the knowledge of whether it could be made with a tractor trailer. I told her that her position was unreasonable. I have dealt with many heavy, oversize deliveries and it is always the trucker who tells me what the limtitations are with respect to loads, clearances, permits, etc. I can't know what else he is carrying, the exact size of his truck or what his exact route will be. It is totally unreasonable to expect the customer to posses this knowledge, therefore I believe I am entitled to a refund. IKEA's alternative was to take delivery from a smaller truck at an additional cost of $400. This would have brought the total cost of the bed to $699. I replied that the mere suggestion was irresponsible on their part.

David of Fernandina Beach FL (03/23/06)
Six weeks ago I bought a queen bed, mattress, 2 night stands, an office chair and a desk. Was promised delivery 3 wks ago, the shipping company never delivered, everyone I have spoken to from IKEA's customer service and sales service organization has promised to follow up but has never done so.

Sleeping on an air mattress for 3 weeks, using a garden chair for my office and a packing crate as a desk.  Everything else about the move to my new home has been wonderful, Sears, and JCPenny have been phenomenal to deal with as has Crate and Barrel, these are professional organizations who know how to sell and deliver efficiently. IKEA has great commercials a nice catalog, incompetent support people and a non existant delivery process.

Anand Singh of Jersey City NJ (02/26/06)
IKEA advertises that foam mattresses are supplied as "rolled" packed. I bought one FOAM mattress (fangebo/king) on 02/22/06 and first checked on website and then cross checked with booking agent in mattress section(jessica) if it is "rolled-packed" and got a positive answer. Made the payments and upon collecting noticed that it was not "rolled-packed". They kept blaming on each other and there was no floor manager to sort this out. They suggested me to collect the delivery and go to "returns" to give it back. I needed to pick the mattress myself in my car (to accomodate my newborn who came 02/07) and so was looking for a prerolled one.

IKEA folks wasted 3 hours of my time on this issue. First they tried ignoring me. My wife called their customer service and they confirmed that it comes prerolled. When I told them this delivery guys kept insisting that website, customer service, booking agent are all wrong. Finally with my father in law's help we rolled it up ourselves to squeeze it in the car and bring it home.

Tyng of Paterson NJ (08/05/01)
I was informed  the delivery time would be during the 4-hour block from 12 to 4pm on June 20, 2001, but till 4:30pm nobody showed up. I then called IKEA and was told that there was some problems with the truck and the delivery would be delayed but it would come eventually by the end of the day.That was why I kept waiting for the truck til 7:30pm.I did not see any truck come by at all.

However,I later found a message from the IKEA truck driver at my voice mail saying that he came to my place at 2pm and nobody was home. If he did come to my apartment, there was no way I could miss him because I was waitng right at the very only entrance of my apartment building (I had to wait outside instead of staying inside my apartment was because the gate at the main entrance is not open all the time and the driver wouldn't be able to get into the building to ring my door bell if the gate is closed. I requested  calling me whenever the truck arrived but I was told that it was not possible because the truck driver did not carry a cell phone to make phone calls-so I was advised to either leave a note outside to the driver or simply wait outside at the gate, which was what I did for the entire afternoon).

Ben of London, England (03/29/01)
An IKEA moulded plastic chair (non self-assembly product) collapsed causing fracture to my wrist. This subseqently needed surgery to rectify the problem but to no avail. IKEA do not claim responsibility for the injuries caused by the chair. I live in the UK and its very different here -- I dont know what to do and which law firm to contact.

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