IKEA
reviews and complaints

I bought book shelf at IKEA for $100. and since it was my 1st time in one of their stores I looked at many things and thought after I experienced putting the book shelf together and finding out how easy it was I would go back to the store the following day and buy a dining room set, which was a little pricy, but I like the way it looked. I passed by the book shelf I had bought and noticed it was $30. less because it was on sale. I went to customer service and encountered a very rude & sarcastic woman who said she was the manager. She told me she would not refund the difference. I asked her if I brought back my receipt the following day would she then adjust the price? She became even more sarcastic & rude so I left. I went back the next day and showed her my receipt. She laughed and said that item isn't on sale today, when just the day before it was. I went and looked at the item and she had removed the sale tag. I sent all the information to IKEA Customer Service, but they did bother replying. I WILL NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM IKEA AGAIN.

I tried to retun a chair today on Nov 8, 08 at Ikea covina. I was at the customer service. The customer svc representative said it was opened box and took my item and went to back room and said he has to inspect it. And it took him about half and hour. Finally, he came with the chair assembled and told me nothing wrong with it.

It looks sturdy to him. And he won't issue the refund because it was assembled. But the item was opened for seeing but never installed or used. But it is ridiculous because he assembled it, of course, it is assembled and considered to be his definition "Used" and against the store return policy. So, I asked for customer service manager. There was a young girl came out and I recalled her name is Shiela, and she is the person in charge there which I doubted. And she said she could do us favor and grant me 70% of the original value store credit. I refuse because I won't shop again at this store. I tried to take some pics there so, I might be able to post on the net to share my experiences. But she was trying to take my camera away. I told her that you better not to touch me. I was totally disgruntled! Bad Service! Unbelievable & Amazing! Never See this kind of customer service In USA. And customer service will risk their company reputation or facing possibilites of violating a consumers's right for a $ 50 merchandise.

I had the same problem. I bought a foam mattress from Ikea after I asked the lady responsible of that division about their return policy. She said clearly that it is 90 days if you are not satisfied “Satisfaction Quarentie”. I tried to return the mattress after 10 days since it was a vey bad quality and they had the following excuses:

I am returning a used mattress. Which I couldn’t be satisfied if I don’t try it. I am not returning the mattress in its original package. There is no ways I can package the mattress again in its original package. The packaging they have is designed not to be reused. Then they took the mattress to their warehouse to inspected, and they mentioned that it has a stain and they can not take it back. Of course, I couldn’t go with them and probably, if there is any stain, it would be from their dirty floor.

I will never shop in Ikea again since they are misleading their consumers about the return policy, so they can sell their products.

In November, I bought a pax hemnes wardrobe, without the doors, on the basis that the doors would be in stock within a few weeks (as instructed by the in store staff). I had rung Ikea Nottingham several time to see if the doors were in stock, to be told that they weren't but that they would be in X number of weeks. Every time I rang after that number of weeks, I was told that they were not in stock and that they would be in X number of weeks. So I tried to order the doors online, but they seem to be the only product that is unavailable to buy online.

One day EIGHT months later, I can buy the doors online. BRILLIANT. Not really. My order is put back a week, and then the day before I am due to have the doors delivered, I get an email confirming my cancellation... WHAT? It appears that the card had been declined, yet they only bothered to tell me this the day before I was due to have them delivered, despite the fact that someone from Ikea had called me to confirm the delivery. S

o, I ordered the doors again with another card...and when I checked my bank statement they had taken the money out! Why would you cancel an order saying there was a problem with the card when you have already taken your payment?

So yes, back to the present, I have paid AGAIN for the doors, and lo and behold, someone rang me a couple of days ago saying that the doors wouldn't be available for my delivery date, and that they would be delivered in a weeks time. Do I believe this? Well, no. During this process I have written to Ikea twice asking them why I haven't received my doors. The first time I was told that they would be in at a certain time (which they werent) and the second time I wrote in asking for some sort of compensation (or at least my doors!), but they replied saying they couldnt offer me anything and that they were pleased I had managed to re-order the doors. Had they not been paying attention? Obviously I am not going to get these doors this time around either. OR EVER.

So, TEN months down the line and I am still doorless, and £140 short.

The ikea staff are rude, never call you back, the managers never call back and speak to customers like s*t. The staff in the leeds store argue with customers and chew gum whilst taking to you! Don't want to see whats in there mounth! Have you no manners at all. Avoid ikea at all costs. I will never shop at the ikea again ever..

Yet another complaint about ikea. 2 weeks ago I went to ikea to order my kitchen. All was going so well; very helpful assistant, everything would be delivered, etc. The bill came to over £200 more than I expected but I hadn't know exactly what price the double width worksurface would be so although the assistant and I scanned down the order checking the price of items - but not the total for each items - and everything seemed in order. Aware of a queue forming behind me I decided to check further at home. This is when I found the mistake - mr ca had ordered 33 plinths for me instead of 3 - enough to plinth my entire town! - at an extra cost of £270.

I called ikea immediately and was told someone would call me back - which they did the next day although I was not impressed when the man said I would have to show them my paperwork first. I suggested he looked online as this was an order waiting to be delivered and he would have all the information there. He called back, confirmed the mistake and said it would be forwarded to the relevant department. (Don't you just dread that phrase?)

The following week my credit card bill arrived; ikea's full amount was on it but no credit. I called the bank first to check it wasn't being processed. Then I called ikea. They promised to call me back, that day or the next. Nothing. 2 days later I called again. They promised to call me back later that day. Nothing. I've checked with my bank again this morning to see if anything is being processed - no. So I called ikea again and have been told someone will call me back.

My credit card bill is due next week. This kitchen cost £2000 - should have been £270 less! - and I clear my cards each month so I don't get charged interest. I do not want to pay the extra £270 and wait another month for my credit.

I am writing on this board because ikea has no complaint department you can email or write to. You can call them - and they can promise to call you back, or you can chat online. But I want to write so my full complaint is logged.

I have been given a delivery date but reading the forum on ikea deliveries I am not holding my breath...

I bought a folding chair from Ikea about a few months ago and today my daughter fell off the chair. When she went to pick up the chair and put it right it folded on her and her left index finger got caught in between the folded legs. Within seconds her fingertip, nail and mass all snapped off her hand (imagine pulling a soft prawn apart). I had to pick up her finger from the floor and rush her to A&E where I was told that the finger can not be sewn back. She now has to have an operation tomorrow to do something for the bone sticking out. Do you know what it felt like to see my 7 year old child's finger on the floor and her hand missing a finger with blood and mass gushing out.I thought these chairs were supposed to be safe but I am now proof that they are not.

We bought a book case from Ikea for a kids room.
We assembled it halfway & then realized that it will be too big for a small room. We had not even open all the pegs & the screws. Everything was in its original packing. Two day later we went to return it to the store.
First it was a two mile long return line. Finally after standing there for 1 hour we got our chance to speak to the customer service rep. He was the rudest person we ever met. His eyes scanned every single shelf for 20 mins & then in the end he pointed to a less than 1mm spot on the shelf where the paint was chipped. He said the book shelf can't be returned. We never even opened it to assemble & it was among the last shelves.
Bottom line, after talking to the rudest of the people including the managers & wasting 3 hours of our time, we were told that the item couldn't be returned.
On top of that they literally, opened every single pack & threw it in the corner for us to pack & take it home. They didn't even have the decency to put it together if not in the original packing then at least something we could carry home.
Bottom line, Ikea is good to shop for stuff which does not require assembly. Because once you open it there is no way they can return it easily. I think they have been schooled to make the return process as difficult & pain sticking as possible so that the customer takes the stuff back out of sheer frustration.
Ikea your return policy sucks !

was there yesterday, the cashier (her name is Michelle, i believe it was cashier counter #8 or 10) was extremely rude. Asked me to take stuff out of my bags like she was ordering tacos in a drive-thru lane. when i lay out all the items right next to her (i would say about 12" away from the chair she was sitting on) she kept staring at the good and refused to count all 7 of them while repeatly asking me "how many?" and "hand them over to me". when i told her i was not going to do her job she gave me the F word and said i aint doing this shxt no more and get ur shxt out of here. and when i asked for a store manager and her name she said i dont need to know her name and if i want to know, i can ask someone else.

I recently went to the closest ikea store 40 miles away. I needed to buy a few items to finish a kitchen remodeling job. While I was there I tried to return an item that was bought online. They would not accept the return because it was purchased online and there way nothing they could do. Any other store would have no problem with a return. I stormed out of the store so they could not take any more of my money. When I did I was attacked by they loss prevention manager. The stores are more communist now than they ever were. Lawsuit pending!

Having been to Ikea many times in various states and always having fair customer service I was appalled at the treatment and down right rudeness I was showed today at Ikea's Brooklyn location. I showed up this morning to exchange something I bought 2 days ago from their As-Is section. I bought it primarily because I didn't have time to go through the whole store looking for furniture with my one year old in tow. When the item did not work in my space I looked at the receipt and there was no reference to "exchanging" as-is furniture. The only reference says no refunds; therefore I loaded the item and my son in the car and drove 35 minutes to the store. Arriving at the store I was told to take a number in which I would proceed to wait 45 minutes to see a sales associate. She as very rude informed me that they will not take the item back; I tried to explain I just wanted to exchange it for another item in there as-is section. Finally she called her manager which was just as rude and was actually laughing with the girls making a joke of us. She called the two store managers which explained to her I would have to wait. After waiting for nearly one hour (with my 1year old) the store managers John and Jason who told me that, yes I was correct that it did not say on the receipt, nor was it posted on the wall behind the counter stating their policies however there is a small sign stating it in the As-Is room. I explained that one would only see that sign if you happen to go all the way in the room; as I did not because there happens to be so many items, they spill onto the space behind the registers. I tried to explain my point when he abruptly said "I am done talking to you. and told me if I wasn't buying anything I needed to leave. He then called security to escort me out. Wait...this 6 foot 250lb plus man is scared of little 5'6 125lb me and is calling security? Are you kidding? I asked for the corporate offices address and number he refused to give me the address instead one of the other managers gave me the 1800 # and he said I could go on line and find out for my self the address. When asked what the names of the sales associates/mgrs I spoke to he refused to give me the information saying I am the only one you need to know and my name is Jason as he laughed. I can not tell you how ignorant and rude this individual was and he is representing the company, this is an embarrassment in this economy I don't know how any company can survive with this type of disregard to the customers! We are the ones who keep their doors open! Thank twice before visiting and purchasing at this location!

Let's boycott Ikea.

I have two bad experience that turn me off from Ikea. I would advise strongly that you reconsider if you want to shop at Ikea.

1. I bought a wardrobe from Ikea. I was told to pick up on the same day. Three of the pieces of the wardrobe is big and heavy. So, I sent my contractor to pick up at night. When he got to Ikea, waited for 40 minutes, he was told one of the pieces is not available and he has to come back half to one hour later or the next day. Com'n, we have paid for the item and it is not available for pick up? Also, one of the pieces is damaged. The next day, I went back to the store to make sure, and was promised by the store manager, that the two pieces will be put aside so that my contractor can pick up when he gets here at night. So my contractor goes again the second night. However, the piece that replacing the damaged one has not been set aside at all! worse still, he was told that it is out of stock! We went back a week later today and was promised that it will be set aside for my contractor to pick up...my contractor and myself have run at least five times for this $1100 purchase as if Ikea never appreciate our business.

2. We also bought a metal box with "as-if" condition. However, when I went back and unwrap it, my finger was cut by a deep dent at one edge. There is no way to see the dent at the store because there was a sticker there on the wrap (I would think it is purposely done so). The box cost only $5, not a big deal, but I brought it back so that I can tell Ikea that this is not right.
However, guess what? very interesting. You can see Ikea's customer service attitude and philosophy from such small thing like this:
(A) the girl at return counter told me that the dent should not be sharp enough to hurt someone.
(B) the manager comes, he told me that this is "as-if", can not be returned. I told him, this is cheating because the dent was intentionally covered. Besides, this is a consumer safety issue as well. These two argument should take priority over the "as-if"condition.
(C) the manager also said that he did not wrap this. Isn't this funny? of course I know that he did not take the plastic bag, sticker to wrap this. But the wrap is still done by Ikea (with a Ikea sign on it!), and that is still what I mean by cheating!
(C) I get the manager of the manager over. I told him that this is the safety issue and I could put them to court. He kind of telling me that he is not afraid to go to court because he has been there many many times...Com'n, is he saying that consumers have been taking Ikea to court extensively? Ikea must be doing so badly that he has alot of this court experience! the statement say it all! Anyway, he did give me store credit at the end...unapologetically.

$5 is a small matter. I really do not care if I do not get the $5 back. My point of taking the item to Ikea is more to tell them that this is not the right thing to do (wrapping the dent area so that it is not seen and sell item "as-if") if this is done intentionally. If it is unintentionally, all they have to do is apologize for that (because someone get his finger cut!). However...you can see from the above experience for myself...do you want to visit Ikea again? not me. I won't spend another $1 there. After all, Ikea does not seem to contribute the money back into the society (http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6919139) appropriately.

I thought I was the only one who felt that Ikea lacks customer service. I felt Bullied for asking them to show me how to work a supposed adjustable chair that wouldn't adjust for me. The Customer Service Guy said he didn't know but couldn't refund my money unless the chair was defective. HELLO! If it wont adjust and it's supposed to adjust, IT's DEFECTIVE! the customer service rep asked for the next customer and told me to move out of the way so he could help her. I haven't shopped there since and have encouraged all of my friends and family to also stop shopping there.

I used IKEA's in store kitchen planners and their approved installer-planner ( They only have one) for an extra charge. When I explained the challenges of my small space and when he actually saw it, he drew up plans that did not reflect the actual space. When I asked for actual measurements, he agreed to revise the plans. Because I wanted to get the 20% discount on a substantial order, I needed to get the revised plan and check it out. A week before the deadline he said he had mailed it; he hadn't, and I ended up in the the store where he had faxed an order at the last minute and I placed the order. When I checked through everything later that day, several items were not in stock and missing.

I have slowly gotten the missing items but needed to get them home on my own or for an extra charge.

During the weeks that followed, I tried to give feedback at the store and was promised return calls that never happened. Their 30" cook top does not fit in their 30" base cabinet. A downdraft vent does not fit behind their oven. Their planner never mentioned this. When I asked if he even had a contractors license, they said yes, but when I asked for a number, he didn't have one!

The planner's order included butcher block counter tops which I never ordered. And I have a dented refrigerator that I called about 6 days in a row. Since you are routed to an East Coast call center and not the store when you call in and since they do not answer the 1451 customer service number when you call the actual store number, it is almost impossible to resolve any problem. I finally went in and Stephen (the person I was promised would call me back) happened to be there. He said he got no messages and that it would be another week or two till they got the refrigerator, but that they would call me.

Hopefully, that will actually happen.

Fortunately, I have someone doing the work for me who has been able to work through the problems. But "Kitchen Planning Center" and their "official consultant" are a joke.

I spent over 12 K on kitchen cabinets and counter tops at Ikea, which has turned out to be a mistake and nightmare. The quality of the cabinets are what I expected for the low price, so that is not an issue. My issue is the ongoing incompetence throughout this process, and more importantly is the poor customer service provided by upper management when problems occur. The sales people have always been nice, however the ongoing mistakes are a reflection of poor management and training.

My last conversation with Sac store cust svc rep, Brooke, did not go well. I do not want to deal with her again, however she refused to transfer me to the store manager Heine Roikjer, or to her supervisor, Leslie. She told me that she was the only person I can deal with to resolve my issues. I did not appreciate her approach or her tone in our conversation. I had been able to work through the mistakes up until this point, but after speaking with Brooke, I want to return my entire kitchen, I intend to cancel the $4, 000 counter top, and I don't want to shop at Ikea again. It's sad becuase I had always liked Ikea. I see clearly Ikea is NOT qualified to plan, order, or provide ongoing customer service for a kitchen remodel. The amount of time, energy and money this has cost me, is not worth the savings that I was lured into with 20% off the kitichen special.

I recommend that Ikea shoppers stick with the small items, rather than big ticket items. I have been buying from Ikea for 12 years, since they opened in Burbank CA. I am at a loss and very disappointed. I will share this information as far and wide as possible. Sadly I don't expect to get any response from Ikea to this email.

I purchased a dresser 2 1/2 years ago. Most ikea items come with proprietary parts, so when the door sliders started to fall apart, it was impossible for us to find compatible drawer guides to replace the faulty ones. Ikea has no warranty, is unwilling to help, unapologetic about it's poor quality. I've also purchased lighting from them and their bulbs are proprietary, materials cheap. I guess I didn't really expect them to exchange or replace the dresser, but an apology would have been nice and i've learned my lesson never to buy anything more complex than a mirror, vase or hook from them again.

I went to Ikea and tried to buy a kitchen counter displayed on their floor. It was out of stock and they did not know when in would be in stock. They would not sell me the display model. I found the item online and checked every store in the US, no stock. How can they display an item online and on their floor and not have it in stock or know when it will ship? I have had the same experience with their office line, a monumental lack of information. It seems all they want to sell is $20 bookshelves to college students because that is all the furniture they have in inventory, the rest is just for show.

Before I purchased the Besta TV entertainment center wall unit, I asked
about assembly, because I knew I could never do it myself. I was told by an IKEA employee, who had my "shopping list" in front of her, that it would be 10-20% of the purchase price. Okay, I could handle that, so I made the purchase, loaded the flat-bed carts to save on delivery charges, loaded my car, and drove home. I was too pooped to unload the car, so I got out the two business cards the IKEA employee gave me - little blue and yellow business cards that IKEA had an "arrangement with." When I got through to them, I was informed that it's NOT a percentage of the purchase price, you're charged by the PIECE. He said it would cost $385 for them to assemble the wall unit that cost $868. When I called IKEA to complain about being misled about the costs of assembly, they said, oh, you should have looked into that before you made the purchase. I guess speaking to the IKEA employee isn't checking into it? I got, oh, we don't have any control over those outside assembly people. Funny, the little blue and yellow business cards are passed out at IKEA and say "IKEA-certified installer" on them and I was told at IKEA that I would be charged 10-20%. I think it's a scam. They know darn good and well that if they told you it would cost HALF of the purchase price to get the darn thing assembled, you wouldn't buy their complicated furniture items in the first place.

oh IKEA, is the worst customer service, even the manager on the showroom they have at palo alto, ca, she is the worst, could you believe we asked for help, because we have kids, she told him you should for 20 minutes, he came bake and told me, you know when you go with kids it is not easy to wait that long since we went on Monday to buy it only and leave, since it easier than any other day, and then i became mad and i went to her telling her and i was angry i have kids should i wait for 20 minutes, she said yes the guy he is on his launch you should wait with bad tone, instead to be nice, here i lost my temper since she is pregnant she can’t help, i said no one on the floor no it is bad economy, i asked for the manager, she was the manager, really is the worst store in my opinion you can used high quality furniture an looks like new better than ikea, i will never ever go there, the worst store for the customer service even in my idea they are not that cheap for the quality they have, the worst management and customer service

They advertised a stock pot, regularly $40 for $10. One per household, while supplies last. Store opens at 10 AM - they offered free breakfast between 9 - 10 AM so I got there about 9:30. I noticed they were giving something out at door, looked like a flyer about the breakfast but I already had the ad from Sunday paper. Had breakfast, then waited in the line to get in store. 10 AM I enter and look for stock pot. None in the kitchen supply area. The other item I was looking for from the ad was there and I got my limit. Someone said you had to have a coupon to get the stockpot and they were up by the checkout counters. Strange I thought. The paper ad nor the TV ad say anything about a coupon or first so many customers. I go to checkout and see the stockpots being held hostage on the far left wall by the clerks. They would not sell me one without the coupon they gave out before the store opened. I had to make a scene but I got my stockpot ("someone gave their coupon up"). IKEA practices deceptive advertising and I will not let one of their ads lure me back to their store again.