I have been assembling flat pack furniture for a living for almost 4 years and have seen almost every product on the high street. I have also worked for many people and heard their good and bad stories about Ikea. In my opinion this is what you get from Ikea:-
GOOD POINTS
- well designed, good quality products at a very good price.
BAD POINTS
- you do all the work involved in the purchase.
If you have never been to Ikea then you need to be warned before you go about the bad point above.
The sales process involves wandering through a pre-defined path so you pass all the stock. More recently they have added customer short cuts to the stores so you don’t have to pass eveything anymore!
As you make your journey you have a small peice of paper and note down the product codes (as you would in Argos) of the items you want (don’t forget the aisle number).
If you are buying a particular set of furniture you can ask an assistant to print the entire list of product codes for that set for you. This is most useful if you have seen what you want in the catalogue and just point at it!
As you near the end you can collect smaller items in your trolley or your fetching nylon shoulder bag, such as crockery, wall art, plants, soft furnishings etc.
The final peice and the one that causes most consternation is collecting the larger items, i.e. funriture (which is really why you came!). It is like a warehouse and you are the picker, with one or more uncontrollable trollies you set about picking your items based on the product codes you have written down. Without the aisle number you are out of luck!
Some items (i.e. Pax Wardrobes ~50Kg) are so heavy you cannot pick them up on your own. As I say you do all the work! When you put them on the trolley align them so that all the bar codes are visible at one end, so the check out assistant can easily scan them and not make you unload the trolley!
You then have a choice, have you arrived in or hired a van? If not go to the delivery desk (after you have bought the goods), and they will advise you how and when they can deliver. This is where the fun really starts, will they deliver when you want? maybe! will they deliver the furniture to the room of choice? maybe! Important if you live in flats or a large house. If the answer is no, then you have to wheel the flipping lot back and get a refund, what a waste of time? So if you are going to use the instore delivery firm, check before you buy, that they will deliver when and where you want otherwise you will waste a lot of time and effort.
Once you have got the furniture home, give yourself plenty of time to assemble it. If you want some help there are plenty of people providing an assembly service online (I do) and you can also find helpful tips here and there (see my profile on here).
Now the final thing that will annoy you is if you have to take stuff back! The whole process takes ages, becuase there is always a queue and the returns desk only ever has one person on it (well as far as Iave seen anyway). I could go on but there is no need.
Here are my tips:
- If you are going to buy furniture plan how you will get it home before you go. Your options include borrowing/hiring a van, hiring a man and van team or using the in store delviery team. Don’t expect people to be available at the drop of a hat either, are you?
- Thoroughly check the exterior of all boxes and packaging, if this is damaged or opened there is a greater chance the contents may be damaged. Let someone else buy it, so you don’t have to queue to exchange it if you need to.
- Do not open any items if you might take them back, Ikea charge a
restocking fee if the packaging is opened.
- Give yourself plenty of time when you go.
- Don’t go on your own.
- Everyone I know raves about the meatballs, I’ve never tied them, but the non-alcoholic Kopperberg cider is lovely!
As I say despite all this, the products are great, well designed and good value for money. So go for it, just plan before you go!