Public Mediation

IKEA North America-Dispute-#1093489

S. T. vs. Ikea North America
400 Alan Wood Rd, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, 19428, United States
Amount Involved: Other terms
Complaint(s): Bad business practices
    • Status: In Negotiation
      This claim has posted for public comment and negotiation. It will remain posted until resolved to the claimant's satisfaction. Suggest a resolution to help these parties reach a settlement.
       (seeking public comment)
    • Claimant Seeks: 2 non-monetary items.
    • Claim #: 1093489
    • Amount Involved: N/A
    • Filed On: Nov 30, 2012
    • Posted On: Dec 11, 2012
    • Complaint(s):
      • Bad business practices
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Statement of Claim
Complaint Involved (1) - View
Claimant says:
"I went to the Charlotte store at around 5 PM on Nov. 28th, 2012. The store was relatively empty and I got great help in the sofa and kitchen departments. So I was in a pretty good mood until I went to load up the bookshelves etc that I was buying that night. There was no-one around, I was by myself, and it turned out that the trolleys designed for self-load don't have discernible brakes. No brakes? WHAT is IKEA thinking?

This meant that every time I tried to get the bookshelves onto the trolley, it skittered away--a lawsuit waiting to happen, frankly. There may be brakes on those trolleys, but I'm darned if I could find them--I looked closely, believe me--and I ended up with some big bruises, jammed fingers and a bad mood.

Then, when I got to the check-out area, only two self-serve '15 items or less' check-outs were open. The line was incredible. No-one had 15 items or less, including me, and the mood was foul. Eventually, a full-serve lane opened and immediately developed a long line. Those of us with difficult-to-manoevre loads were not agile enough to beat out the newcomers and were therefore stuck in self-serve.

When it was finally my turn, I tried to scan my items. I had multiples of picture frames in several sizes. I scanned the first one just fine; the second shut down the scanner with 'item not found.' The employee apparently in charge of supervising self-check-out had no interest in helping but preferred to continue a long conversation with someone who may have been another employee or a friend; I couldn't tell. She completely ignored my requests for help.

Finally, I used my cellphone to snap a picture of her talking away to this other person, just to see if she really couldn't see and hear me. She sure saw that, and came right over to fix the problem. The problem, however, kept happening over and over again and I was very uncomfortably aware of the irritation of people in the long line behind me. I was flustered, frustrated, and to be honest, probably less than polite. Each time, it was like pulling teeth to get help.

All of this could have gone away had this employee / supervisor been engaged, personable and aware of the problems. A simple apology for the lack of cashiers would have gone a very long way. Instead, IKEA's customers were made to feel as if they were just an annoyance, and the wait time was infinitely longer because of the lack of help with self-checkout and the failure of the scanners to read barcodes.

It took me roughly 45 minutes to check out, on a quiet weeknight evening. Unbelievable."
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Additional Communication Between Claimant and Ikea North America Hide
  • Dec 12, 2012, Claiming party added:

  • I'm really disappointed that IKEA hasn't responded to this complaint except to ask me to use an email address identical to the one I used. I was trying to be constructive instead of just whining on some 'I hate IKEA' site.

What Claimant Wants Hide
What By When How Much
1. Apology: For lack of customer service and employee indifference to check-out issues. Dec 15, 2012 N/A
2. Change of policy: Put brakes on trolleys so that it is safer to load heavy items onto them. Mar 15, 2013 N/A
Just make me happy!
Claimant invites IKEA North America to make a fair offer to resolve this complaint.
Non-cash: 2 items
  • 0
Do you agree with the claimant’s demands?  (If you are a party to this claim, click here.)

Respondent's Counteroffer

There has been no response to this claim from IKEA North America. This claim will remain posted until resolved
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  • Comment: by Mark Deuitch (137 points) — I Love Helping People Resolve Complex Problems And Seeing Justice Served.
    • On: 12-14-2012
    View more
  • IKEA should respond. What's wrong with those people? Swedish Meatballs!
  • Comment: by Mark Deuitch (137 points) — I Love Helping People Resolve Complex Problems And Seeing Justice Served.
    • On: 12-14-2012
    View more
  • *offense, not office....sorry bout the typos
  • Comment: by Mark Deuitch (137 points) — I Love Helping People Resolve Complex Problems And Seeing Justice Served.
    • On: 12-14-2012
    View more
  • Jennifer, no office but your suggestion seems a bit lame since thats already what PeopleClaim does. As for the claim, this is really inexcusable. I'd say sue, but thats not very constructive. Chances are others have had the same problem and maybe they'll come forward and file claims too. Sounds like IKEA needs to address this asap and compensate you for your injuries and trouble. IF they don't a class action might get their attention.

    Good luck
  • Comment: by Claimant On: 12-14-2012
    View more
  • Thanks for the suggestions, but I asked PeopleClaim to send this by mail to IKEA's HQ as well, so they should be aware of the issues I experienced. The only response so far is to ask me to send my complaint to the email address I already sent it to, which doesn't even make sense. They may have a good reason for not putting brakes on the trolleys, what do I know, but if so, they should be able to explain it. I think it's downright dangerous. I am quite strong and perfectly able to load on my own, as many people do, but not when the cart is skittering around like that. If there HAD been two of us, the other person would have been helping to lift, not holding the cart. I'm surprised that there hasn't already been legal action about this.

    The feeling I have right now is that IKEA really doesn't give a damn about its customers.

    I did tell a very helpful woman helping with parts about the checkout issues and she said it was a 'shift change' problem and would pass on my comments. This seems crazy to me. IKEA is supposed to have legendary efficiency, and yet they can't stagger a shift change.
  • Comment: by Jennifer Sheehy — Online mediator
    • On: 12-14-2012
    View more
  • I would definitely put this in a letter, and address it to the local store, as well as the corporate headquarters. Be concise in your statement, stating exactly what you went through. You honestly may get more of a response about the trolley issue, because you did have some form of injury from using those carts. I think more likely you will get more of a response from the corporate headquarters in this case.
  • Comment: by Johnnie Mae Gaskins — Online mediator
    • On: 12-12-2012
    View more
  • Reach out to IKEA Store Manager. If no resolve contact the corporate office to express your concerns.
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