All Good Things Must Come To An End

Once upon a time, Ikea was among my most frequented stores. My daughter’s early vocabulary included the Swedish brand. 85% of all furniture in my house have the famous four-lettered logo embroidered on the tag.

While the quality was always hit or miss, the prices were a constant that fit perfectly in our budget. Once we got a standing wardrobe with three drawers and two doors for only $29 each (we got three). If you were diligent, you could get some pretty decent furniture for a reasonable price. Billy, Gorm, and Lack have been apart of our home for years.

But, alas, all good things must come to an end. As with all companies that gain fame and fortune, things change. That usually means quality goes down and prices go up. That is true in this case as well.

Is it possible to make particle board even less sturdy? Yes! Once an item is assembled it becomes practically useless if you ever try to move it. Things are so cheaply made that even the displays, which you would think are super-glued and fitted with heavy-duty bolts, are wobbly.

The sales are laughable and, for lack of a better word, stink. The only reason so many items have a “new lower price” is because they raised them so much the preceding years. The monthly specials are hardly discounted and only feature things no one wants anyway. Returned items can be bought at a discount in the As-Is area but, in my opinion, that has become synonymous with the ‘junk corner’.

At least they have good customer service, right? Wrong! With about ten customers in the line to return, only 1-2 girls are working and somehow they both move so slow you would think they were going backwards. That is only if they are moving. Otherwise any workers in the vicinity will gather around one monitor trying to figure out which button to push.

We once got a store card for a large purchase. Though we promptly paid the amount in full, we still kept the account open just in case. When I went to use it the other day, the account had apparently been closed.

Thanks for the extra sweat and embarrassment by not giving me any notice at all. Great way to entice customers to buy more…

So if I ever step foot in the giant blue and yellow box, it will only be for their yummy meatballs and mashed potatoes.