IKEA, Take 2

I just got off the phone with the returns manager at IKEA in Covina, California. They were supposed to call by Wednesday at the absolute latest. According to her, on the BACK of the 4 x 6 white tag hanging where the bed frame was located, it states that you may need a midbeam for your bed. Do you see the bright yellow, neon tags in the pictures above? Apparently, we are to ignore those and take off the small white tags hanging (you can see those, too in the pics) flip those OVER and read all the fine print.

According to her, IKEA is a self-service store without pushy sales people so the customr is responsible for reading all the fine print. This, despite the fact that when you walk in to the IKEA there is a GIGANTIC wall painted with information on 2 ways you shop at IKEA 1) Self-Service and 2) See a Co-Worker. Our bed frame was the "See a Co-Worker" type of item. I told her I understood that IKEA was self-service, but when you ask a customer to see a co-worker, then the co-worker needs to provide all the information.

So she argued and argued with me -- hello?? I'm the CUSTOMER! Don't yell at me! But she went from refusing to waive the shipping to shipping out the midbeam to us without charging shipping. I have no idea how we got there.... because she never once told me I was right. She did, ironically, say that this midbeam thingy is a common issue. HELLO?? Then CHANGE something! Do something about the problem!

When Mitch called over the weekend they told him shipping was $18.51. Today she told me it was $6.00....

I'm not sure where we stand now. We love IKEA, but man that was really crappy customer service. I got what I think is the right thing to do (send us the part and don't charge us), but I had to yell and argue and she yelled and argued right back. Oh how I long for the days when the customer was always right....!