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....!

Road Trip!

It was Memorial Day weekend and we intentionally had absolutely no plans. Mitch took Friday off so we were able to get all of your errands done before the weekend officially started. Saturday morning dawned and we were eating breakfast and talking about getting some shelves when Mitch asked if I wanted to go to IKEA. There are two IKEAS in the Los Angeles area -- a 4 hour drive one way from Vegas. I was a bit hesitant to drive 8 hours in one day with a 10 month old so we looked on-line to see if we could find a hotel for $50. Turns out, you can find a hotel on Memorial Day weekend for $39.99 in Barstow, California. So in about an hour we got everyone dressed and packed and out the door we went!

First stop: Primm, Nevada for lunch and shopping at the Primm Valley Outlets

Daddy & Ella outside the Casino/Hotel.


Ella's first Jello experience at lunch. Mommy had a BOGO free coupon for the buffet! Yum!

Second stop: Barstow, California
We spent the night at the Motel 6


And had dinner at Bun Boy.


Sunday morning we left Barstow and headed to IKEA in Covina, California.

Third stop: IKEA, Covina, California





FIVE HOURS later (we did stop for Swedish meatballs in the cafe)...we got back on the road.

Last stop: Big Boy, Barstow, California
After 5 hours in a shopping cart, 2 hours in the car and 30 minutes in a high chair, Ella needed to stretch her legs. So we played on the grass outside of Big Boy for a while.







We got all of our loot from IKEA home safely and spent Sunday re-decorating. Mostly we bought shelves and moved all of our stuff UP and out of the grasp of little girls. We decided to renew our lease and stay in this apartment for another fun-filled year and we needed to make it a bit more kid-proof.

I am a planner by nature so I'm not really the spur of the moment kind of person. This weekend was tons of fun, though, just because it was spur of the moment! Can't wait until Mitch decides to do it again!