Not thrilled with IKEA, and wouldn’t shop there again.
D and I visited the store nearest our home to look around and make some selections for her new place, which is closer to several other IKEAS. Decided on what she wanted, and then arranged the purchases with a third-party service that purchases/picks up from one of the latter stores, delivers, and assembles the same day. On the day it was all supposed to happen, and D had taken time off from work to be at home, the service called to say that they had tried at both local IKEAS, but the chest of drawers she had selected had been recalled and wouldn’t be available for three more months. This wasn’t from the line of furniture that was recalled in its entirety and got all the publicity, but was one of many other items that were also recalled but whose identity was buried on a pdf you had to smart enough to look for on IKEA’s website. Neither the floor model in the store we visited nor the regular website page disclosed the recall or the delay for this piece.
Since none of the other IKEA chests fit her space requirements and storage needs, D had to scramble to find a reasonably priced alternative (in an area where she didn’t know the furniture store options) that could be delivered on Labor Day weekend so she would have somewhere to put her clothes when she moved. It was a huge hassle during an otherwise very busy time, and she ended up spending a lot more than she had planned.
I think the way IKEA handled the entire falling furniture recall process was questionable. I don’t know all the ins and outs, but it seems they were unwilling to comply with US safety requirements until forced to. Then failing to disclose that some items shown for sale would be unavailable for extended periods of time just added insult to injury. I have to assume IKEA just figured consumers would be forced to select another IKEA option when they found out their carefully planned room wasn’t going to come together as hoped. I question the company’s ethics.