It all started in 2007 when my wife and I moved back home to Texas after living in Japan. We were thrilled to have an IKEA within driving distance of us. It was like seeing those giant yellow letters against the huge blue box hypnotized us and made us give them all our money. No, seriously. We refurnished our entire apartment in IKEA. It’s like that scene in Fight Club, before the apartment blows up.

Customer Service nightmare

Well then it happened. Our first “bump in the road” with IKEA. We wanted new couch covers so we ended up having to special order them and after a month or so when they finally arrived and got them home and were putting them on we found they sent us two left covers. No big deal I thought, just give them a call and they will fix this.

Well what I thought would turn out to be a simple fix turned out to be a 3-4 month process of paperwork and heated phone calls with customer service. Then to top it all off, by the time we finally got the new couch cover one of them was ripped from a box cutter. Way to go IKEA.

Everyone deserves a second chance

Fast forward to January this year when my wife and I were planning to remodel our bathroom. Okay, I had bigger plans than my wife, but still we were both excited to make some updates. So we thought we’d give IKEA another chance, one because they’re cheap and two because we like the design.

Here’s what we bought:

• 1 new vanity with a new sink
• 2 new faucets
• 1 new cabinet to hang above our toilet
• 1 new birch wood storage shelf

Here’s what we had to return:

• 1 new vanity (they messed up and gave us the wrong size)
• 2 new faucets (they were a giant headache, but I’ll get into that later)

All fixtures are not the same

Little did we know that the sizes IKEA labels on all their plumping and fixture is not the size it says. They are all European/Swiss/Elvish sizes and do no work with standard American fittings. Such a freaking headache. I’ve spent more time in Home Depot in the last few months that I deserve a paycheck.

This is the biggest mistake they are making in my opinion. And they don’t even give you a warning, notice or friendly note about it. It’s like they’re saying: “Hey, come buy our stuff, but don’t expect any help when you can’t get it to work. Suckers!”

So ended up buying two new Price Pfister faucets that look amazing and undoubtedly will last longer the ones from IKEA. Plus, the connections work flawlessly with standard American sizes. Imagine that.

Next time around

Next time my wife and I plan on remodling our bathroom I will definitely be saving the extra cash for quality furniture. Am I still frustrated? No, not anymore. Why did I write this post? To hopefully help someone who is in the same situation or think of other options. Will I ever shop at IKEA again? Yes, my wife and I really like their shelves and storage stuff. What is one tip you would give to anyone buying furniture from IKEA? Use wood glue, lock tight, or whatever you can find when assembling your furniture. It will help it last longer.