IKEA — Hotel in Delft

I have been a very loyal IKEA customer but I had a truly upsetting experience at the Småland play area in IKEA Delft yesterday (on Saturday 13 September 2025) and want to share it so other parents know.

My husband, our three-year-old son and I arrived around 17:30. My husband signed our son in while I was on an urgent call and then stepped out briefly to grab a drink from the supermarket on the same floor. Because his phone battery was dying, he left my name and mobile number with the staff for emergencies.

Not long after, I heard my son crying. When I reached the play area I found him sitting near the gate in a corner, sobbing—alone and unsupervised—and no one had called the emergency number we had provided.

I immediately identified myself as his mother and even offered to show both my ID and my son’s ID card. Still, staff refused to let me comfort him or even stand near him, insisting only the registering parent could pick him up.

What happened next was awful: • My little boy cried inconsolably, reaching for me and begging to leave—clearly scared of something inside. • I politely asked multiple times to step into the double-gate “mantrap” area or at least hold his hand under staff supervision until my husband came back. Every request was refused. • I even offered to go inside the play area under their supervision just to hold him—also refused. • When I reached over the wooden gate to try to calm him, a staff member pulled him farther away, making him cry harder. • The gate design meant he could see me but not touch me, which only increased his panic.

Only when either the manager arrived or my husband returned (I was too upset to remember exactly and my husband cannot remember either- we were both in a shock) did they finally let me hold my child. By then he was traumatized—he cried in his sleep all night.

I understand the need for safety rules, but the staff showed no empathy, no flexibility, and no training to handle or de-escalate a situation like this. They completely ignored a distraught three-year-old, failed to call the emergency number they’d been given, and refused even the smallest comfort measures.

This experience left my child—and me—deeply shaken. I have already filed an official complaint with IKEA Netherlands and will follow up until I receive a proper response and action. I hope IKEA seriously reviews their Småland policies, improves staff training, and rethinks how they handle emergencies when the registering parent can’t be reached. Parents should not have to watch their terrified child be kept away from them while staff stand by. What happened was...

Delivery and customer services are the worst ever experienced. Bought a big expensive cupboard and paid around 100 EUR (in an order of several Ks) to get it delivered to my bedroom.

First, the delivery personnel were complaining about getting to the upper floor and they were giving me stuff in the ground floor to carry it myself upstairs (small stuff tho). Looks like those guys are doing you a favor instead of giving you a service you paid for.

There were many items not delivered, one of them was a module of a wardrobe that weights more than 20 Kg. Contacted customer services and they quickly arranged to re-send the missing items but when arrived the delivery guy left the huge cupboard on the ground floor and said that I should had paid extra (what I did)... and I'd say politeness was not the strong point of that guy.

So I had to move that thing by myself. I could hardly move it. It took me ages to move it and good that I did, otherwise it will still be blocking my main door and I won't have the wardrobe I paid for.. Because that was not solved by IKEA. That was unacceptable as I paid for the delivery in first instance even when I considered the delivery fee abusively expensive.

Contacted again the customer service. Very polite they assume their mistake (the person managing the re-sending of the missing item should had indicated that the delivery to room was already paid) and they offer me a gift card of 10 EUR (that was really insulting) and that a "senior team" (that looks like a fancy name for "we don't care") will look into the case.

That was 2 months ago and I'm still waiting for "the senior team" to get in touch with me.

Won't ever buy at IKEA again. Worst and more unprofessional delivery and customer service ever. I'd just add that the customer service was friendly and polite but as described above they didn't do their job right or didn't do anything at all.

I still had to buy a lot of furniture for my new house. Just went for other companies much more professional.

Hope this will be useful for other people. Do not buy at IKEA, but if you do be aware that they have no clue of what they are doing and you have to double check everything by yourself and deal with the worst and more expensive transport...

The worst organisation during Corona! 1) Long way to enter (even when there're not that much people, you still need to go around the car park, workers chatting in a group and don't bother to adjust), 2) only two people allowed to enter, and little babies are count as adults. So for a family with a kid no option to go. 3) No toilets! after long waiting in the queue, be aware! 4) No one bothered to move smoking area away from the entrance, so queuing people have no choice but to enhale all the fumes. 5) no one bothers to disinfect your cart or buttons in lifts.

For me the experience turned into a humiliation. We went with our 10-months baby to buy furniture for our upcoming second kid. We tried to order it online but the IKEA website kept giving errors during checkout saying that their system is overloaded. To make it more efficient my partner was going to pick up furniture while I'd go for small kids stuff. But after all the queue I wasn't allowed to get in! In my 7th months of pregnancy with a 10months baby in my hands I was kicked out ("families are not allowed because you still can meet up inside" we were told) so I was left to wait on the sun in front of the shop where people are smoking heavily, and no sits anywhere (they crossed sits as unavailable, and anyway they are all near smokers). Personel was not supportive nor compassionate, and to my complete humiliation at one point there was a group of them with one pointing at me with smirks while I was trying to hide in a little shade near the trolley storage. I couldn't hold my tears back and felt completely miserable. My partner only new the story when appeared back and was on the edge as well, doubting we ever...