IKEA — Local services in Portland

We have plenty of experience shopping at IKEA for little stuff and never had any issues with their system until we decided to buy a new sectional from them. It was difficult to find help on the floor, even though we were shopping in an area with high dollar items.

While we were looking at our design options, one of them was slightly larger than the max footprint we determined before making the trip to the store. We asked the sales person if we'd be able to change the order if we went home, took new measurements, and changed our minds. She said no problem. After all, it was Sunday afternoon, the warehouses were closed, and the order would take a week to deliver.

Since it was a large purchase, we applied for the project card in-store so that we could receive the 24 month deferred interest. I was expecting the clerk to set it up for us, instead she handed me a brochure and said we had to do it on our phone. Not overly difficult but every other time I've set up store credit cards, the clerk did the application from their register.

We get home and decide the extra piece we wanted to buy would fit. We call the number on our receipt and it took us to a call center (it's the same 888 number listed online for the store). We asked to be put through to the store but they wouldn't do it. Their only help they offered was to put a ticket in and see what happens, so we decided to drive the 30 minutes back to the store to do the change order in person.

The sales people had no idea what they were doing. They said they couldn't change the order and if they cancelled it, the refund would have to go on a store gift card because we did the purchase on a temporary card. The only option they gave us was to order the piece we wanted separately, pay for the delivery since it would be separate from the original order, have it delivered on a different day since it was separate from the original order, return the piece that wasn't needed, and accept the refund on a store gift card. Mind you, this is only 2 hours after we placed the original order and on a Sunday... OK, no problem. Even though my wife and I both have a lot of experience with high level retail, ERP and WMS systems and knew that this change order should have been a simple task, we didn't want to be difficult.

Fast forward and the sectional is delivered and assembled. We receive the extra piece a few days later and we return the piece that wasn't needed. They gave us our gift card and we spent it in the store on a new rug for under the couch. All is good until the bill comes and we see that the $500 for the extra piece was run as a separate line and therefore didn't qualify for the deferred interest. We call the card company (Comenity) and asked them to apply the terms to the second line. They wouldn't do it, even after escalating the call to a supervisor and telling them the whole story. They could see that the charges were made only hours apart on the same day but they refused to help at all. We call IKEA's 888 number and they were also unwilling to do anything.

Needless to say, we won't be buying any more furniture from IKEA. Spend your money with Macy's or Pottery Barn or a local...

I ordered a table and chairs on 1/13 for delivery, the table got delivered on 1/19 but the chairs which were originally scheduled for 1/16 got delayed due to weather which was fine, I got a call from the 3rd party delivery company (CRST - NAL Home Solutions) to reschedule for 1/23, waited all day and no call or anything. So on 1/24 I went online and it still said delivery 1/23 but no update. So I rescheduled for the next day, 1/25. The website updated with the new 1/25 date but I noticed it still didn't show as on the way or anything this morning (1/25) so I waited on the phone for 40 minutes to finally get someone to tell me that my order was never updated on their side due to not allowing next day shipping. So even though their website allowed me to choose the day and it reflected it on the update it actually didn't process it. So I spoke with the representative more and asked why I didn't get at least a call on 1/23 saying they weren't delivering after all and the answer was I don't know, they probably didn't have the item yet which is why they didn't deliver it. Same answer on why the website allowed me to schedule an un-schedulable day, I don't know. Now the soonest they can get it to me is 1/29 which of course is a day past when I need them. The rep suggested if I was in a hurry to go to the local store and buy them, but I can't even return these items and re-buy in store because they haven't been delivered yet so I would be out the cost of double the chairs until they finally came in and I can return them. I also can't cancel the order since the table has been delivered so it's considered a partial order. I let the representative know while I understood it wasn't her fault I would like to speak to a manager because the situation was frustrating and wanted to see if there was a way to expedite this and was told the representative was the final stop for customer support and there was no way to expedite it so even after their 3rd party delivery system failed to deliver or even contact me on the delivery day and their website allowed me to reschedule when I shouldn't have been able to I am now with no solution other than to wait even longer.

Update: They didn't call or show up again on 1/29 so I have to call again to find out...

High quality furniture available in a wide variety of styles. There is so much to see in this store from home, kitchen, living room, and many other options.

The online store is great to use before you shop here, as it shows availability of certain items and gives a good idea of their inventory. They also have a software program that lets you manipulate various furniture pieces to see how they could fit in your house.

Why 3 stars? The in-store customer service is lacking. Every time we have gone we seem to be such a burden to the associates, if we can even find any. One lady was talking on her phone for 5 minutes + while we were patiently waiting to ask her a simple question. Another lady refused to help us with a simple item, and insisted that we used the kiosk for all the help we needed.

Also, they have a terrible time keeping their popular items in stock. Not sure why that is. The Billy bookcase seems to be a top seller, yet both times we tried to purchase a set, they were out of stock with no guaranteed delivery time. There was another item out of stock as well, and they would not settle to let us purchase a floor model (even though there were about 10 available.)

The store offers delivery, but have fun paying that high price. They didn't offer to compensate either for the fact that they were out of both items we were interested in. Since it is about a 3 hour drive, we were hoping to have gotten everything in one stop, but left empty handed.

Maybe we will order online, but we will see.

UPDATE: We were able to get a hold of a helpful representative from their call center. He guaranteed us an item that was out of stock and offered to ship it for free directly to our house once it was available.

Their click and connect also worked well for us, but the time before when we tried, their website was inaccurate. We arrived at the store following the online inventory which said there were about 13 of the item we wanted in stock, only to find an empty shelf that was sold out. There was no offer for compensation, and it was a long drive for us.

Call first and make sure you can speak to a manager before you gamble with...