Making it worse, the lines were unsupervised, with desperate people jumping ahead by cutting around displays, out of sight of the people in the line behind them.
Another pain: While the shuttles are supposed to run every half hour on weekdays to Brooklyn Borough Hall, we waited a full half hour and there were many people who had been waiting before us.
On the way back, several passengers sat in the shuttle bus for more than a half hour waiting for a driver. We got the last seats, and after us people had to stand (with all of their bulky purchases). One of the passengers left the bus to tell the driver (chatting on the sidewalk) that the bus was full, let's go. (He said he had to wait 10 more minutes but we took off after 5.)
As we got off at Borough Hall, we both agreed it was no longer fun to shop at IKEA. Much of what we buy there can be purchased online from other vendors without the hassle.
Photo by MK Metz
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6 comments:
During a recent visit to that store, I purchased several items and waiting on a long line for at least 20 minutes. The cashier took one of the items I wanted to purchase and threw it on the ground at her feet. When I asked her what the problem was, she said that it was a floor sample and could not be purchased. She told me that if I wanted, I could go back to the area where it was displayed and pick up another one. At the point, I just wanted to get out of the store which is what I did. It appears that the staff at Ikea is poorly trained and does not understand the basics tenets of customer service. I doubt if I will return unless I hear that service has marketedy improved.
The exactly same thing happened to me! Not only did I not purchase the item thrown on the floor, I left $97 worth of other purchases on the counter and walked out.
Well in my case, the cashier didn't throw it in the floor but she said with a bit of attitude that I couldn't buy the item because it was a floor sample and if I wanted it, I could go find another one. Like I'm going to go through that bad experience of waiting in line for 20-30 mins all over again. Really?
I think the long lines at IKEA are intentional. It triggers in the shopper a response that makes them buy more, as in "OMG, the line is going to be huge, I should get everything I need now!" The lines end up encouraging people to spend $200 rather than $20 (because at $20 the lines aren't worth it.) I've actually seen the lines at IKEA reasonably short and then the manager will close one of the lines and make everyone consolidate into one big long line. I'm sure IKEA has done studies on length of lines and purchase amounts.
trade-offs....
We'll IKEA did agree to hire local residence to work in the store...
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