Ikea is known for its cheap furniture, delicious meatballs served right inside the store, and for being packed with stressed-out families who can't decide what to buy. Sometimes those exasperated customers get overwhelmed, and no amount of meatballs can stop them from having a huge meltdown inside the world's largest furniture chain.
These Ikea employees were standing by when a customer lost it. Come on folks; you're saving money, so save your tantrum for someone else!
(Content has been edited for clarity)
She Got Right To The Point
Iakov Filimonov/Shutterstock
“I was once shopping at Ikea and noticed a couple nearby. It was a guy just having the complete look of apathy and distraction while being berated by his wife.
The volume was fairly low until they got to the bedroom department and she said:
‘I’m thinking of buying new sheets, but then again I don’t wanna buy sheets just so you can BANG that HR chick in them. I hope you realize I’m just staying with your cheating butt until the kids are grown up.’
I was so distraught that I went to get some meatballs to calm myself down.”
No Patience? No Parking Spot
“A few years back, my wife sent me to Ikea on a Saturday. I mean, we all know that Ikea turns into some real Lord Of The Flies-type place on the weekend, because it’s like every maniac descends on the store and it’s everyone for themselves.
When it comes to the parking lot, that thing fills up at around 10:30 a.m., and it’s like everybody parks there for the entire day. So there are just cars that spend hours and hours cruising around looking for that one free space, even if it means its so tight that they can’t open the doors and have to exit the car from the rear tailgate or by kicking out the rear window.
But me? I’m smart. I get there early. I have planned for this trip all week ever since my wife uttered the words, ‘I need you to go to Ikea on the weekend. Here’s the list of things I want.’ So I get there early, and I manage to get everything on the list! It’s all there! And I have found every item in the storage area, and I put it all in my cart. I make it to the checkouts without once having to look menacingly at a single person.
But in the parking lot, it’s a different story. I’m busy packing stuff in the car – and it’s a lot of stuff. My electric screwdriver at home is charged and ready for an afternoon of building flat-pack furniture. But still – it’s taking some finagling to get all of the stuff into our car. And somebody has noticed that there is a parking space that is about to become free. They are waiting. They’ve been waiting for five minutes. He beeps his horn. Just a little polite beep.
I gesture to the boxes that I have still to place in my car.
I pack. I shift things around. I curse. He beeps his horn a couple of more times, somehow managing to convey that he is getting somewhat impatient. I smile at him, and gesture to my furniture once again.
I finally have it all loaded. I carefully check that I can close the back of my car. He toots his horn again. I look at him, and he gestures for me to get a move on. I’m less than pleased with his gesturing and impatience. It offends me mightily.
I slowly saunter back with my cart to the nearby bay. I walk back over. He toots his horn again. Four long presses that say, ‘Get a MOVE on!’ I get in my car, and reverse out to the left – his car is behind me. He has to move back a bit, so I get my car fully out. I see him in my rearview mirror gesticulating angrily at me to his wife. He toots his horn again.
Forget this guy, I think, and then I see it. Where I’m parked is near a junction, and I’m facing towards it. A car slowly comes around the corner at the junction. I sit there in my car, waiting. The car in front of me stops. I gesture for him to take the space. He does.
The guy behind me goes mental honking his horn. I can see him in my rearview mirror getting out of his car. I roll down my window and give him the internationally recognized sign of ‘suck it’ and drive off.
Oh Karma, you wonderful thing. Oh, how I love thee.”
Come Play In The Warzone
Ollyy/Shutterstock
“I was in the Vancouver IKEA, and they had a children’s play area that was packed. There must have been 100 kids in there, some being watched from outside and some completely unattended.
Without warning, the power went out. There were emergency lights, but the play area was still quite dark. The kids all started shrieking and crying and running around in the darkness.
The power was only out for two minutes, but the chaos was spectacular. When the lights came back on, it looked like a battleground. Some kids were bruised and bloodied; some had the 1,000-yard stare of a war veteran. There were a few who had bonded together in the tunnels and refused to leave. Some were missing entirely – they must have escaped in the shadows into the well-furnished maze that is IKEA.”
If You Didn’t Know Better, You’d Think They Were Mother And Son
Federico Marsicano/Shutterstock
“I was recently in Ikea, making the most of my complimentary cups of tea (which they have in the UK locations). The couple at the next table over had a brilliant argument about whether or not they could put a TV in their bathroom.
The guy thought it will fit, while the wife/girlfriend thought it was the stupidest idea ever. They didn’t need it, she said, it wouldn’t fit, and if it mattered that much to him, then he could move back in with his mother. And he kept asking her to give him half of her Daim snack cake. After about five minutes of whining, she told him if wanted some he should have bought one because apparently he always did this.
I had nowhere to be, so I followed them for a while before I found it way too awkward, and the caffeine from four complimentary cups of tea kicked in, and I needed to get out of there. I left them in soft furnishing and textiles. He was ‘playfully’ throwing pillows at her to get her attention. She turned around and said (scarily calmly), ‘I know that you think you’re being funny, but you’re not. So if you’re going to act like a child, I will treat you like a child. Start behaving like an adult, or we’ll leave now, and I’ll take away your Xbox for a week.’ He pouted and marched off, muttering under his breath.
To that lady, if you’re out there, I hope your boyfriend grows up, and also I like the peacock blue pillow you bought.”
Now THAT’S A Comeback
wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock
“I once saw a dude in the car park of the Newcastle IKEA cram an enormous load of furniture into his Ford Focus. His wife stood next to him SCREAMING at how much of an idiot he is for buying so much, how they weren’t going to fit in the car, and how he was putting all this furniture together alone because it was his ‘stupid crap we don’t need.’
The husband replied, ‘No, YOU won’t fit in the car now,’ and drove off.”
He Dealt With This Angry Customer Like A Pro
stockyimages/Shutterstock
“A guy came in and wanted something that we only had ‘in the air’ so it would require a forklift to get the product down, which we don’t do with people in the store for fairly obvious safety reasons. I told him we could get it down right after the store closed for him, but that was not an acceptable answer. He proceeded to lose it on me, demanding I bring out a forklift and take it down now.
As this is happening, his wife and two small children walked up. I said, ‘Well sir, just imagine that your children are in the aisle when the forklift comes out and an accident occurs, your children could be crushed by a falling pallet, the arms of the lift, or any other number of possibly fatal incidents.’ He burst out: ‘I don’t give a crap about that, I just want you to get my freaking table.’
I didn’t have to continue the conversation. His wife took care of it.”
Remind Me Again, Which Car Do You Drive?
goodluz/Shutterstock
“I was working in the kitchen accessories department, and this middle-aged guy asked me where the cheap white plates were located. These are the lowest price plates; they come in one color and are sold straight off the pallet, but they had changed the color from white to light beige a month earlier.
I explained this and this guy started raising his voice at me, telling me he owned a restaurant and that I had better go back there and bring him more white plates. At this point, I knew I was not dealing with a rational person, but I went to the computer and checked if there wasn’t, in fact, a pallet of the stuff just so he could see I tried helping him. I even show him the big fat zero on the screen.
He got red in the face and started telling me how I was personally responsible for the gas he spent driving here ‘in an Audi A8.’ He asked me if I know how much gas an Audi A8 burns. He was yelling, the whole floor was looking our way, and I was doing my best not to laugh, but I realized I was already smiling and that ticked him off even more. The convo went something like this:
‘You’re gonna pay for the gas I spent driving here.’
‘I doubt that sir.’
‘LISTEN HERE, KID! I’M GONNA DRIVE BACK HOME, LOAD UP ALL THE WHITE PLATES INTO MY CAR AND DUMP THEM ALL IN FRONT OF YOUR STORE AND YOU’RE GONNA PAY ME EVERY LAST CENT FOR THE DAMAGES.’
‘That’s a good idea.’
I wasn’t even trying to be rude, I just wanted this guy to do this. But then he asked for my manager so he could yell at him. He basically repeated everything, including his Audi A8 gas mileage–everything. He ended up buying the light beige plates.”
I’m Not Ready To Commit!
Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock
“This was my Ikea family meltdown. My then-boyfriend and I were getting our own place just after college. Until then, we had both been using twin beds thanks to student living spaces and sharing a single twin was proving uncomfortable for two adult humans subjected to California summer temperatures. To fix this issue, off to Ikea we went.
Things start off okay. We start with lunch, admire the living room couches, and move into kitchen wares. All so far has been an enjoyable fantasy. And then we reach our destination, the bedrooms. A sea of beds in a variety of price points greet us with brightly colored duvets. Being myself an experienced furniture purchaser, I start scanning the price tags to narrow the options. I bring him to an attractive, affordable model that I think matches some of our bookcases. And this is where the trouble starts.
See, up until now, I didn’t realize exactly how bad this man’s fear of decision-making was. He stares at the bed incomprehensibly for literal minutes, refusing to talk about it. Eventually, it is discovered that buying a bed means committing to delaying graduate school, never moving to the east coast, and having children with me. I don’t understand that logic and request an explanation, which is slowly and tearfully given.
We spent three hours in that Ikea and left with nothing. About a month later, we went back and again after several hours bought that exact bed. He never went to grad school nor moved to the east coast. We also did not have children and broke up a few years later. He took the bed.”
The Tourists Are Here
CREATISTA/Shutterstock
“I used to work in IKEA in my student days. It was the location in Glasgow, Scotland.
When it was newly opened, an elderly Irish guy and his wife stopped me and asked where IKEA was. I explained that they were in IKEA, but they couldn’t understand.
Eventually, I gathered they had arrived at the ferry port in Ireland that morning and decided that they’d go on a day trip to somewhere they hadn’t been before. When they arrived at the port in Scotland, there was a dedicated ‘IKEA’ bus. They thought IKEA was an actual place in Scotland and didn’t realize it was a shop.
I walked away trying not to pee myself laughing as I could hear them blaming each other for the mistake!”
Don’t Mess With Jim
kurhan/Shutterstock
“I worked at IKEA for five years selling sofas. One of my coworkers, let’s call him Jim, worked evenings and weekends in returns while his day job was teaching math at a local high school.
One day a woman came to the counter trying to return some pillows. Generally speaking, they didn’t take returns on pillows for sanitary reasons. She also didn’t have a receipt, and the pillows were used and disgusting. Jim told the customer that he was sorry, but our return policy stated we only accepted products within 30 days of purchase, with the receipt, and unused in the original packaging.
This did not sit well with her, and she began to scream at Jim. She was spiteful and cruel. Jim had come to the US from another country years ago, and while he spoke perfect English, he still had an accent. She mocked his accent and told him to speak English. She repeatedly shouted that he was stupid and would never amount to anything, he was too dumb to get a real job, etc.
Meanwhile, her teenage son was in the background. He was pleading with his mother to stop shouting at Jim. He was begging her to give it up so they could go home. Eventually, she turned around to shout at her son and ask him why he cared so much. ‘That’s my calculus teacher…’ There had already been a parent-teacher night scheduled for a few weeks later. Jim told me the boy’s father came alone.”
Riled Up About Riley
anythings/Shutterstock
“My now-husband and I were driving to Ikea (about three hours away), and this was at a point in our dating when we were starting to get serious. On the trip, I found out his middle name was Riley, and I mentioned how it could make a cute girl name. He was aghast and was very firm in stating that Riley was a BOY’S name, and had been handed down in his family for over five generations. I tried telling him that it was starting to change over to be a girl’s name now, much like ‘Ashley’ or ‘Quinn.’ He thought I was crazy and was adamant that people do not name little girls Riley. We lightheartedly argued the point for a good 15 minutes.
We finally get to Ikea, park, and walk in the front door. Five feet in front of us, a little girl went running by, and her mother was chasing after her, saying ‘Riley! Get back here!!’ My husband just looked at me defeated and said, ‘…shut up.’
Our firstborn girl was named Riley. We carried on the family tradition, just in a slightly different way.”
Look Out For That Flying Mattress!
“We needed a new mattress. My now-wife insisted that we pay the $99 for delivery. I was adamant that I could get it home on the roof rack.
I strap the mattress to the roof of the car with ratchet straps across all four corners. This puppy isn’t going anywhere. We get in the car and opt to take surface streets home instead of taking the highway.
Everything’s going great, but there is one stretch where the speed limit is 50 mph. We’re driving along, and a big truck flies by and immediately after it passes us, I see the mattress fly off the car in the rearview mirror.
‘HOLY CRAP!’
I’m backing up on the road and come to the mattress. I did do a fantastic job strapping it to the roof rack. The problem is that the mattress took the roof rack with it. It’s still tied to the mattress.
We hoist it back on the roof and take it slowly to a gas station. We re-strap the mattress (with straps going through the car this time) and get it home.
There’s a small cut on the underside of the mattress and some gravel in the protective plastic cover. Otherwise, no real harm.
My wife still brings it up every time we go to Ikea. ‘So… we’re paying for delivery, right?’
Also, since the roof rack got messed up (and surprisingly didn’t damage the car), I called the manufacturer, Yakima. They recommended not carrying stuff like mattresses/plywood for that very reason, but they did replace the roof rack for free.”
You Look Like Adults, But You Act Like Bratty Kids
unitypix/Shutterstock
“Two words. Black Friday. It was 9:55 a.m., and we open at 10. We were almost done setting up, and all that we had left to do was put out a children’s kitchen set. What we didn’t realize was that it was 50-percent off. I only had two pallets left to put out when the store opened, and the horde came.
They were crazy. Sprinting, pushing, and shoving. They fought to get to these kitchens, and when they noticed my pallets, they tore them open and took them. Eventually, one woman started screaming and attacked the guy who took the last one off of the pallet, not noticing the two full pallets. I had to pull her off of him and security came. After about ten minutes the chaos ended, and I cleaned up.
At that point, an elderly couple came and asked if there were any kitchens left, and I put one in their cart as my co-workers laughed at what had just occurred.”
He Was A Hungry Man, And Also A Crazy Man
Ollyy/Shutterstock
“I work in Ikea Food. I had one guy claim that he was a ‘big guy’ and wanted me to put extra food on his plate after I made the plate. I explained that I couldn’t as we had to stick to a portion size and that he could add a side plate for $1.99.
He then yelled that we were all cheapskates, stormed off to his family, brought all the plates of food that we made for them, and told us he was going to bring his family somewhere good.”
That’s Udder-ly Out Of Line
ArtFamily/Shutterstock
“I used to work at IKEA and have so many stories from there. A memorable one involved two women fighting over my service. I was helping one customer, and it was a hectic weekend, so I’m sure all the employees were pretty busy.
As I was helping her, another woman came up and interrupted us. They started arguing, and one of them called the other woman a ‘cow.'”
I Think They Need To Step Outside And Have A Talk
Tiko Aramyan/Shutterstock
“My boyfriend and I overheard while browsing in Ikea a couple having some miscommunication about their ‘relationship.’
I guess they were deciding on things to buy. The girl said, ‘we should get that rug,’ to which the guy replied, ‘there is NO we, you don’t live with me!’
I didn’t catch the rest of it as we had to walk away so they wouldn’t hear us laughing so hard.”
A Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words
kurhan/Shutterstock
“I work at a massive IKEA store in Australia.
This man marches up to me, phone in hand and family in tow. He wants to buy a certain clothes rack but can’t find it ANYWHERE in this STUPID STORE. Alright mate, I’m happy to help you out, I say, although I do not like the attitude. He shows me a picture on his phone. It’s a screenshot from a website with no context. I haven’t seen that clothes rack before. Either it’s very new, very old, or not something that we stock.
I ask if he knows the name of it.
‘No, that’s YOUR job.’
He’s getting even more worked up now. But I can’t search with just an image. I check our store’s website, and I can’t find the clothes rack anywhere. I ask if he was sure he looked at (store location)’s website specifically. Immediately, I can tell he feels insulted. OF COURSE, HE LOOKED AT THE RIGHT WEBSITE. I activate dumb salesgirl mode and ask him to show me?
He pulls up the website, and there is the clothes rack. Quite clearly on Target.com.au. He notices and storms off wordlessly.
I got immense pleasure from watching him get lost and make a couple of loops through the store before finding the exit.”