‘The Blunderful Everyday’ – a short story of Flatpacked Ineptitude.
Girl buys sofa from @IKEAUK
Girl spends entire bank hol watching an avatar of a lorry drive all over UK, past her road, before it all goes totally absurd. Pls read what happened & RT! @IKEAUKSupport Threadcount 1/10
Hej! Our tale begins on 3rd May: I make ill-advised decision to purchase an ikea corner sofabed. It’s due 7.5.23; between 7am and 7pm. I book a ‘Taskrabbit’ named Jonathan to assemble it as I have #Dyspraxia #ADHD, disc damage and a million writing deadlines.
6 May: I get a text to say my sofa will be with me between 11.11 and 13.14. Hurrah! I let my taskrabbit know; he is super helpful and says he’s free if it does come earlier. I cancel bank hol plans in celebration of the new arrival.
7 May, 11am: I move all the furniture in the flat around to make space so can no longer reach my writing desk but hey it’s only for a few hours! I get a text to say the new time window. I enjoy watching the updates of the little truck avatar, showing me where the driver is on the map of Britain.
3.17pm: Get a text to say my driver is ‘almost there’ and I see from the little avatar that the truck driver is indeed two streets away in Hove! I get ready, move even more of the furniture and crap out the way, feeling smug for being so organised in spite of my usual #ADHD chaos.
3.51pm: I check outside my flat. My Taskrabbit is sat on my steps eating carrots and nuts in the sunshine, but no sign of the truck. I apologise profusely that it’s not here. Jonathan the rabbit says not to worry, he’s enjoying the sun.
4.25pm: Check the app. The truck is now not 2 streets away but is in Burgess Hill. Moments later, he seems to be headed north on the M25… ? The Taskrabbit reason that maybe he’s forgotten the sofa and has nipped back to Ikea to get it? We wait.
4.40pm: Ring Ikea to ask just to check he is going back to the warehouse in Croydon to get it? Or stopping for petrol in sevenoaks? Kelsey assures me he’s definitely still on his way to me. ‘I’m not able to speak to the driver but the system says you are definitely the next drop’.
4.58 pm: Check the app; he’s now stopped in East Grinstead – maybe for a fag break? Start to wonder if I’m losing my mind. Am I seeing things? Is the app gaslighting me? I offer the Jonathan the rabbit a cup of tea.
6pm: Check the app. The truck’s not stopped at Croydon Ikea as we’d thought. He’s way north of there now. I ring Kelsey, she INSISTS he’s definitely still coming. I tell myself you’re overthinking it, it’s fine! You’re going mad! Chill out!
645pm: I check the app. He’s in the Outer Hebrides – presumably gone fishing? I send Jonathan the rabbit home, apologise again, and have a large whiskey.
7pm: I check the app. The driver’s now in Dartford, presumably putting his kids to bed and having a TV dinner? The app still tells me ‘I am the next delivery, due at 13.14’. I press redial. KEELEY (somehow, even less helpful than KELSEY, no mean feat, floors me with her next comment.
KELSEY: Yeah, according to the system, the sofa was never going to be coming to you, I’ve no idea why you were getting updates all day! ME: Astonishing scenes. So what’s the solution?
KEL: Cancel and rebook for another day. I ask to speak to a supervisor. There isn’t one. I have no choice but to rebook for the next slot – 3 days time, and reschedule Jonathan the rabbit. Again.
7am, 10.5.23: Wake up, move everything out the way again. 13.00. No sofa and no text update. Ring up. IKEA: Let me check the system. I wait on hold again for her to contact the delivery department.
IKEA: Yeah – your sofa won’t be arriving today. ME: Why? IKEA: It’s gone missing. ME: What’s has? The booking? The sofa? A crucial part of the driver’s brain? IKEA: We don’t know. We’ll ring you back.
2pm: ME: No one’s rung back. I hit redial. IKEA: you just need to cancel and rebook for another day. I explain I’m ADHD and this has been a clusterf*ck to cope with – as it would be even for a neurotypical person – but for someone with impaired exec functioning and struggles to organise things this is a f*cking nightmare.
I explain I can’t wait home another day tomorrow (thurs) as i have a funeral to attend. Not the death of civilisation as we know it as these events would imply but an actual funeral of a friend. Fern is sympathetic and says leave it with me, she’ll ring me back.
3pm: No phone call from Fern. Instead, an email from IKEA cancelling my order. No explanation. I lie wondering how on earth it is that Ikea have this many stores and this many customers in this many countries when they seem utterly unable to execute deliveries?!
4.10pm: Fern calls back, books a delivery for thursday. ME: Please could you ask the driver to try and come here first? I have a funeral and need to leave by 10.30am… IKEA: The route is mapped out by bots, so no…
ME: Of course. Can you please explain to the bot that I’d rather not have to pop home in between my friend’s funeral and the wake to let in Jonathan the Rabbit? FERN: No but I can try to put a note on the system to make sure the drivers tries to be with you by 10 at the latest.
4.40pm: Thank Fern for her help, have 5th camomile tea of the week and try to calm down, having gone completely insane. Seriously – Why am I continuing to believe the sofa will arrive tomorrow? Do I have Stockholm syndrome? Am I alone in this experience?
17.03pm: Receive text from IKEA: your delivery will be between 7am and 7pm.
18.38: receive text saying it’ll be here between 2 & 6pm – exactly the time of the wake. Ring IKEA to complain, then get cut off. Do I give up?! #TheBlunderfulEveryDay #Ikea #Ickea #FlatpackedHilarity
At time of thread I’ve been offered a £30 goodwill voucher which doesn’t even touch the sides of the time wasted, the gaslighting, and the days of writing time down the drain.
Truly, the absurdity of modern life is boundless. Has anyone else ever been through this staggeringly kafkaesque hellscape when online shopping? Please tell me I’m not alone. Thank you x
#TheBlunderfulEveryDay #Ikea #Ickea #FlatpackedMisery
LORELEI MATHIAS 