IKEA

IKEA is great, obviously, but the IKEA in Renton is extremely crowded and parking is a nightmare. There is no space in the walkways because there are so many people.

Oh, IKEA. The best friend of young twenty-​somethings looking to furnish their places and the worst enemy of small cars everywhere. Having bought my fair share of IKEA furniture, I can say it holds up pretty well and has really helped us organize places.
Despite selling a good product for the price, you probably will still have to visit the store to pick up what you are looking for. Every time I go, I feel like the entrance should have a banner that says: «Welcome to IKEA! You day now belongs to us! We have you now!» And then you enter their Labyrinth. Only there is no David Bowie holding your baby hostage at the end.

STEER CLEAR OF IKEA KITCHEN DESIGN SERVICES (Traemand). The girl they sent made multiple design errors that trickled into the following:
1) She did not correctly match the sink with the countertop, so the plumbers had to use shims to attached the sink because the clips provided were too big. When I contacted Ikea about this, they said, «Currently with the acrylic countertops you purchased, shims are required in order to fully install your Boholmen sink. Our instructions illustrate the install with our standard size countertops which are much more thick then the one you purchased. Unfortunately at this time we are unable to offer any compensation for this issue as the way your sink was install is standard practice for the type of countertop you purchased.» Note, I selected a countertop on display in the Ikea store, so how is that not «standard»? What is «standard»?
2) My faucet is touching my window sill. She did not take my window sill into account in the design.
3) She did not tell me that Ikea cabinets have legs, and that I needed to tile before the cabinets go in. I even mentioned I was planning to wait until after. Consequently, my kitchen is now partially tiled (no tile under the cabinets). I cannot fix this unless I rip everything out and start from scratch, so not a feasible option.
4) I had to make 2 trips to the Ikea store (30 miles each way) during cabinet installation because she selected incorrect parts.
5) Generally, she lacked creativity. The entire process of back and forth was draining. I was hoping that a «professional designer» would have some novel ideas for my small kitchen, but she did not. And she was somewhat unresponsive, so the process took a long time.
In summary, I paid $ 199 to have a designer screw things up for me. Ikea is not taking any responsibility for the issues. In fact, after I paid thousands of dollars for the cabinets and countertop, Ikea basically turned its back and refused to correct any issues that were caused by THEIR CONTRACTOR.
If I had the choice to do my kitchen all over again, I would NOT go with Ikea. I am so disenchanted by this whole process, I have vowed to never even shop at Ikea again. Their customer service is crap. That and I have a kitchen with mistakes staring me in the face every time I walk into the room. It is so frustrating. Trust me, don’t let the sleek look of their kitchens mesmerize you because you will pay dearly in the end.

Love coming to Ikea, we make a whole day out of it. The items are good, I get so many ideas from just roaming around.

Absolutely horrible customer service.
Came by on a Monday afternoon to return something, and man was that the biggest hassle I’ve ever experienced.
You have to take a number for a return. Ok. They were on #87 when we arrived, and we were #96. 40 MINUTES. 40! That is absolutely insane to get through that minimal amount of returns. The 2 girls working in that area were slow, lazy and extremely rude. Adri is horribly slow and doesn’t have a care in the world.
I witnessed 4 other people in addition to myself complaining to management about the process, wait time, and lack of productivity by the staff. Everyone is sitting on the couches they provide for you to wait just checking the time on their phones, and watching literally 6 other staff members just standing around while 2 are actually working. If you can even call it working. One of the girls doing returns was just leaning on the counter clicking through the computer for a good 5 minutes before paging the next number up. That is unacceptable.
The managers that we spoke to said the 2 girls at customer service were the only people qualified for returns. What. You’re a manager. Go get on the POS and HELP THE CUSTOMERS. And don’t raise your voice at me when I am being calm — trust me, you are lucky I was calm after wasting an hour of my time to return a freaking garbage can because none of the bags I bought (I bought 4 different kinds) fit over the stupid top part without ripping the bags it was so wide. Customers are what give you your job — maybe you should care about them a little more. Even Walmart has finally figured it out!
I just bought a new house and was excited to buy a bunch of furniture and décor from here — but F that. I’m terrified I’ll have to return something and have to deal with that BS again.

My first time at IKEA and I’m blown away by the sheer magnitude of… stuff. And all affordable! I can’t wait for the Las Vegas IKEA to open up this summer so I can compare it to this one in Renton.
Since I’ve last visited, July 2015, it appears there have been a lot of changes to this location, mainly, parking, so I can’t comment on that.
It’s a good thing they don’t ship to Hawaii (I’ve asked) because if that was the case, I’d be carrying a balance on all my credit cards.
The most amazing thing here, aside from the restaurant with their Swedish meatballs (so good, my friend packed a cooler to take home to Hawaii) was the small living, 312 sq. feet tiny home display. I can’t imagine a home so small, but the designers managed to pull off a luxurious 312 sq feet «home» complete with bedroom, «office», full kitchen, bathroom.
I can’t comment on the actual furniture products as I was not as fortunate to experience this part of IKEA, but as far as service, value, food, parking, location, gadgets and innovative ideas and creative products, this gets my 5-​star vote!

I LOVE IKEA. Literally everything in my house is from IKEA, from my bedroom to the bathroom to the living room and kitchen. My favorite place to shop for home décor, bedding and furniture. Prices are reasonable for the quality. The Swedish meatballs are bomb af too! Honestly my only complaint is how they manage parking… It’s always poppin at IKEA so you would think they would be more organized but I feel like everyone parks all over the place. Idk, maybe that’s just me because I hate looking for parking when it’s suuuper crowded.

4 Stars for the meatballs… 3 stars for everything else… I feel like IKEA is the very definition of A-​OK. I think that in a lot of ways, many people who shop here like to demonstrate their highway driving skills with their carts on the walking path… You know what I mean.
Anyways… It’s ok :-) I’ll be back someday.

Great store. Always super consistent with the other stores. Had some returns which was easy to get taken care of and bought some more cabinets and doors. They always suck you in to getting more than you planned being they have such great deals!!! And than the food… gah… They definitely are smart being that the smell of cinnamon rolls while you wait to pay is overwhelming. So good! $ 1!!! Yummmmm

Ah, IKEA. You have everything I need in my apartment, and a whole host of things that I probably don’t need but spring for anyway. I love having a one-​stop shop for most of the furniture I want, especially at the killer prices that IKEA is renown for. You know what they say about this place being adult Disneyland!
Also, for all the haters who say IKEA furniture isn’t durable: the trick is to avoid removing screws from wood. Following this mantra made my fresh-​out-​of-​college MALM and LACK series purchases last a lot longer than you’d expect (they even survived a move) at their prices, hehe.
This IKEA – like all all IKEA outlets – is an absolute zoo on weekends. Parking is an especial nightmare these days since they’re redoing their whole parking setup right now, so don’t be shocked if you have to circle the lot several times to find a spot (and definitely budget extra time for this). I personally prefer to go on weekday evenings after dinner, since it’s way less crowded and hence a much less stressful shopping experience. After all, you gotta maximise the fun at adult Disneyland, right?

Love IKEA! It’s that kind of store where you go in for a few key items and end up finding a ton of items that you didn’t know you needed, but can’t live without.
Based on what my friends have said over the years, I think I’m just lucky when it comes to IKEA. I’ve never had broken or missing pieces, the large purchases I’ve made have been totally smooth, and I’ve never gotten lost inside the store.
Right now they’re building the new IKEA which will be located next door so parking is a complete mess. Don’t worry, IKEA’s got you covered. Follow the signs and you’ll get to an off-​site parking lot. It’s not that far of a walk, but if that’s not your bag of chips the shuttle will take care of you.

Who doesn’t love IKEA? This weekend’s visit was my first with my husband and he now loves it too. IKEA is a great place to check out for home inspriation through the showroom then an even better place to burn your paycheck once you get to the kitchen gadgets and the warehouse. This trip, we bought a bar table for our tiny apartment — when I accidentally put a screw into the wrong hole, we took the table leg back down to IKEA and the friendly customer service staff were able to help us quickly and correctly and later that day, my table was finished!
I will continue to visit IKEA for most of my home décor and funiture, now if only there was one a bit closer to Seattle.
1 con: the parking situation is a little out of control, they might need to think about building a garage.

This Ikea is huge and we have been here so many times. My recommendation is to look online for exactly what you want and its location. Then when you come here, just park in the 15min area and go directly to the warehouse at the back (not through the showroom). Then you can just grab whatever quickly and be done within less than 20min for sure.
Oh by the way, make sure you get the $ 1 ice cream.

With the construction going on, a trip to Ikea nowadays is pretty much like going to a sold out Seahawks game. If you don’t get there within 20 mins of the store opening, expect a 5−10min walk or a shuttle ride to the stores entrance. And god forbid you buy anything large! It’ll be 45mins to get to the loading area to load your purchase.
I’ll be going to Ikea for the 3^rd time in 2 weeks today. I guess I’m a glutton for punishment! Someone pray for me!

I’ve been furniture shoping at this branch twice for over 2 – 3 hours each time and I’ve had pleasent experiences so far.
I’ve asked questions about products and had some pretty good customer service. One of the employees was willing enough to take me across the floor to find a specific product and helped me find the specs for it.
The only problem that I’ve had that can’t really be helped is the horrible parking. Be prepared to find yourself across the lot and having to go around the entire IKEA to get to the loading zone.

Horrible experience at IKEA. If there is a 0 star they deserve it! We are doing our whole kitchen remodel with them. Their delivery contractor missed the delivery. But we can not call IKEA to re-​schedule. We had to drag the whole family and drive on 405 to the store to re-​schedule the delivery.
Furthermore, the contractor they recommended «Treman» was so in-​competent that it becomes laughable. IKEA measured the wrong size and spacing in between cabinets. We had to call «Treman» back 3 times to fix their mess.
Overall, horrible place if you had to re-​model your kitchen or bathroom.
And lastly, when you call IKEA customer service. You will be on hold for 40 minutes then they route you back to store to wait another 20 minutes before you finally gave up, and once again drive back the the actual store to get any help.

Updating my review. 3 years later.
I really hope someone in the Ikea management reads this because you guys need to either hire new parking attendants or have actual Ikea employees working the parking lot. You’ll see why.
I moved to Cali for two years and just moved back this month to find this IKEA mess.
Apparently the parking lot was demolished to build a new Ikea. Once that is built then the current Ikea will become the parking lot. That doesn’t seem to make much financial sense to me since you can probably renovate portions of the store, but whatever.
About a week and a half ago we came to buy some furniture for our new apartment.
We drove into the parking lot, followed the traffic around one part of the lot and the parking attendant was waving us to go right — which is to the exit. I pointed to the left and she asked «What are you here for?» I said to buy furniture and she responded «WELL MAKE IT QUICK.» …I mean, okay. I’ll try. But why else would I be here and these are kinda big decisions so I can’t exactly make it quick.
Today we came to return the TV stand we bought (yeah, probably shouldn’t have rushed that decision to «make it quick»). Again, they tried to route us out of the parking lot but after I told them we were doing a return they told us we could go into the customer service area. I made a wrong turn as I thought the second lot attendant was telling me to go left before the cone, rather than after, and this guy started yelling at us. (–_​_​_​_​-​«)
Everything was unloaded in the loading zone then I went to find a stall in the customer service parking row which has a 15 minute max. Well, I checked in on Unilocal while I was waiting there so when no cars were leaving I looked to see what time I had checked in: 20 minutes ago — and only one car had left (the car in front of me took that spot).
I drove out and told the parking guy I couldn’t find a spot so I was just going to find one outside since I unloaded everything and couldn’t leave my car there. There were two open spots right next to us so I figured he’d just tell me to park there. But NO!
He said «The lot is full. I can’t allow you to turn left (to find a spot). You have to park at the offsite location and catch the shuttle.»
Me: «But I unloaded my stuff.»
Him: «You have to turn right.»
WHAT THE HECK!
I ended up parking at a business across the street and walking over. Yeah, yeah, I know I’m not supposed to.
I was, and at this moment am, pissed! Seriously, IKEA. You expect me to leave everything I unloaded and drive away from it, unattended, and catch the shuttle back?!
I was lucky and had my boyfriend with me who watched the stuff, but the parking attendant didn’t know that. What if I hadn’t, and what about all the other people who are in the same predicament?
I like their products but I end up in such a bad mood because of these ill mannered parking attendants.
I’ll only come back on a weekday night, right before closing, if I absolutely need something.
Oh yeah, I was going to buy a lamp but they were out of G4 bulbs today. But that happens. It just added to my frustration.

Late on a Friday. The store was clean, people were smiling, and everything was smooth. Nice late in what is always a long day for IKEA workers.
We had a coffee and cookie snack.

I never thought I would write a review for IKEA but today’s customer service blew me away.
I was looking for a piece of furniture yesterday and when I got to the self serve area, there was nothing in the bin. I was told they had more in stock in the warehouse but they needed to be processed after business hours before they can put them in the bins, and that it should be available by morning. I show up the next day and,…nothing! I went to ask for help and explained what happened and the woman was so extremely apologetic and genuinely felt bad. I believe her name was Bobbie. Or Bonnie. Anyway, she told me that they hadn’t processed it in time for opening and that I should call in the morning to check if they have any on the floor. And for my troubles, she gave me a$ 25 gift card! I was so impressed with how she dealt with the situation! Customer service is so important and she definitely understands that.

I didn’t really need furniture but I wanted to remodel my room so I wanted to get a sense of what to get. It was nice to get a sense of what I wanted, but be careful, don’t buy anything you don’t need because of low price. I almost bought a pot of aloe vera since I wanted more plants at home but I should probably wait and check out more options. The show room is just nice to walk around but it can get tiring in the end. But that’s why you can get lunch in between shopping! I love their meat balls, and everything is cheap because it’s all frozen food you can buy packaged. Yeah Swedish fish was everywhere too. The service at the restaurant was great too. We didn’t have a Ikea family card and we got one after we ate, but the cashier used his card so we could get discounted price on the food. Thought that was kind of them.
After you check out, there’s also a small café where you can buy $ 1 latte and soft serves to get your energy back after shopping. Overall, if you want to get all your furniture and home décor in one place with some Swedish meatballs, check out Ikea.