totimundi.com Blog

This week I made my first visits to IKEA, the Swedisih low-priced furniture store.  I went during the day on weekdays, and it wasn’t at all crowded.  Somehow I had been led to believe that the store would always be crowded.  It is a large store, and it was fun walking around it.  Some of the merchandise looks cheap, but some of it looks pretty good.  Today I bought a mattress for $179 and received a $25 gift card.  They are giving gift cards as a promotion to people who buy mattresses.  So, with the gift card, I went into the food section and selected items that added up to about $25.  I went to the cash register and intended to pay with the gift card.  The cashier said in an unfriendly tone, “We don’t accept gift cards here!”  So I did not buy any of the food.  I may never buy any of their food items.  I shall forever associate IKEA with the memory of a negative experience.  I have seen nothing in writing, either on sign or on paper, to indicate that there are limits on how the gift cards can be used.  I am left with a bad feeling.  They did themselves more harm than good by giving me the gift card.