IKEA is a mixed bag in Kaiserslautern.
The selection in store is extensive and the employees were more than willing to help me (even though my German is not very good). Everything I wanted to furnish a bedroom was available and we even set up a delivery. Granted, it was two weeks later, but that's not the worst thing ever. They even walked me through the VAT process, which was incredibly helpful. Can't praise them highly enough. Loved the in store experience.
IKEA's delivery service? Totally different story. I live in the downtown area, near The Foxy Club. IYKYK. I made a specific note of this and the parking situation at the point of purchase and delivery setup. On the date of delivery (today), I got a call at 0712 from the driver, stating that he would be here in 50 minutes. But, upon arrival at 0856, the box truck and two men arrived to deliver my goods and they spent 3 minutes sitting in their van. Granted, it was raining, so I wrote it off. They then spent the next 10 minutes discussing where to park (apparently they couldn't park on the street in front of the house for longer than 5 minutes). The Dr who has a business in the first floor even informed them that so long as I was present as the home owner, they could park where they were and the Polizei wouldn't have an issue. The driver spent the entire time arguing with the Dr about parking law. So, clearly not wanting to work, the delivery men called their dispatch to contact me about another delivery date, and drove off at 0908.
I swear to god, in the 10 minutes they spent parked and deliberating, the three of us could have offloaded the 15 boxes and 1 mattress and they would been on their way. The Dr Even argued that point with them.
I was most frustrated that even though I had a translator app and I have a rudimentary German speaking ability AND I had the Dr from down stairs helping me, they clearly didn't want to communicate with me or do any work. Probably because I'm American. I get it, we have an earned, bad reputation, but I'm trying to be the guy who fixes that. I was polite and tried to help them find a solution for parking.
I will give IKEA a second chance. Maybe this was an isolated event. I hope this issue resolves itself quickly. I'd like to sleep in a bed rather than on an air mattress. read more