(whimsical music)

Hi guys, my name is Denzel

and I've been at Ikea for two years

and I am here to tell you guys a horror story.

So, the department that I was in, it was in Returns.

We have this main policy where it's 365 days a year,

you can return anything you want.

You can return the entire store if you want to, okay.

Usually a normal day in Ikea

is like when people just expect to get their money back

even without a receipt

and that's how the stories just be arising

because I can't give you something

that I don't have proof for, baby.

It's just, what?

Any who, a gentleman came over to my express lane

and he wanted to return his mattress.

You can return your mattress if it is covered,

it has this plastic still on it,

for your money back that you paid for it,

like with a credit card, debit card,

cash, money, whatever you used.

If you did not, then it's open,

then we have to give you store credit for the item.

So, the gentleman came over to my express lane

and he had his mattress on the cart.

It was opened but it was still like in good condition.

The gentleman came up to me and he was like,

"I want a return.

"Return now."

And I was like, "Why you talking to me like that?

"I didn't do nothing to you."

But, any who, I was like,

"Okay, yeah, sir, we can help you out.

"Do you have your receipt with you?" "No, no receipt.

"Return now."

And I was like, "Okay, sir, I'm trying all that I can.

"I'm so sorry.

"How about we go to our portal?"

So we have this portal we can look at your receipts

for within two years back.

After two years we can't go any further.

So, then I was looking for his receipt, could not find it.

My manager just came over

and was like, "Hey, Denzel, just give it to him."

I was like, "Okay, cool, yeah, yeah, sure, why not."

And then I told him that I can give him

store credit for the item instead and he went off.

He was like, "I don't want store credit.

"Give me cash now."

And I was like, "Sir, I'm sorry, I cannot do that for you.

"If you could find your receipt,

"maybe we can work something out with our managers

"but I just can't."

He was like, "No, no, no, no, no.

"No, no, where's your manager?"

And hit the table.

So, the manager came over,

told him exact thing that I told him.

He was like, "This is so stupid."

And I was like, "I can only do so much."

So, any who, they conflicted everything with each other

and then my manager left

and before I can even give him his refund,

we have to give you a plastic slip

in order to put the mattress inside of it.

This man gonna put his damn mattress on my counter

and he hit my computer and it went crashing.

(glass shatters)

Another thing, keep in mind, I had my hair in a flat top.

It was like Kid n' Play style, whatever.

As he was putting it on, he hit my upside my head.

So, then it just came to a point

to where I was like, I can't do this.

My adrenaline was rushing.

Any who, so I like, walked away and then he left.

After I was done, we have this mirror

in the back of our spare parts department

and I went to go look and I had a dent right in my hair.

- [Female Voice] You had bed head.

- Pretty much.

(laughs)

- Hi, my name is Jonathan.

I've worked at Ikea for 11 months now

and I'm gonna tell you a horror story.

All right, so it was a normal, regular, average day

at Ikea in the Returns department, said no one ever.

So, my first customer comes up.

It's a couple, they're really nice,

"Hi, we did a whole kitchen order

"and one of our cabinets is the wrong size

"so we need to return it."

"Absolutely, I can do the return for you.

"Are you going to order another size?"

"Yes, we already know the measurements."

"Okay, great, I can return it to store credit for you

"and then you can apply it,

"that way you don't have to wait for your refund,

"your money to come back."

So, start the return, "Do you have your receipt?"

Perfect, type everything in.

I remember that they said that they already knew

the size that they wanted, so I said,

"I'll go ahead and create a new order for you

"so you don't have to go back into the store,

"go upstairs, go to the Kitchen department."

Trying to be nice, trying to save them time.

I was like, "So, you just need the cabinet, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we just need the cabinet.

"Oh, right, yeah, we are gonna need the cabinet door

"in a different size, as well.

"Oh, we had a drawer in it, as well.

"Yeah, oh, right, we do need the drawer front.

"We need the shelves, we need two shelves."

So, I don't know if you've ever shopped at Ikea

but everything is a la carte.

Everything.

So, I'm basically building this kitchen cabinet

from scratch, piece by piece.

The order's created and so I just go through everything,

each item, one by one.

I'm like, "Okay, so I have this in this size."

They're like, "Yes."

"I have this in this size."

"Yes."

At this point, it's been like maybe 40 minutes.

So, if you ever go to Ikea and you make a return

and you're wondering why you're waiting so long,

this is why.

I reviewed the order, everything's perfect.

They've signed off on everything,

all the sizes, everything's correct.

I go to print, look at my screen,

the order's gone.

Disappeared.

Doesn't exist.

Like it never happened.

But, it did happen because I just spent 45 minutes on it.

I was there, I was asking the questions, piece by piece.

The frame, the door, the drawer, the door front,

and the shelves, the whole thing.

So, in my mind, I'm thinking to myself,

"Oh my God, what do I do?"

There's no way I can recreate this order,

that's another 45 minutes.

I'm gonna miss my break.

Everyone's staring at me.

There were only like five customers in line,

now there're 25 customers

because I decided to go above and beyond

and give good customer service.

I felt like the weight of Ikea

and all of Sweden was on my shoulders.

I was like, okay, what I'll do,

trying to be smart, I'll create another order

and then try to go back like three or four order numbers

to see if the orders are in numerical order.

Spoiler alert, they're not.

So, there I am, I've spent like 45 minutes

trying to be nice, trying to help these customers,

trying to save them time

and guess what, they had to go upstairs, through the store,

back to the Kitchens and do the whole thing over.

I was so embarrassed.

I felt so sad.

They lost all faith in me at the end (laughs).

I was like, "So, do you still want it on store credit?"

They were like, "Nope, we want it back to the card."

I was like, "Yep, understandable, yep.

"Got it, yep, you'll be getting a full refund.

"So sorry."

And, that's what you get when you go above and beyond

for customer service.

- Hi, I'm Tyler.

I worked at Ikea for one year

and I'm about to tell you a horror story.

So, normally at Ikea, I'm in Customer Service,

so I work the cash registers

and assisting with customer service.

Summer sale, weekend, five items or less.

I'm checking items.

Normal day, old lady's got some candles.

"I'll take those candles for you."

Start to hear a ruckus in the back of the line.

It's pretty far back, nothing too crazy.

Still scanning those candles.

The ruckus is being caused by a man in a wheelchair

and a woman in a scooter

and one of them cut in front of the other person

and they are very upset.

As I'm scanning the candles, I'm thinking,

"Go to a different lane.

"Please go to a different lane.

"Maybe you forgot something.

"Go to a different lane.

"Do not stay in this lane." (laughs)

I realize that I'm going to have to do something,

besides scan candles.

I step out, I go back there, try to diffuse the situation.

I'm not great at conflict resolution.

I tell them, "Hey, could we not do this?"

That did not work, that made it worse.

I would call Security but I'm pretty new at this point,

so I don't know the Security number.

Probably should have learned that.

Did not.

No one is there to help.

I'm scanning as quick as I can

to get these people through the line.

There is now talk of violence.

I'm not sure how, maybe running over each other's toes.

I tell them, "Look, here's what's gonna happen.

"I'm gonna scan your items "and I'm gonna scan your items.

"I'm gonna scan them as fast as I possibly can

"so that we can get this over with."

They're still mad about that.

Also mad about the order I chose.

Luckily, someone caught wind of the trouble,

Security is now called and hanging out behind me,

just waiting so that they can be escorted out.

I scan the items.

It is successful.

They are still upset, but not at me anymore.

There was a fight in the parking lot that day

but I don't know if it was them.

It could have been a completely separate fight.

Not confirmed, that's rumor.

- And yeah, that's life at Ikea.

(whimsical music)