Maybe you have seen the stories online about delayed and canceled IKEA orders or are currently wondering if your own order will ever arrive. Whatever the reason, IKEA provides information on when you will receive notice.
The information from IKEA about when you will get the call about your order being delivered is not necessarily a guarantee. Along with affordable furniture and meatballs, IKEA is known for frequently late and unreliable deliveries.
IKEA says that notices go out one day and one hour before delivery. However, the call may not come at all, either from a lack of contact or because the order is delayed or canceled. Tracking and scheduling the delivery can help pinpoint the delivery time and status.
Common Call Times
IKEA’s delivery information states that you will receive a notice via email or text the day before delivery.
This is a common call time because the delivery companies will typically have confirmed the next day’s delivery schedule. Before then, it might fluctuate if there were delays to other deliveries that needed to go out before yours.
You are then also supposed to receive a call or text from IKEA or a third-party delivery service one hour prior to the delivery being made when the items are picked up and loaded.
This is also a common time to call because they are for sure on their way, and an hour’s notice is considered sufficient warning. They can also confirm the delivery address with you, which is helpful to them.
If the carrier company is good, you might get both a call/text and an email!
For small packages, it is just helpful to know when the delivery will be made. For large deliveries, it’s vital as you need to be home to receive the delivery.
The Call Might Not Come
There are two main reasons why the call might not come:
- You don’t get a heads-up for the delivery; they will randomly arrive.
- The delivery date has been changed or delayed (by weeks even).
Not receiving notice when the delivery may arrive can result in you waiting by the window all day or being taken by surprise. Canceling all your plans is inconvenient, but at least you are lucky enough to get your order.
IKEA is well-known for its tardiness in fulfilling deliveries. In fact, it is one of the main reasons why IKEA has a bad reputation. The company rarely feels you need to know about the changes to the delivery schedule, and the date can change several times.
Yet, again, you are still lucky if your order arrives weeks later. IKEA also has a nasty habit of canceling your order entirely, unbeknownst to you.
Make Use of the Delivery Tracker
Tracking systems can be a helpful source of information about your order. While not always updated or accurate, the tracking facility can give you a better indication of when to expect the delivery.
If your order is supposed to arrive in the next day or two, but a look at the tracker reveals it has not progressed past the first step, it is reasonable to assume that if your order is not with the delivery company, it is running behind.
Or, if your order is logged as being with the courier, you can expect the order soon even if you were not given notice.
This can be accessed through the IKEA website or through the link in your order confirmation email.
Who To Contact
If you are expecting a call to say your delivery is on its way and it, along with your delivery, never arrived, you need to contact IKEA’s customer services. You can use the number or chat service (have your order number ready), or you can even go into a store.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always easy. You aren’t alone in the plight of unanswered calls and emails. However, if your parcel is with the delivery company, you can try contacting them instead for an estimated delivery time.
Are Scheduled Deliveries More Reliable?
It’s manageable to deal with a delivery when you have an hour’s or a day’s notice, but when you are left wondering if the delivery is coming or not, your life can be put on hold for longer than is feasible or convenient.
For larger deliveries, IKEA also offers scheduled deliveries. You can have a doorstep or in-home delivery, and you select a specific day and timeframe for the delivery to happen.
Scheduled deliveries are like regular deliveries in that sometimes they work out without problems, and sometimes they don’t. Scheduled deliveries are not exempt from date changes, but they do help and will at least tell you if the delivery is delayed when your timeframe is exceeded.
You may even have more luck in getting compensation for the late delivery.
However, I will say that there seem to be fewer complaints in general about inaccurate scheduled deliveries.
Some customers suggest that shopping in-store and arranging for delivery from there is faster and more reliable, but that defeats the purpose of online shopping when you aren’t near an IKEA branch.
Sources
https://www.mydomaine.com/ikea-shipping-4686265
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/customer-service/contact-us/
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/oct/31/ikea-delivery-paid-slot-failed-delay
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/sep/30/ikea-ruined-surprise-late-furniture-delivery