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IKEA Delivery | Is It Reliable?

Whether you’ve been on the IKEA-related side of the internet or know someone who has used IKEA delivery services, you are very likely to have heard about the so-called horrors of IKEA delivery. It may not always go badly, but when it does, it seems to go really badly.

Before using IKEA delivery, it is important to understand why there are so many negative reviews of IKEA delivery and why these poor experiences may happen. Even more important may be the strategies to help get delivery issues resolved.


Most reports of IKEA’s delivery service are negative, detailing how unreliable the service is. People are less likely to leave positive reviews, which may explain this in part. However, the issues with IKEA’s delivery service are real and extensive, including months-long waits.

How Long Is IKEA Delivery Supposed to Take?

Oftentimes, choosing IKEA standard delivery means that it will take about two weeks for your items to arrive. The cost of standard delivery is $19 for IKEA Family members.

IKEA also allows the customer to pick a date and 12-hour time window that they would like the item or items to be delivered in.  

Of course, there would be restrictions to this. Same-day delivery would most likely not be possible for this scheduled doorstep delivery. It is important to note that scheduled delivery costs more than standard delivery ($39 for IKEA Family members).

Delivery process in IKEA, Customers pick a date and a 12-hour time window and customers receive their package

However, there is a same-day or next-day delivery option provided by IKEA. This option, of course, is more expensive than the previous options, with a starting price of $79. 

IKEA Delivery Seems to Be Unreliable

When most people get curious about IKEA delivery and search for other customers’ experiences with it, the majority of the reviews are very negative. 

One customer review site with more than 19,000 reviews for IKEA had 74% of them be one out of five stars. 

Whether it’s bad customer service, extremely late deliveries, terrible return policies, or some other problem, it may seem like most people who have experienced IKEA delivery have had a terrible experience. 

These reviews may be enough to deter you from using IKEA delivery services, but it is important to consider the scale of IKEA’s operations. 

IKEA serves millions of people, yet the reviews only feature a small fraction of this. 

Additionally, a common thread in negative reviews is that it is likely that customers who have had negative experiences are more likely to leave negative reviews than those who have had a positive experience are to leave a positive review. 

The reasoning for this may be that negative reviews may catch the attention of the company and they can make positive changes. 

Another reason may just be to vent frustrations in a somewhat productive way. 

Either way, if your IKEA delivery experience was positive but not overwhelmingly so, you may not see the purpose of writing a review. 

That being said, it is likely that a lesser proportion of people have had negative experiences with IKEA delivery than what it may seem based on reviews. 

IKEA Outsources Deliveries

One explanation for less-than-satisfactory deliveries from IKEA is that they outsource their deliveries. 

Depending on the area, you may have a good delivery company or you may not. 

Delivery man holding a package and a blonde woman signing the receiving form

Just because IKEA has an agreement with a company in no way means that this company has a good reputation. 

Although the delivery is technically not done by IKEA, it is still made by someone in an agreement with IKEA, leaving IKEA as still partially responsible for poor delivery experiences due to their associations with this delivery company.

I will say here that, while the third-party deliver aspect can lead to delivery delays, most often, the delays occur while the item is still being processed, i.e., it hasn’t even reached the delivery company yet.

Common Complaints about IKEA Delivery

Late Delivery

With a variety of delivery options, there seem to be many things that can go wrong in the process. 

For standard delivery, some shipments simply don’t come by the estimated delivery date that IKEA provides. 

People who are promised furniture and other items in two weeks may not get their items for a month or longer. 

This can postpone renovations drastically and upend people’s schedules and cause unnecessary additional costs. You can try to get compensation for these losses, but it’s not likely to be an easy process.

For scheduled doorstep delivery, the items may not show up in the 12-hour window allotted. 

Customers have had several attempts at scheduled doorstep delivery where they rescheduled after each failed delivery but each time the shipment never comes. 

This can waste many hours of customers’ time since many people will stay near the door waiting for the delivery so that they can sign for it and transport it where it needs to go. 

Work schedules may have had to be worked around for this scheduled delivery that was never successful and many hours of time could be wasted. 

For express in-home delivery, you have to pay a decent amount of money for such fast delivery. If this shipment doesn’t arrive on time, money may be wasted if IKEA doesn’t issue a refund of some kind. 

Poor Communication

Many situations involving delivery can be aided or solved with decent communication. Unfortunately, it seems that many IKEA customers have had to deal with poor communication when trying to have IKEA items delivered. 

One popular complaint is that IKEA’s customer service lines are not very helpful. 

Curly haired woman disappointed while talking on her phone regarding IKEA concerns

Whether it takes forever to talk to a representative or the lines are too busy, contacting IKEA’s phone lines to discuss shipping issues seems to be a frustrating experience for many customers. 

Additionally, when scheduled doorstep deliveries are not carried through, IKEA may not contact the customer to inform them that they have to reschedule their delivery. 

It seems that most customers have to assume that they have to reschedule and hope that the next delivery is successful. 

As far as the accuracy of delivery dates, there is a lack of communication here too. 

Rather than the delivery date being pushed off, IKEA may not even communicate this and the customer might be left with no idea when their item will be delivered. 

Poor communication may also occur with in-home delivery. 

Some customers have been told that even though they ordered and instructed the delivery company to deliver to a certain location in the home, the service doesn’t actually do this.

Although most IKEA workers are happy to load your items into your car, some may not assist in carrying deliveries into your home. 

This leaves the customers with a large furniture item to move on their own, whether they like it or not. 

Poor communication doesn’t have to be a lack of proper communication of the happenings of delivery and may just be a lackluster attitude. 

Whether it’s a delivery person or a customer service representative, many IKEA delivery customers have had poor experiences when communicating with people representing IKEA. 

Goods Arriving Damaged

Some IKEA delivery customers have had their items delivered in rough shape, whether the items are broken, scuffed, or poorly put together.

Woman opening a package with damaged item inside

Such things are bound to happen when items, especially large furniture, are delivered. 

Large items are more likely to be dropped or scraped against walls. 

A minimal amount of damaged items can be excused because this is the nature of furniture delivery, but at a certain point, the amount of damage done to delivered products is unacceptable. 

To make matters worse, the returns process for some IKEAs makes dealing with broken items that much more arduous.

If you don’t live near an IKEA, it is possible that you may have to pay to have your item returned. In a world where free returns are the norm, this can be frustrating. 

Additionally, some customers don’t get a refund for more than two weeks.  

Delivery Postponed Indefinitely

While some IKEA items are simply not available for delivery, some items never arrive due to stocking issues.

This is only a problem for online orders rather than shipping from the store. This is because, at the store, you have the item with you and, therefore, know it is in stock. However, online, the stock may not be updated and may change after you have already paid for the item. 

Technically the problem lies with stocking rather than delivery, but this issue is grouped in with delivery when IKEA customers discuss IKEA’s delivery.

Oftentimes, with changing stock, delivery is postponed several times and then simply canceled. 

This may make sense since IKEA would rather wait for more stock of the item to arrive than simply cancel the order after the first anticipated delivery is not possible. The latter would prevent a sale and businesses must try to prevent this. 

However, when an item is constantly pushed back and then finally its shipment is canceled, this can prolong a project months after it was supposed to be done. 

If the shipment was canceled initially, then at least the customer would be able to find another in-stock item at IKEA or go to a different store for the needed item. 

How to Get Delivery Issues Resolved

Let’s say you’ve bought something from IKEA but the delivery date has passed. There have been no updates from IKEA regarding a new delivery date and you are wondering if you made the wrong choice in choosing IKEA delivery. 

Fear not, for there are methods you can use to remedy this situation with limited inconvenience. 

First, I would cover your bases and contact both a customer service email as well as a customer service representative over the phone. 

Annoyed woman talking on her phone, typing email using laptop and man checking deliveries on the truck

The more methods you use for contact, the more likely you are to come across the information you need. 

With both an email and a phone call, make sure you have the appropriate information ready. This could include your card number, contact information, and order number. 

This will make the process go much smoother. 

If both of these methods don’t yield results, I would recommend traveling to your local IKEA help desk as a last resort. This may not be as convenient but is likely to yield the best results since you are in person and may even be able to pick up the item instead. 

Sources

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/customer-service/services/delivery/

https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/ikea-customers-complain-of-long-delivery-delays

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.ikea.com

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