Nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

IKEA's reputation is very important to them. I would email them through their website, and maybe even tell them you posted your experience on this website. I hope it helps.

What's wrong with coming to a restaurant and ordering food the way you like it? If you are kind to the waiter, and say thank you, then what's the problem? I am a strict vegetarian, and I always go out of my way to be as sweet and kind as possible to the server, and I ALWAYS tip 20% minimum.

I have worked as a barista at several different coffee shops, and I have never had a problem with people who order "difficult" drinks, as long as they were nice about it.

It sounds to me like many of the commentators here at Consumerist are bitter with their service-industry jobs, and discriminate against women almost immediately because of their own job issues/shortcomings as people.

If a person is rude to you, or tipped shittily, then you may discriminate. But not beforehand.

And, for the record, if you treat someone like a bad tipper THE ENTIRE FREAKING TIME YOU ARE HELPING THEM, chances are...they won't tip well! Hey, common sense, what do you know.

I worked in the beds dept., however that was a few years ago, and upon glancing at the website, they have a ton of new bedframes that I am not familiar with. A word to the wise...stay away from the super cheap frames (DALSELV comes to mind). Those things will fall apart in no time. MALM is OK, just don't buy it in white. The white frame has a different coating than the wood veneers, and it chips VERY easily. An IKEA mattress should treat you quite well, just make sure to flip it regularly to avoid sagging. We were trained to tell people that when testing a mattress, you should lay down and allow your back muscles to completely relax on the bed (this could take several minutes of laying on a bed). Give yourself plenty of time to pick out the right mattress, because when I worked there, IKEA would rarely accept returns on an opened mattress, regardless of the circumstances.

I would suggest going there on a weekday afternoon/evening, and befriending one of the coworkers. If you are really friendly, they will probably love you, considering how many jerks we dealt with on a constant basis.

I hope that helps.

On another matter: Earlier I mentioned that I didn't remember any item from IKEA that was made from 100% real wood. As Ribex pointed out, I stand corrected.

Also, keep in mind that IKEA workers are trained to make customers do most of the hard work. Which is why they hate when shoppers A) refuse to write down the name of the item they are asking questions about, and B) force the coworker to walk across the store with them so they can point at an item they wish to purchase. Trust me, the workers are less likely to be genuinely helpful if you make either of these fatal flaws. Just be polite and write down the name, and the workers will bend over backward for you.

The store supplies pencils, paper & tape measures, so don't worry too much about bringing your own.

And for the record, as far as I remember, I NEVER saw an item made entirely from real wood. There is always particle board in there somewhere, trust me.

I have a mutated case of cystic fibrosis. My case is so rare, doctors did case studies on me when I was a child. I took medicine until I was a teenager, but now, at 26, my symptoms have literally disappeared. That's been the case for 10 years.

Unless my employer provides it, no one will give me health insurance with my condition, even though I show NO symptoms of the disease.

Thank goodness I don't live in Massachusetts. I would be SOL.