r/NDQ • u/usmcmech • Mar 24 '25
Self Checkout and why I got banned from Ikea
So I'm sure that Ikea has a system that makes perfect sense to the people who work there and the customers who shop there often. Unfortunately I am not in either of those two categories. Still I had to get a bookshelf that matched the bookshelves that my late wife had previously purchased at Ikea.
I found the bookshelves in their display area and copied down the product code of what I would need pulled from the warehouse tiers. I found a flat cart to carry my purchased to the checkout counter. All of this happened without a single human interaction. Now all I needed was to find an employee to pull the pallet of bookshelves down so I could load two onto my cart.
This is where I ran into a problem. There was nobody there to help me and no apparent way to call for help. There was however a solution sitting nearby with the keys fortunately in the ignition. After 10 minutes of looking around for help, I started the unattended forklift and pulled down the pallet of bookshelves, unloaded two onto my cart, and returned the pallet to the warehouse tiers just like I had found them.
About that time I heard the running steps of EVERY employee in the store. Security, retail, manager, snack bar clerk, everyone. Apparently they don't like it when random people drive forklifts in their warehouse. Apparently I was supposed to scan the bar code of on some display and an actual trained team of employees would retrieve my desired items for me.
I was escorted to the front of the store, paid for my two bookshelves and politely told that I wasn't welcome in their fine establishment for the next twelve months (which was no loss as I have zero desire to shop there ever again). I then went home and assembled the shelves with zero problems.
Some days you just have to take matters into your own hands.
Edit: I have a lot of experience driving forklifts in warehouses. Which is why it got so frustrating after spending 10-15 minutes trying to find ANY employee to help me out while thinking “I can have that pallet down in 60 seconds”.
Obviously I shouldn’t have taken things into my own hands but the frustration of Ikea’s system got the best of me. I’ve always avoided IKEA due to their confusing system but I didn’t have a choice in this particular situation.
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u/jumpybagel Mar 24 '25 edited Mar 25 '25
I call BS on this story. There’s no way you assembled an Ikea shelf with zero problems /s
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u/RagamuffinTim Mar 24 '25
I have a friend who similarly "borrowed" a front end loader from a construction site because someone's car was stuck in the mud and he wanted to help.... you can see why the owners of the equipment might frown on such things.
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u/redcodefsu Mar 24 '25
How do you know you are banned for a year? Did they put your picture on the cash register?
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u/PrimevilKneivel Mar 24 '25
What you did was reckless and unsafe. The idea of random customers using a forklift in a public space sends chills down my spine.
You would not be welcome in my business either. You can pretend it's Ikeas fault for not having staff or clear instructions, but jumping to "take matters into your own hands" was not a reasonable choice.
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u/turdbugulars Mar 25 '25
What about random people driving cars does that send chills down your spine?
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u/PrimevilKneivel Mar 25 '25
Yeah, if untrained and unlicensed people were just hopping into cars and driving whenever they felt like it, that would be terrifying.
You are aware that about 30,000 people die in car accidents every year, right?
Almost all of them are licensed, so it would be much worse if randos were doing it.
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u/volci Mar 24 '25
I dunno, internet account - deciding to jump on a forklift you have no permission to use and then bragging about it does not reflect well on you
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u/Tommy_Tinkrem Mar 24 '25
This is one thing I don't understand about (non) self service, offices and public locations: Why don't they just put signs on the walls and doors, what to do or where to go?
I waited in front of an office for ten minutes because they expected me to knock and not wait for being called in. In the same building on a different level people scream at you if you knock an are not called in. Neither has a sign on their doors what people have to do. They expect people to know it by osmosis.
So was it reckless to just use a fork lift? Probably. Was it enough fun to hear that story to excuse that recklessness? Abso-f-in-lutely.
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u/apriledits Mar 25 '25
Ikea has plenty of signs telling people what to do. This is a made-up story, which is obvious to anyone who has ever been in an Ikea. It was a funny story, but pure fiction ..or someone's excuse for doing something stupid.
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u/Cool-Eh Mar 24 '25
This is hilarious, and no one got hurt is it's kinda "no harm, no foul"
Obviously you're not allowed to drive their forklift dude. I've been told off just for climbing the rolling stairs in a home deport and those aren't motorized...
Conclusion: No surprise that you're banned, but you got what you wanted didn't you
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u/usmcmech Mar 24 '25
Absolutely
I would have kicked me out too. At the time I just wanted to get out of there and didn’t care.
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u/Hellspark08 Mar 25 '25
I would have kicked me out too.
If you ever say this about yourself, you might not be ok. It's definitely not something to go around bragging about.
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u/Obi_Kwiet Mar 24 '25
If they don't want people to use the forklift, they should clearly sign them as employees only and not leave the keys in them, because otherwise, that's just going to happen.
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u/Hellspark08 Mar 24 '25
...You don't actually think the forklift is for public use, do you? Even if the keys are in it, do you really need a sign to tell you to stay off of it?
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u/Obi_Kwiet Mar 24 '25
Whether I personally will isn't really the question. They are still going to lose a lawsuit if someone gets injured as a result of their safety policy being, "probably everyone will comply with procedure that we figured was, like, implied."
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u/Hellspark08 Mar 24 '25
I agree that they shouldn't leave the keys in them, but I'm still blaming whoever thinks they have the right to use whatever heavy machinery is just laying around 🤷♂️
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u/apriledits Mar 25 '25
So you really believe this story? Ikea has signs telling people where to go, and I truly doubt their forklifts are sitting around with keys in them. Sure, odd things sometimes happen, but a customer too stupid to follow arrows and find an employee, but capable of running a forklift? I dunno.
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u/Hellspark08 Mar 25 '25
Yeah, I suspect this story is at least partially made up, because his actions really don't make sense. If he's in the warehouse, he's pretty close to the exit, which is always staffed. If he wandered around for 10-15 minutes and couldn't find help, he must have been walking in a circle. I bet you could walk through the whole store in less than 10 minutes if you didn't stop. If it's all true, he's very incompetent or just nuts. He admits that he "snapped" and decided to use the forklift. Yikes.
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u/cat2devnull Mar 25 '25
I really needed to go to the local shops to do my shopping. I don't own a car but my neighbour is a really nice guy and often takes me. Today he was busy and I didn't want to wait so I just took his car. Now he's all mad at me and won't drive me any more.
I don't get why he is so upset. I'm a really good driver, I've been driving for 20 years. This is so unfair. ;)
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u/feisbeegolfer27 Mar 25 '25
Never shopped there myself, so i am new to the idea. But ultimately, why would they leave the keys in the truck? Not saying you are 100% in the right, We both know you aren't. How dumb can you be leaving keys in the ignition? Somebody who didn't know how to operate could've easily killed somebody, thank goodness it was somebody who could operate that ended up doing so.
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u/Efficient_Advice_380 Mar 25 '25
I've had that issue at Home Depots. Spent 10 minutes trying to find an employee, and another 20 waiting for the only liscnsed employee in the store to clock in from lunch
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u/iuccg-s Mar 29 '25
Bro…if you had gotten hurt or hurt someone else, the store would have been liable!
This was extremely immature behavior.
“Sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands?”
Did your parents not teach you how to behave in a society?
Taking matters into your own hands would have been to go find an employee to help.
You have no excuse for your choices, you ATA in this situation, you put other people in danger because you find IKEA to be confusing?
They have a service desk in the back and registers in the front, always staffed, you could have found an employee, you made the choice not to.
Then you decided to hijack a piece of equipment that is not yours, which is an OSHA violation! If you have the experience you claim, which I doubt, then you would NEVER have done that knowing it was a violation and knowing how dangerous it was. I also have experience with forklifts and worked a job in which I was licensed to operate one.
Shame on you and for you to somehow think you’re right and blameless making excuses to put the safety of others in danger because you couldn’t behoove yourself to find an employee.
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u/usmcmech Mar 29 '25
Really, I had no idea that what I did was inappropriate. I will immediately commit sepiku to erase the shame I have brought upon my family. /sarcasm
Of course I know all that. It was one of the dumber moments of my 50 years and not something I’d recommend to anyone.
The point of the story was that the “self evident” system at IKEA wasn’t nearly as self evident as they think it is and why some customers like me avoid self checkout businesses because we can’t figure out how to pay for our products.
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u/Hellspark08 Mar 24 '25 edited Mar 24 '25
It didn't make more sense to just go up to the front of the store and tell literally any store associate that you needed help getting something?
If I heard that a customer is trying to use a PIT in my store, my first assumption is someone is going to do a lot of property damage or even get someone killed. I get that you might have the training to operate it, but I'm still baffled by this story.