Don't mention Ikea...

[ffutures]

...or something nasty will crawl out of the woodwork.

I commented on someone else's thread re. the unpleasantness of Ikea shops (which is why I've never bought anything from them). Lo and behold I got a letter from them this morning about "my" application for an Ikea store card. Apparently someone calling himself Mark Rowland applied for one, using my address and phone number. Fortunately I'm not on the electoral roll (you can ask to have your name left off the published list if you want to cut down on unwanted mail) so when Ikea checked that they didn't find me. Now I'm waiting on their security bods to call me back, and no doubt will be put to a certain amount of trouble while resolving this. Makes me wonder if other applications have gone through without being spotted, and why they used Mark as the name. My guess they got M Rowland from the phone book, and guessed Mark. But I think I'm going to have to start taking identity theft a bit more seriously. My next purchase on eBay will probably be a shredder..

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Or more likely, the Ikea Secret Police picked up your conversation regarding their unpleasantness, and set in motion their Ikea Converstion Plan, the first step of which being to fabricate some means by which you intitiate contact with them.

I'm telling you, first step is talking to their security bods, then they'll want you to pop in for a chat, and next thing you know your home will be full of mass-produced cheap swedish furniture.

Be on your guard!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

That makes a disquieting amount of sense...

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

I know. I run an anonymous support group for people who have been victims of the Ikea Secret Police.

[timill]

A shredder won't have much if any effect, since whoever did this didn't have access to anything you'd otherwise have shredded.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I agree, but I think that I need to take things a little more seriously all round.

[parakkum.livejournal.com]

I guess it would make sense you'd have Ikea there, being closer to the source and all, but it hadn't occurred to me. Oddly enough, it seems very American (being a warehouse full of consumer items).

Nearly all of our shelving is from Ikea, but I still can barely tolerate actually being in the place. Definitely not my choice for browsing.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Their shops are a good way out of town and I don't own a car, so I'm dependent on others for help if I wanted to transport furniture etc. That, plus my dislike of the place, means that it always seems to be less hassle to buy elsewhere.

[pompe.livejournal.com]

Back when I was a kid, the most terrible Saturdays was that 1/year one when my parents had to get something from the IKEA store south of the city. (One of the oldest, I think. For a long time it was Stockholm's most visited "tourist attraction", long before those dreadful malls and outlets turned up like mushrooms all around)

It was always packed with people, and the stress... Not fun for a ten-year old. However, once one moved away from home as a poor student the same IKEA when visited on Tuesdays at 10.15 wasn't that bad (and didn't seem so large).

Can't understand why it works so well outside Norden, though. Maybe it fills a furnishing void in lands of flowery wallpaper - maybe it is the need for cheap new furniture our constantly redecorating civilization seems to have.