Looking For An Alternative To Ikea

[asiaexpat]

After visiting IKEA, Seacon Square, Index, Central Market, etc, we found Podium in Seacon Square to be the best overall shop. Excellent english speaker, reasonable prices, real wood furniture (unlike IKEA) and free delivery. They do take some time to deliver even to Prawet. We bought bedroom, living room, kitchen, and dining room furniture as it came on promotion.

[tombkk]

I try and avoid IKEA like the plague where I live in Dubai. Problem is that once inside I can't bring myself to be dictated by them as to which route to follow, ie follow their big foot prints on the floor, Not. Then, being windowless and totally disorientated I have to find someone to tell me how to get out! My fault I know but they could make it easier for those of us who are not escape artists and only want a bundle of place mats. Unfortunately I'm being tempted to go back soon to buy something. Maybe I should take my Garmin or a bucket load of patience; not forgetting the wood glue for those pre-drilled holes that don't marry up. Otherwise the quality and choice seem OK for the price.

LOL!

1. If you follow the footprints, you'll get to the exit. If you don't follow the footprints, well, don't complain.

2. If you don't like it, try to live without it... So you are tempted to go back. They must be doing something right.

[JayBee]

First, agree Podium has some decent stuff at very good prices. Just got a really nice queen size bed for the guest room for 11,000 baht. I have one index bed that is totally falling apart after just 18 months. Index furniture in my experience has been very junky.

Ikea, the meat balls are disgusting, worse than airplane food. We bought two couches a big lounge chair and a big ottoman. First joke is that my wife and I are expected to be able to haul around huge couches by ourself. She is just barely 5 feet and a 100 pounds and I certainly can't do it by myself. Unless you are a couple of professional athletes it is impossible to buy a big item there. One of the wife's friends joined us and insisted staff couldn't help us. I said screw that (after watching wife and her friend wrestle a piece of couch for 5 minutes, I mean it was pretty funny, had to watch for a little while...) and tracked down a nice staff member who did help us load everything into two trolleys.

The lounge chair was on second level though and sales guy told us that meant it was in stock but we could only buy it the following day when it would be moved down to main floor a the warehouse. So it was there, we could see it, but couldn't buy it till the next day. We did manage to finally buy it that day as we were getting things delivered but it took some more talking and deliberating.

I would gladly pay an extra ten percent to never need to go to ikea again. I would rather have too much service than none at all. But the couches are pretty nice and very very cheap.

[CWMcMurray]

I also went to Ikea once and would never go back.

They did have some interesting little nick nacks but nothing that I would say is worth the drive out to Bangna and to be forced to spend a couple of hours walking through the store

It is not a pop in buy something and pop back out kind of place. To go the first time and see everything it is not so bad, but I would hate this store if I knew what I wanted to buy and was forced to walk through the entire store

Also the prices really did not seem any cheaper or any better quality than any of the other players in the market

I thought the concept was self serve to offer lower cost. But no lower costs, just lower service

I bought a few items and was totally surprised that I could not take the cart to my car, but had to have my wife wait down by the loading area and go get my car and try and get into the loading area. Not sure what I would have done if I was alone?

Then once I get home, I have to spend a few hours putting everything together myself, which I can do but would prefer to spend my time doing other things

At any of the other furniture shops, we just would have pointed at what we wanted and paid and gone home. For no extra cost, they would have delivered and set up

So finally it seems IKEA takes longer to shop, is less convenient to shop, costs the same as others, I have either pay extra for delivery and assembly (making them now more expemsive than others) or try an organize all on my own

Been there,done that, bought the meatball and will never go back again

Edited May 12, 2012 by CWMcMurray