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Do Ikea haggle over prices


Alloneword

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I once watched a documentary on Ikea and a director was asked why do you charge double the price in the UK than the same items in Europe.He said because they'll pay it meaning were thick in this country,I hated Ikea before but after that i said i'll never buy anything from Ikea ever.

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I once watched a documentary on Ikea and a director was asked why do you charge double the price in the UK than the same items in Europe.He said because they'll pay it meaning were thick in this country,I hated Ikea before but after that i said i'll never buy anything from Ikea ever.

Problem is i have a great bed, but it needs a new mattress and ikea beds are a non standard size, in my case 160x200 hence you can only get your mattress from them, it's a great way to make customers pay over the odds i know but i love my bed and hence will pay the price for a mattress, just wanted to save afew quid if i could.

 

All1

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As part of my job, I program and repair bed making machines.

 

It's just a matter of moving an end proximty switch - which is on a marked rule slider anyway to make custom sized beds (or mattresses)

 

It wouldn't harm to call a manufacturer and ask for a price. If they manufacture them - they are bound to be cheaper anyway.

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We have a comedian in our midsts :Smiler:

Take that as a no then shall I? Oh well worth a try.

 

Rother the mattress i was going to buy was just over £400 size was 160cm x 200cm so given what you have suggested i have looked at the National Bed Federation (NBF) and i'll give some of there members a ring and see what gives, i guess i have nothing to loose..... Apart from £400.

 

 

All1

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Looking at your sizes there, it seems to be a standard 5ft bed. (the bedding industry still work in feet and inches as most of their machines are old)

But I would make sure when you ask.

Then you need to know what type of mattress you need. There are so many variations from £80 to £1000.

 

If you don't have any special needs, I would highly recommend a pocket sprung mattress. The comfort level is the highest.

I got one for a friend and his words were (after a few weeks of using it) 'it's like snuggling down into a little nest'

 

I have a king size double pocket sprung mattress with a single sprung base. It would have cost £1200 but I got it for free

as I worked there often and saved them money with a program I did.

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it's a great way to make customers pay over the odds i know

 

All1

Actually, Scandinavians happen to be a bit taller, and it's not just Ikea that makes that length as standard!

 

We got a replacement 200cm mattress from our local bedstore which was cheaper than Ikea...Never asked where they got it from though.

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Rother I was always lead to beleive Ikea mattress were an odd shape hence you had NO choice but to buy from them, however given what Mr Grumpy has said i'll look into some other outlets and see if they sell these sizes and as he says look for "European Kingsize".

 

All1

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WOW, loads more outfits selling stuff then i thought even in Ikea sizes, now does anyone know of a decent site to look at that gives decent reviews of what your buying, I'll be looking at pocket Sprung and firm to very firm.

I know Amazon's customer service is supposed to be first rate, and i have never had any issues with them, need to keep it under £400 to be honest.

 

All1

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Another reason not to buy ikea?.... Link

 

Ikea 'used political prisoners in GDR as slave labour'

 

Swedish retail giant Ikea used political prisoners in the German Democratic Republic as “slave labour” to make furniture, secret police files unearthed by a German broadcaster appear to show.

 

Ikea developed strong links with the communist state in the 1970s, opening a number of manufacturing facilities, one of which, according to Stasi records discovered by German television company WDR, used political prisoners to construct sofas.

 

The factory in Waldheim stood next to a prison, and inmates were used as unpaid labour, it is claimed. Gaols in the Democratic Republic housed significant numbers of political prisoners, with some estimates indicating they made up at least 20 per cent of the entire prison population.

 

Quoted in a Stasi file, Ingvar Kamprad, Ikea’s founder, said while he had no official knowledge of the use of prison labour, if it did indeed exist “in the opinion of Ikea it would be in society’s interests”.

 

Hans Otto Klare, who had been sent to Waldheim prison for trying to escape to West Germany, described conditions in the factory as harsh. "Our labour team lived on the upper floor of the factory with the windows covered,” he told WDR about his time making hinges and other components for Ikea furniture. “The machines were on the lower floor, and you had little rest. On the factory floor you had no proper seating, no ear protection: no gloves. Conditions were even more primitive there then in the rest of the GDR. It was slave labour.”

 

Another former prisoner said he recognised some of the parts he has made when he went shopping in Ikea after the fall of communism.

In the documentary Sabine Nold, an Ikea spokeswoman, made no comment on the revelations other than to point out business practices had changed over the past 25 years. An Ikea statement issued later said the company had no knowledge of the use of prison labour, but was sorry if it had occurred.

 

Kamprad founded Ikea in 1943, aged 17. In 1994 it was disclosed that he had briefly joined Sweden’s pro-fascist New Swedish Movement in 1942.

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I must admit i don't want to buy from them but it's proving hard to find anywhere that does the european king size that offers decent customer reviews.

 

Given most normal people (not you i know Sparks) spends hours in bed it has to be comfy for me and one person's firm may not be the other persons firm, if you get my drift.

 

All1

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