Ikea says providing a safe and hygienic home delivery service is a key commitment. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Ikea says providing a safe and hygienic home delivery service is a key commitment. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Ikea says providing a safe and hygienic home delivery service is a key commitment. Chris Whiteoak / The National
Ikea says providing a safe and hygienic home delivery service is a key commitment. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Up to a month late: Ikea responds to delivery delay complaints from UAE customers


Farah Andrews
  • English
  • Arabic

Swedish furniture store Ikea has responded to complaints from UAE customers who have reported waits of a month for delivery of their goods.

"We have had an overwhelming response in online orders that have resulted in some of our delivery promises being longer than usual," a spokesperson for Ikea told The National. 

"In addition to this, there has also been a high volume of requests for assembly of furniture which in the current situation is a process that is time-consuming and requires extra care to ensure the safety of our team and customers."

I completely understand that the orders are overwhelming. But put a cap on orders and extend delivery dates

Ikea customers have told The National about orders arriving late – with complaints ranging from a fortnight's delay, to six weeks. Some have taken to social media to air their concerns as they say they are unable to get through to customer service personnel by phone.

"Their phones do not connect, no one responds by email," a Dubai Ikea customer told The National earlier this week. This person has since, however, received their order.

"The only way to reach them is through Instagram... they promised and posted that all delayed orders will be delivered by April 20 and then we reached May with nothing."

On Twitter, customers are regularly seen complaining about late or missing deliveries, and a customer service team that isn't contactable.

Dubai resident Haneen Joudiyeh first placed her Ikea order on April 6, expecting it to be delivered on April 14. Joudiyeh has been stuck in a back-and-forth between Ikea and their delivery company and is yet to receive her order.

She told The National: "A delivery company called Elite arrived at my door with half the order and refused to assemble it (it was a closet). Although I'd paid for assembly and it said assembly on the boxes. The delivery man refused to help and left with the items. He said he'll return next morning with the drill to do the assembly ... that didn't happen."

Joudiyeh has since tried to contact Ikea and waited on hold for up to an hour to speak to customer service.

She adds: "I completely understand that the orders are overwhelming. But put a cap on orders and extend delivery dates."

As of Wednesday, May 6, it was possible to place orders online at ikea.ae, with the earliest delivery date available on Saturday, May 16.

Ikea sent a response to the complaints to The National, explaining that they've taken new steps to hopefully avoid lengthy delays and unreachable customer service lines in the future.

The full statement reads: 

“At Ikea, our priority as always is the health and safety of our co-workers and customers. Providing a safe and hygienic home delivery service is a key commitment for us while taking all necessary health precautions as advised by the UAE Government during the delivery process.

"We understand the demand for online shopping is constantly increasing, and we are developing new services and e-commerce capabilities to adjust to the new reality. We have had an overwhelming response in online orders that have resulted in some of our delivery promises being longer than usual.

"In addition to this, there has also been a high volume of requests for assembly of furniture, which in the current situation is a process that is time consuming and requires extra care to ensure the safety of our team and customers.

We have set up a dedicated call centre who are reaching out to customers on a case by case basis with new delivery timelines

"To ensure our customer issues are addressed and responded to; we have set up a dedicated call centre who are reaching out to customers on a case by case basis with new delivery timelines and solutions to their concerns. We have also reallocated our resources in our fulfilment centres giving additional focus on training of our co-workers to ensure customer requests are attended to promptly.

"We are trying our best to overcome the situation and want to ensure everyone that our commitment at IKEA is towards our customers to have an easy shopping experience anywhere and anytime."

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

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5. Zakat 

The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors

Power: Combined output 920hp

Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic

Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km

On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025

Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000

'Downton Abbey: A New Era'

Director: Simon Curtis

 

Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan

 

Rating: 4/5

 
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20Znap%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarted%3A%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Uday%20Rathod%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIndustry%3A%20FinTech%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%241m%2B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EInvestors%3A%20Family%2C%20friends%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

UK%20record%20temperature
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UAE%20ILT20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMarquee%20players%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMoeen%20Ali%2C%20Andre%20Russell%2C%20Dawid%20Malan%2C%20Wanindu%20Hasiranga%2C%20Sunil%20Narine%2C%20Evin%20Lewis%2C%20Colin%20Munro%2C%20Fabien%20Allen%2C%20Sam%20Billings%2C%20Tom%20Curran%2C%20Alex%20Hales%2C%20Dushmantha%20Chameera%2C%20Shimron%20Hetmyer%2C%20Akeal%20Hosein%2C%20Chris%20Jordan%2C%20Tom%20Banton%2C%20Sandeep%20Lamichhane%2C%20Chris%20Lynn%2C%20Rovman%20Powell%2C%20Bhanuka%20Rajapaksa%2C%20Mujeeb%20Ul%20Rahman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInternational%20players%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ELahiru%20Kumara%2C%20Seekugge%20Prassanna%2C%20Charith%20Asalanka%2C%20Colin%20Ingram%2C%20Paul%20Stirling%2C%20Kennar%20Lewis%2C%20Ali%20Khan%2C%20Brandon%20Glover%2C%20Ravi%20Rampaul%2C%20Raymon%20Reifer%2C%20Isuru%20Udana%2C%20Blessing%20Muzarabani%2C%20Niroshan%20Dickwella%2C%20Hazaratullah%20Zazai%2C%20Frederick%20Klassen%2C%20Sikandar%20Raja%2C%20George%20Munsey%2C%20Dan%20Lawrence%2C%20Dominic%20Drakes%2C%20Jamie%20Overton%2C%20Liam%20Dawson%2C%20David%20Wiese%2C%20Qais%20Ahmed%2C%20Richard%20Gleeson%2C%20James%20Vince%2C%20Noor%20Ahmed%2C%20Rahmanullah%20Gurbaz%2C%20Navin%20Ul%20Haq%2C%20Sherfane%20Rutherford%2C%20Saqib%20Mahmood%2C%20Ben%20Duckett%2C%20Benny%20Howell%2C%20Ruben%20Trumpelman%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE SQUAD

Ali Khaseif, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Khalid Essa, Bandar Al Ahbabi, Salem Rashid, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Mohammed Al Attas, Walid Abbas, Hassan Al Mahrami, Mahmoud Khamis, Alhassan Saleh, Ali Salmeen, Yahia Nader, Abdullah Ramadan, Majed Hassan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Fabio De Lima, Khalil Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Muhammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani, Caio Canedo, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri

Ain Dubai in numbers

126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure

1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch

16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.

9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.

5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place

192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.

Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
  • Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
  • Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.

Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

The BIO

Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.

Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.

Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.

Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.

PULITZER PRIZE 2020 WINNERS

JOURNALISM 

Public Service
Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with ProPublica

Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.

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Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times

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Staff of The Washington Post

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and    

Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times

International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times

Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker

Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times

Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times

Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press

Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker

Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters

Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press

Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”

LETTERS AND DRAMA

Fiction
"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)

Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson

History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)

Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)

Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)

General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

and

"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)

Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019

Special Citation
Ida B. Wells