IKEA: WHEN COST-CUTTING CAN BACKFIRE

I, like so many other people around the world, have a love affair with IKEA and their innovative products at good prices. Trimming costs in manufacturing has been an essential element in this, but lately I have noted that their cost-cutting is showing up in the shopping experience itself --  and that is a big mistake.

It used to be fun to go to my local IKEA and just look around and eat or have a latte, but the cafe' where you could get a very good latte has been removed. At the restaurant where the food used to quite good, there is no longer the same variety and the quality is down. This is no doubt a way to cut costs. But the cost-cutting has gone too far when you no longer feel inspired to go there. Self-defeating certainly for IKEA if people do not turn up. 

No more hand-made latte at my local IKEA.

IKEA introduced customers to a self-check system claiming that would be faster, but since they have reduced check out personnel generally, this is no longer a faster way. You still have to wait a very long time sometimes. Last month, a customer who desperately looked for someone to ask something, asked two women who loaded plastic shopping bags if they could help. "We do not work here" they said. By this they meant, that they worked for a subcontractor to load the bags and knew no more than that. Sure, this is a way of saving money for IKEA, but what impression does it give to customers?

Another ways IKEA cuts costs is to move production of items like napkins to a country that produces them in the cheapest possible way. That is how IKEA keep prices low and we benefit from it. Napkins and candles, that is what people often load up on at IKEA, and so do I. But the six packages of white napkins I bought two months ago emitted a sharp chemical smell. And it did not go away after the package had been opened. I looked at the country of manufacturing and noted that they were no longer made in Sweden. I wondered why no one had discovered that the napkins had a chemical smell ? Was their quality control at fault? Maybe this was a glitch, but what I discovered when I complained about this, was not very nice.

When I visited the kitchen department at IKEA, I told two young women who worked there about it and they quickly told me that it was no use telling them, they had no influence with the company as what they said did not matter much. It was much better to make the complaint in  a computer on the floor. This is a sad state of affairs, if people working at IKEA feel that way and cannot get their voices heard. I  decided to write to IKEA via their "contact" on their website. I got an immediate response on April 18, confirming receipt of the complaint and that they would respond no later that April 24 at 18.30 (6 PM). That seemed like a long time but hoped for an early reply.

On April 24 at !8.29, I got an email saying that their handling of claims took longer than usual and that they would when they had "dealt with my case". Oh, I thought, IKEA is contacting the factory and investigating the matter so they can give me a good reply with an explanation why the napkins had a strong smell of chemicals. That is maybe better than just offering compensation.

The days went and i heard nothing. On May, 10 I finally heard from IKEA again. This was 22 days later, more than three weeks!  I was eager to hear what their investigation had resulted in. With such a delay I expected an interesting response.

What had they done? Nothing. 

Did they apologize for the 22 day delay in responding?  No. 

Did they offer any compensation for the smelly napkins? No. 

Had they investigated my problem No.

So what did they say? 

They wondered if I still had the wrappers. They wanted a code of the wrapper indicating the time of production. That question could of course have been asked 22 days ago.

When i pointed out the lack of an apology for the three week delay and no offer of compensation, they offered me compensation for the price of four packages of napkins instead of the six I had bought. I suppose that saved them the value of two packages. Still cost-cutting, apparently. Considering the extremely bad handling of the complaint, and that they had a chance of making a larger gesture, they missed out big. Customer service at its absolute worst!

I still have a warm place in my heart for IKEA, but i do not like what I have experienced lately. They are on probation now. The napkin story and its many phases may seem small but raise a serious question about customer service. IKEA and its misplaced cost-cutting policies are not serving IKEA or it's customers well. 

HOW TO SQUEEZE A LEMON WITH GRACE

 I think there is a certain functional beauty to this funny looking contraption. It enables you to squeeze a lemon at the dinner table with elegance.

DISCOVER SARO CHURCH -- A SMALL WOODEN CHURCH IN SWEDEN

Saro Church outside Gothenburg, is a very a small wooden church built in 1922. The wealthy residents of Saro wanted a church nearer to where they lived and built thee church from private funds. The architect, Allan Berglund was a local resident of Saro.

It is built in a national romantic and neoclassical style with a myriad of almost medieval ornaments (the painter is Brocke Blückert)  in earthy colors.

It is a small and wonderfully intimate church situated up on a rock with many granite steps leading up to it.

Many people from Gothenburg visit Saro to go for long walks along the rocky water front, but very few have ever seen the inside of this church. Picture credit for the image above.

The exterior style is neoclassical

The interior design is in the National Romantic style with a myriad of almost medieval ornaments (the painter is Brocke Blückert)  in earthy colors.

WHEN NATURE CALLS -- SEND A TEXT MESSAGE?

When nature calls at either door

do not intend to bluff her

but haste away

night or day

or health is sure to suffer.

The old saying puts an emphasis on speed, but inventive Swedes don't want you to hurry quite so fast.

The company Jernhusen, that manages Swedish railway stations, have long been fed up with vandalized coin-operated toilets. They have introduced new locks on public toilets that slow you down considerably, or don't let you in at all. In order to get into the toilet, you have to pay via your mobile phone. You pay by  sending a (SMS) text-message which debits your phone bill and then, click, the toilet door opens for you. 

But what if you do not have a mobile phone, and what if you cannot read the instructions, or what if your battery is low or out? Or if you just can't wait another second? Imagining having the runnies, what better  thing  could you wish for than having to read the instructions on the toilet door and fiddle with your phone. And wait for the door to open up. Then good luck to you! Be sure to have a very strong sphincter muscle. Or health is sure to suffer.

Maybe this idiotic and dangerous system opens up new business opportunities reminiscent of what existed in London around 1700 when there were no sewers and there were entrepreneurs such as the "human lavatory" who provided toilet services for the well-to-do. A man with a big cape and a bucket would offer you to sit on the bucket (in the street) and do your business in the street whilst covered with his cape. Charming!

(From LIVES AND TIMES OF THE GREAT COMPOSERS by Michael Steen.)

Count yourself lucky to find a coin operated toilet.

DESIGNING FUN - WRAP AROUND A MUG

As a designer, one can have some fun creating an image that fits all the way around a mug. Here Donovan O'Malley's illustration from Nathanael West's Novel The Dream Life of Balso Snell, has been used four times, creating an unexpected and interesting effect.

Here is the mug, with only part of the design showing.
The mug can be bought here.

"The Performers", an illustration by Donovan O'Malley, has been used twice (the image mirrored) to wrap around the mug.

Here is the mug, with only part of the design showing.
The mug can be bought here.

HANDEL'S LONDON HAD NO SEWERS -- SPARE US THE DETAILS PLEASE?

The composer Georg Friedrich Handel with King George I on the river Thames (Wikipedia). It all looks fine and dandy, but  during Handel's time, London had no sewers and you might not want to hear the details how  people went to "to the toilet" but here they are anyway:

The text is from this excellent book: LIVES AND TIMES OF THE GREAT COMPOSERS by Michael Steen. Much recommended.

Feel grateful for this!!