IKEA is mean.
For as long as I’ve enjoyed the act of eating dinner, I’ve rued the fact that I don’t have a dining room table. We eat at our desks or on the couch, which is just terribly uncouth – TV trays are useful, but they definitely don’t lend an air of elegance to a room.
I’ve had my eye on a certain IKEA table for *years* – it would fit in with our décor (Baby’s First Post-College Apartment), it had storage, and most importantly, it would FIT. I’ve drooled over this table for a long time, but the time was never right to buy it and Ed didn’t think we needed it, being just fine with eating tuna casserole* off his knees.
Earlier this week, I got an e-newsletter from IKEA. As with every retailer, they’re practically flooding my inbox with sales and specials (evidently they did not get the notice that Christmas is Canceled this year) on a near-daily basis. This one, however, caught my eye: MY TABLE, on sale, for $99.99! HOORAY! Christmas may be canceled, but I might be able to EAT AT A REAL TABLE! I was beside myself with glee (it doesn’t take much) – not only would I get my long-coveted table, I could get some meatballs to eat with it!
I scanned through the email, mentally planning a trip to IKEA. There’re a few things I want for our new house, so this would be a fruitful (and expensive) trip – but my table was $150 off, so that would help. Plus, meatballs. There is no bad there at all.
I read through the fine print: 2 tables per customer, in store only, not valid with any other offer, for three days only (December 3rd to the 6th).
.. I received the email at 7:25pm on Tuesday, December 8th.
You suck, IKEA. You broke my heart. Even worse, you broke my heart and ignored my pain – I tried to let you know my angst via your website, but the “Contact Us” form ends in a 404. This is utterly unfair, made worse by another misdated email I got from IKEA not a day before: we’re extending our sale on that thing you need! To .. yesterday, when it ended! Haha on you! Haha all OVER you!
IKEA: Swedish for FAIL.
This time next week we’ll be 26 hours away from getting the keys to our very own new home!
delicious juice dot com 
ooh, we have that table! Part of our decor requirements are “can be rolled/folded/collapsed/stored so that we can turn our apartment into a photo studio in less than 5 minutes”. That table is a total win for that.
Ikea is certainly mean, but it’s worth the full price. Table is AWESOME. :)
Damn them in the face – that’s a brilliant price. That they made you miss out on.
I think it’s now on the list of possibilities for a potential desk for my tiny ass room. The fact that it is in all ways collapsible, and the drawers, and that I can use it for its proper use when I move into my own place make it very appealing. Of course it’s $299 here, so that sucks.