Missing or Mis-Manufactured IKEA Parts

90% of the way through assembling my IKEA HEMNES 6-drawer chest, I noticed that one of the parts was manufactured incorrectly. The entire thing was put together except for one drawer and it turned out that a hole was drilled in the wrong place in the drawer front.

It is pretty common for parts to be missing or incorrectly manufactured in IKEA furniture kits. Fortunately, it is an easy problem to solve, albeit potentially annoying. All you need to do is bring your receipt, the assembly instructions and (if applicable) the incorrect part back to IKEA and go to their Returns desk. 

The bottom line is, they will totally give you the replacement part and any missing parts from their inventory. If they don't have it in their ready inventory, they will rip open a box for you and give you the part from there (so I've been told). 

One final word: You should try to bring it in within the refund timeline (I think 30 days). They will probably not hold you to that timeline, but it's better to play it safe than sorry.

Bypass Official E-Tailers' Sites for Online Discounts

A few months ago, I wanted to buy a pair of earrings and a necklace from Adina Reyter... but they were pretty pricey and I was hoping to find a coupon code of some sort. Not unreasonable, yes? Sadly, a discount could not be procured with any amount of searching.

After more pondering and surfing, I found a website (Blondette) that sold the same pieces I wanted. This time, googling "Blondette" and "coupon code" yielded results! So by finding another site that sold the exact items and also had coupon codes available online, I was able to save 20% off my purchase!

It was pretty awesome.

Actually, it was freaking awesome. And you can do the same thing with some simple elbow grease!

The Kitchenette Red Velvet Cupcake Experience

When you walk into Kitchenette in Tribeca, you will be greeted with a glass display of Willy Wonka inspired cakes, cookies and other desserts - such as - homemade Hostess cakes! 

All the colors are exaggerated and temptation lurks on every shelf. The red velvet cupcake is no exception. It has a hot pink slash reddish interior that is dense - almost chewy - with an assertive cocoa overtone. 

The frosting is sugary with a cream cheese tang and sprinkled with pink confetti on top. It looks almost translucent and as if it may have been sitting around for a while, but it definitely doesn't taste that way! 

Although it is pretty delicious and better than Amy's Bread, it still doesn't quite measure up to the wedding red velvet cake that first launched this hunt. Although... I had had a few drinks by the time wedding cake came around, so it might be possible that no red velvet cake can or will ever live up to my recollection of that first taste =D

* This picture was taken with my cell phone, so the colors aren't that great, but you get the gist.

The Hunt for Red Velvet Cake

In February, I went to a friend's wedding on Long Island and tasted, for the first time, that seductive indulgence they call red velvet cake. After that, I was hooked and had red velvet cake on the brain pretty much 18/7. The fever has since subsided somewhat, but I will now recount my mini-quest to find a comparable red velvet cake in NYC.

I solicited suggestions from friends and co-workers at every opportunity... the first hit I got was Amy's Bread. A week after the wedding, I made the pilgrimage to their outpost in Chelsea Market, where you can buy their red velvet cake by the slice. I seem to recall it was around the $4.50 mark for a slice and this thing was MASSIVE.

Sadly, it was not the red velvet cake I was envisioning (hoping for) when I first began my hunt. I am no red velvet cake connoisseur -- the following is simply my impression of the product using my personal preference as a guide. 

The Amy's Bread version was really disappointing.

It looked like red velvet cake, but the similarities ended there. It was a fluffy cake, not very cocoa-y with a buttercream frosting (I prefer a dense, sugary cream cheese frosting that sits in your gut like a boulder). Even the color was kind of wimpy... not a deep, dark red signalling the use of food coloring with abandon. It was more on the pinker side of the red spectrum.

I would like to add that this is not a knock on Amy's Bread in general. I love the breads and cookies I have sampled there... but for me, their red velvet cake is red velvet in name only. Next up: Kitchenette.

Getting a Bike for the 5 Boro Bike Tour - Part II (for Slackers)

Now, if you're like me and didn't snag a bike through Bike and Roll in time, or you want to pay less and are willing to do more leg work (i.e pick up and return your bike to a store), one place you can check out is Metro Bicycles. I called a few places before this one and was getting pretty desperate. One place wouldn't start taking reservations until April 2nd, at which point you would need to call early in the morning in hopes of (possibly) snagging a rental bike. Other places flat out do not take reservations, so your only option would be to rent the bike a few days in advance to (hopefully) ensure you will get one... this could run you well over $100 depending on what how many days early you get your bike.

Back to Metro Bicycles... I was so relieved when I stumbled (called) upon them and they were were like, no problem and directed me to their website to make a reservation. A regular rental will run you $55. You pick up your bike the day before the race (after 12pm) and drop it off the day of the race (before 6pm) at one of their pick up locations -- Canal Street, 6th Avenue or midtown.

On their website, you can order up to 4 bikes using one order form and select a pick up location. After I submitted the online form, I immediately received an e-mail recounting the details of my reservation request and a day later, I received the reservation confirmation. It was really easy and I'll let you know how the bike tour and rental experience goes!

Getting a Bike for the 5 Boro Bike Tour - Part I (for Early Birds)

To give some background (and take a break from all the IKEA talk), the 5 Boro Bike Tour is an annual event in New York City where approximately 30,000 cyclists ride 42 miles in a route that is blocked off to car traffic. Make sure you register early as it may be sold out if you take your sweet time. This year, registration was full on March 14th. You can get more information on the event at the Bike New York website.

Your easiest, hassle-free-est option for renting a bike is to reserve through Bike and Roll because they deliver your rental bike to the start line and you can drop it off at the finish line in Staten Island. Basic packages for adults are $69 and go up from there depending on what type of bike you want. These packages sell out early so book yours asap! Unfortunately, I was not able to get a bike package through Bike and Roll this year, but there is a waiting list you can try -- check out the Bike and Roll website for more information.

The IKEA Delivery Experience

I had a great delivery experience with IKEA. You arrange for delivery at the store after you've made your purchases. They will delivery any day that you request (including same day) and agree upon a 4 hour window (akin to the cable guy) with you, during which they will deliver your purchase. We asked for the 2-6pm slot and our furniture showed up at 4pm.

From what I could gather, the delivery service is contracted out to various moving/courier agencies. These two guys showed up in a van and very efficiently and quickly brought our stuff - six heavy boxes - all the way up to our apartment (this was great because some places only deliver to the curb). It was a really easy process and reasonably priced at $99!

Shopping @ IKEA

To continue the IKEA tutorial, here's what to expect when making a purchase and some tips on how to make the process easier:

First of all, if you know which items you want before you go to the store, check on the IKEA website to see if the item is in stock. IKEA rates the likelihood of the item being in stock using a green, yellow and red indicator. Although the green indicator is not a 100% guarantee, it's pretty darn close. This will save you time rather than going all the way to the store and then finding out that they are out of an item you wanted when you get there.

At the store, you can either walk through all their room displays or go straight to the warehouse. If you choose to look at all the room displays, the store signs direct you in a manner that ensures you see all the displays, but there are shortcuts available if you want to cut out early. Once you find an item you like, make note of where you can find it in the warehouse -the item tag should tell you the aisle and bin in which the item can be found. You can also get aisle and bin location information on the store website.

Once you are in the warehouse area, get a trolley and load up your items. For easier check out, make sure the barcodes all face forward. When picking up your items, check that you have all the boxes for the item. For instance, the HEMNES wardrobe comes in two separate boxes... you want to make sure you get both. 

At the check out line, the cashier will ask you if you want delivery and if you do, you will pay for it right then and there (it's uber convenient). Take your receipt and make your way to the delivery desk to arrange for delivery of your furniture (see previous post for information on delivery costs and look for a future post on the delivery experience itself). After that, it's easy peasy. They'll deliver the same day, give you a 4 hour window during which they will come, and that's it! Now to tackle furniture assembly and getting all those boxes out of your apartment...

Delivery costs @ IKEA

IKEA is an elusive entity. You know the truth is out there somewhere, but it's certainly not on their website. And you begin to wonder if they're hiding a deep, dark secret about exorbitant delivery costs...

So here's the bottom line: delivery from the IKEA in Red Hook, Brooklyn to Manhattan is $99 (flat) up to 1,500 lbs of furniture. You have to actually go to the store yourself. What I mean is, if you order your furniture online, shipping and handling will be MUCH more expensive. As an example, I bought the HEMNES wardrobe, 6-drawer chest and chest with 8 drawers from the Red Hook IKEA and had it delivered for $99. Shipping and handling online, on the other hand, would have run me close to $300!!!

Why are these delivery rates not anywhere on their website??? All they tell you is that it starts at $89.... but what is the outside end of that range? $200? $1,000? Not helpful. Don't get me wrong, I love IKEA! But I don't love their website (ok, maybe just a little).

Stuff I Couldn't Find Online

I couldn't believe it. There was stuff (information) that I could not find online. No matter how trivial the matter, how specific, I had always been able to get enough information on any topic I was looking for online. 

Until a month ago. 

In quick succession, bam! bam! bam! There were three things that I was looking for information on - online - and couldn't find! So that sums up the purpose of this blog. I want to share with you what I've discovered through traditional leg work so hopefully you won't have to do what I had to do (go outside and interact with people - gasp! horrors!).

Disclaimer: Sometimes information is available online, but it is disparate and spread out on many different websites. In these cases, I will synthesize what I have found.

Second disclaimer: I will probably also post on topics that I could find out about online, but just wanted to write about =D