From when must one know as much as an Ikea employee?

A few weeks ago, when we bought a dining table at Ikea, we were very satisfied Ikea customers because we had already bought a lot at Ikea and had nothing to complain about except for minor defects that were not worth mentioning. After we assembled our dining table, we found that the frame was a different color than the tabletop. Oh man,... someone had placed package no. 2 in the wrong place, and we didn’t notice it when taking it. Well, we thought, no problem, we’ll exchange it. But unfortunately, not with the service staff in Oldenburg. I was told there that I should have checked the article numbers. And due to lack of information, we hadn’t done that. Of course, we read everything that was on the shelf, but all it said was: "Please take 2 packages!" and on the shelf next to it, where only single packages were located, there was a small sticker with the note to compare the article numbers (I checked again today to see if that sticker really is there and took a picture of the situation). Damn, we didn’t look there, but only where the goods we wanted were stored. We were also not made aware at the checkout that we should compare the article numbers when taking 2 packages. So we left the store clueless, but after my unsuccessful attempt to exchange, I became quite a bit wiser. It’s unbelievable that I have now driven to Ikea Oldenburg twice for nothing and was made to feel it was my own fault because I wasn’t competent enough to immediately understand Ikea’s system. And if no wrong “pair” is found, well, I just had bad luck. However, I will have this thoroughly checked to see if I have to put up with this. I’m curious if anyone will be found who thinks I am unfairly disappointed. Oh yes, it is a Bjursta dining table.

Extremely unusual. Especially since there should still be at least one "wrong" and therefore unsellable combination on the shelf in Oldenburg. I would try it with a nasty letter here...

Yes, I am also surprised, the service employee checked the inventory as well and told me that there was no wrong combination. Now they wanted to do an inventory, and if nothing came out of it, then I just had bad luck. That means if there is another dumb customer like me who doesn't even notice that he has two different colors, or who gives away his table for Christmas and it is only assembled then, I'm out of luck.

Even if there is no wrong combination, I would not accept that. The table legs are not sold separately, are they? IKEA should check at the checkout whether the combination is correct and at the self-checkout registers have both parts scanned and interrupt the process in case of an error. Not everything can be shifted onto the customer. If the problem occurs too often, such items should only be sold through the goods issue. You took the wrong combination from the shelf, but IKEA sold you the wrong combination!

IKEa has sold an article at this moment that ...

1. is not usable as is.
2. is not displayed or advertised as shown.
3. represents a defect caused by IKEA.

In my opinion, this is a clear sales error. Honestly?

I would write a letter to the company demanding the following:

Rectification, meaning replacement of the wrong goods, directly at my location, without me having to pay a single cent.
Furthermore, compensation for travel expenses for the tailor's trip and at least a shopping voucher of 20 € as compensation for lost time.

Are they out of their minds? They make mistakes and the customer is supposed to suffer? That's not how it works. What kind of employee was that? Or were there even two?

So far, all my exchange experiences have been extremely relaxed. Maybe I just happened to get a wrong employee once. In my opinion, just try another colleague next time and explain the situation again. Maybe they will see it differently... *Daumendrück*