apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Based on the AT post, I booked Eric's Ikea Delivery Alternative to pick me up at the Elizabeth store a couple of days ago.
I have to admit I was a little nervous as I sat in the pick-up area out by the parking lot by my "cart locker" FULL of Ikea merchandise -- if they didn't show up, I'd be really screwed since there's no way I could get all my stuff on a bus, let alone home from Port Authority. I even took the Apartment Therapy phone number as an extreme emergency backup just in case. But, lo and behold, there was my pick-up, pretty much right on time. It was pleasant, fast and extremely helpful. I will definitely book them again in the future! Thanks Apartment Therapy -- and Eric and Raquel.

Eric squeezed me in on a day he was planning to take off, he showed up in Paramus on time (I mean, to the minute!!) and was extremely professional, courteous, and most of all pleasant and an all-around nice guy. I will definitely book him for my future trips! Thanks, Eric!

Eric was friendly, pleasant and very professional. I actually used his services twice! - once to Paramus on Friday evening and a second trip to Elizabeth the next morning to pick up some stuff that wasn't available at Paramus.

His SUV was large enough to carry a full load (even beds - flatpacked). No problems or hiccups whatsoever - loved the service. Highly recommended and will definitely use in the future.

Great service and extremely straightforward. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Eric.

I learned about Eric's Ikea shopping service from this AT post. I called him today and he drove me to Ikea, let me shop for a while and then he packed the boxes into his truck/suv and drove me back home.

What a fantastic service! I give Eric five stars for service and value. He was so nice and he brought the packages into my building after we got back to nyc.

Eric was professional and very helpful. I was able to get everything I needed and I am very glad Eric went out of his way to accomodate my last minute request for his services.

I can barely lift one of those giant bookcase boxes on my own, let alone transport it back to nyc via bus...so thanks AT for letting us know about Eric!

Eric provides fantastic experience and is great help, especially if you want to get in and out of the store very quickly. If you've never visited the store before it would be easy to get lost, but Eric went above and beyond and actually guided us throughout the showroom and then down to the merchandise. We were in and out very quickly, and his SUV was able to bring back three BILLY bookcases without a problem. I'm so glad we found out about his service through apartmenttherapy.com and highly recommend his service!

THIS ALL SOUNDS LIKE A BUNCH OF CRAP. WHO WOULD EVER THINK ABOUT WRITING ALL THIS CRAP FOR A MAN WITH A VAN. IF I EVER SMELLED BULLSHIT ,I SMELL IT NOW!AND IT JUST GO,S ON AND ON.WOW,SO YOU DROVE ITEMS FROM IKEA TO THE DROP SPOT,AND YOU TOOK TIME ON A DAY YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO HAVE OFF???? WOW. AND THEY ACTUALLY PAID YOU FOR THIS? I REALLY CANT BELIEVE THIS CRAP. OBVIOUSLY A CUSTOMER WOULDNT BE LINKED TO THIS SIGHT SO GUESS WHO WROTE ALL THE BS COMMENTS? SELF POSTED I AM CERTAIN OF IT.

I too heard about Eric on AT and, wow, am I glad I found him. After an exhausting trip to Ikea several weeks ago, my husband and I could not stomach a return trip, so I called Eric and we bought the titanium package, sending him our shopping list and setting up a time for drop-off. On his own, he double checked all of our items against the website and the catalog, and even caught one that was not listed in either. After arriving at the Elizabeth Ikea and discovering that one of our items was out of stock, he offered to drive all the way to Paramus to pick the item up there. He showed up at our place early with all the goods and then did a fantastic job putting together a couple of our pieces (all the while enduring the fumes in our recently painted apt). This guy is seriously a Rockstar...and the reason I plan to never step foot in Ikea again.

We moved from London to an apartment on the upper east side. Found Eric on the web. Booked him to meet us at Elizabeth and to spend a couple of hours assembling the stuff at our place. We were running late with our shopping, he was very patient with our Ikea ineptitude. When we got to the apartment it turned out to be very difficult to move in to as the service entrance was in a bus stop. Welcome to NY! Eric was a star and ended up staying until 10 pm carrying sofas across the street etc. A full removal job really. He didn't even want to charge for all the hours he spent with us, but we insisted. A good man and a welcoming face to NYC.

I'll vouch for Eric, too. I also found him on the web, and was a little suspicious given the occasional odd comment (see andrewtrucker's comment above). Plus, if you google his phone number, you'll see some other ominous comments and complaints from about five years back.

But I didn't have time during the week, nor the patience to brave the weekend crowds, so I got the Titanium package ($110 by itself, ~$120 after you pay for his tolls). It turned out to be a good gamble.

The dude is awesome (Eric). I had an crazy list, admittedly. It included a bed frame, a frickin' huge expedit bookcase/tv stand, a bunch of chairs, some kids stuff, and about twenty random knick-knacks (e.g. Rationelle cabinet accessories) which I fully expected him to say "no way" to. The funniest part was when he thought I was ordering 16 chairs and nearly turned me down (it turned out to be just one chair that happened to be called "SIXTEN" in Ikea-speak).

But he got them all, and even called me up while he was there at the store, since he wanted to make sure the exact item numbers matched what I was looking for. It was a little surprising that he was able to fit everything into his SUV, actually -- no idea how that happened.

It helped to have looked up the exact items on the site beforehand, for the location I wanted him to go to, and I checked stock beforehand (although I heard somewhere else that he does that too).

Interestingly, I thought the bed frame I wanted was out of stock, based on the web site, but Eric had the experience to tell me to give the store a call just to check -- sure enough, he was right -- they had it, and the web site was wrong.

The caveat (I guess): He showed up a little later than I expected, but it was no problem for me... and truth be told, I was glad it wasn't me burning all that time at Ikea trying to find my home furnishings and junk. But he's got a cell phone and stayed in touch to let me know when he was showing up.

Payment was all in cash -- so beware, all ye Ikea junkies who, like me, face a $600-per-day cash withdrawal limit at the ATM, yet want to buy more than $600 worth of junk at Ikea. Fortunately I'd known about this and gone to the bank a few days before to get enough on hand to pay the guy. The cash thing is just so you can go to Ikea later on yourself, if need be, to return all the junk you just bought. I tipped him too, and he was nice enough to say that I should take $5 of the tip back and give it to my doorman instead (for watching his car I suppose).

So go for it, New Yorkers. Unless you love winding through Ikea's rat maze, getting a stupid slip of paper, paying for the slip and getting another slip, waiting for another half hour for your junk, scarfing down a mediocre hot dog and an imitation cinnabon because you're so ticked-off and because they don't sell the meatballs by the check out, and then lugging your stuff onto a rental car or zipcar because you live in Manhattan and thus don't actually own a car (otherwise why would you be cheap enough to shop at Ikea), or else paying >$100 for Ikea official delivery which would've been what you would have paid Eric.

Yeah, this is a good thing.

Oh, and so you know I'm a real live person and not Eric posting a fake review of himself, you can check out my site, admitt.com (yes, a shamless plug, though probably not useful to you unless you're a doctor like me, but likely confirmation that I'm not Eric, nonetheless).

It's 2008, we live in New York, and this sounds a little bit too low-tech, a little too trust based, a little weird. We almost never do anything that doesn't involve a big-name chain: bank at Bank of America, eat at McDonalds, shop at Ikea. This guy only a web site behind him might make you nervous.

But if you lived in a more perfect world, you wouldn't think twice about something like this: When you needed a car you'd call your neighbor, ask him to pick some stuff up for you (or ask him to drive you to the store), tell him you'd give him the money when he brings the stuff to your house. He'd come, he'd be friendly, you'd give him a little money for his troubles, and he'd leave. This is what would happen.

And this is what did happen. The absolute only thing unexpected about our transaction was that Eric was much nicer than he needed to be. Because this isn't his only/main job, he doesn't have that "I hate doing this but I have no choice" attitude that many of us wear at work.

Our total was cheaper than we expected. We thought certain things were only available at Paramus (higher taxes), but he double checked and went to Elizabeth (lower taxes). Something was on sale. I guess the receipt was there, but honestly I wouldn't have noticed if he had just told me that the total was the [higher] total that I was expecting to hear. Next time, Eric, you should try that.

! Recommended.

Melanie

Anyone looking for an IKEA shopping alternative need look no further. Eric is AWESOME!! He shopped for us, (saving us certain aggrevation) delivered the furniture (with just a little help from us) to my daughters 6th floor walk-up and put everything together!! Everything we wanted wouldn't fit in one load so he went back the next day and got a love seat and delivered that as well. Eric was very courteous, a real professional. Eric, you were a Godsend...we couldn't have done it without you!! We highly recommend Eric!!

Linda

I recently moved to Manhattan with very little furniture of my own (air mattress, stool, bookcase). After two weeks of sparse living and researching just about every possible "man with a van" service on Craig's List, I decided to go with Eric's IKEA Delivery Alternative, in part because of all these positive remarks that have been circulated.

I had an unconventional request that included a large IKEA shopping trip (couch, wardrobe, bookcases, tables) and an additional stop at another apartment to pick up a bed, followed by hefting all of the above and more up five flights of stairs (and down a very narrow hallway) to my apartment.

I was worried about the whole process, being new to the city and post-college life, but as soon as I met up with Eric at IKEA, I could tell this was going to work out well.

As all of the previous individuals have said, Eric was conscientious, courteous, and responsible. He was prompt, efficient, and engaging to talk with, and he played great music on the drive. =)

I will absolutely recommend his service to friends -- and to all those who may be reading this and considering other options, look no further -- Eric is the preeminent IKEA delivery man in New York.

Steph

I want to highly recommend Eric's service. I just moved here and am starting work soon, so I needed to furnish my apartment quickly. The delivery prices from ikea.com were staggering, and this was a much better alternative.

I had been visiting the Brooklyn Ikea to figure out everything I needed, and then I contacted him the day before I wanted to go - and he was happy to help.

I got the Titanium package, which costs $110 $8 for the toll. Eric drove me to Paramus in his SUV, which had the pieces I wanted. He was very friendly and professional, and fun to talk to.

If you are like me and new to NYC, without a car, another bonus is the trip to Paramus. The views are amazing ion a clear sunny day because you get to go over the bridge and seeing the city across the water.

I highly recommend making the list before you go - I got out in 2 hours (spending about an hour in the marketplace and an hour in the self-service area, picking up flat-packed boxes). I simply called Eric before I payed and he found me at the checkout line and brought the stuff out to his SUV.

Eric quickly loaded the SUV, and everything fit, to my relief (a malm bed, a foam mattress, slats, a dresser, a dining table, a work table, 3 chairs, a tv stand, several lamps, the startboxes, plus a lot of household odds and ends). A lot of the pieces were pretty heavy and I was glad to have the extra person to help with the lifting. Offloading was also very efficient, as we simply loaded the apartment elevator and into my place and we were done. Total time was about three and a half hours. Completely worth it.

I would totally use his service again, and probably will to get a sofa.

Great service.

Got the "Gold" package to pick up a Pax Vikedal wardrobe mirror (to use as simply a wall mirror - highly recommended! I got an 8 foot mirror for $100!). I was worried my creative usage for the wardrobe door was going to get me into trouble, but Eric was up for the challenge of hanging it on my wall once we made it back to my apartment.

He hiked that huge mirror up 6 flights of stairs to my bitch-ass 7-floor walk-up and THEN he went back down to run out and get the proper wall brackets at the local hardware store in like 5 minutes flat.

Before I knew it he had his electric screw driver out and suddenly I had a gorgeous mirror on the wall. How'd he do that?!

Long story short: Eric was punctual, efficient, knowledgeable about Ikea products/installation and a good driver with a positive attitude, to boot!

Eric was punctual at meeting me at Brooklyn Ikea. Drove me to my home in the crowded Times Square area. Moved all my stuff to my apartment and assembled the furniture within the estimated time. What took him three hours to assemble would have taken me a day or two at least. He is professional, trustworthy, knowledgeable about Ikea products and a joy to deal with. Having to shop for furniture is stressful as is. Eric helped make my life easier. I highly recommend his services.

I recently moved to NY and needed to purchase many different items for the apartment including a bunch of living room and bedroom furniture. Eric both assisted in the delivery and then assembled the furniture afterwards. He is professional, punctual, works hard, and most importantly, handles the products with care. It would have taken me triple the time to assemble everything. It was a pleasure to work with him and I certainly recommend his services.