[Banana]

Originally Posted by billybobsky Anecdotes that suggest a thesis can be true do not replace one-for-one anecdotes that show it is false.

We in fact agree here. See my previous reply.

Originally Posted by billybobsky You are either lying, or you are buying things that cannot break. Let me do a quick comparison... I am the one pointing out that that one store makes shit.

Seems to me that you're pushing your anecdotes on other folks. I sense a breach of consistency here...

Maybe you were offended by Robo's off-the-cuff remark about being a klutz, maybe you were horrified at the demo product falling apart (I would be, myself)... I don't know, honestly. As I said, you have valid reasons for believing that IKEA is crappy but your reasons doesn't actually invalidate our reasons for thinking otherwise. Maybe the best we've proven together is that IKEA is hit-or-miss in terms of product quality. I know there has been few products I wouldn't even bother with from IKEA; the bookcase I chose was a product of careful research including other stores for a given price I could afford three years ago when I needed one.

So while it's awesome that people have luck with IKEA stuff, not a single person I know who has ever purchased anything at IKEA has had everything they purchased survive completely intact. Either everyone I know "isn't careful" or "is a klutz," or people who believe in the quality of IKEA are woefully misinformed.

False dilemma. There exists a third alternative which I just presented: some products IKEA sell last well while other are just shitty. Paul suggested a fourth alternative; the quality has changed for worse. There could be even more. Not really an either/or situation, and it still doesn't fly with your assertion that one anecdote doesn't disprove the other's thesis.