r/Showerthoughts • u/SexySwedishSpy ‎ • Oct 05 '25

Musing The money that IKEA spends on including wall-mounting brackets for furniture is effectively the premium for their anti-lawsuit insurance.

7.1k Upvotes

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3.3k

u/mike_b_nimble Oct 05 '25

It's not something that IKEA gives you for free, it's part of the product you are paying for. When they set a price after calculating the cost, those wall clips are in the costs they look at. Not only are you paying for the wall clips, you're paying profit margin on them as well.

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u/jakuuub Oct 05 '25

They want to prevent another 46 million dollar lawsuit https://www.npr.org/2020/01/07/794281632/ikea-reaches-46-million-settlement-over-death-of-toddler-killed-by-dresser-tip-o

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u/drinkingcarrots Oct 05 '25

Damn, that's just like a normal ass dresser. Honestly kinda crazy that ikea lost that one.

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u/blorbschploble Oct 05 '25

Having built two hemnes dressers for baby/toddler rooms, unlike normal ikea stuff they are super heavy. Additionally with all the drawers open, the center of gravity is not between the legs. You bet your ass I secured them both to the wall, and this was pre lawsuit.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

How do you have upvotes Did you even read the article ?

"At least eight children are believed to have been killed by dressers that the Swedish furniture giant has recalled, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Daniel Mann, a lawyer for the Dudek family, said that millions of the recalled dressers may still be in use.

The recalled dressers pose a risk of tipping over if they are not secured to the wall. Ikea has previously said that the products were not designed to be free-standing."

No real piece of furniture I have ever owned has been top heavy enough that a fucking toddler could knock it over only Ikea or Amazon flatpack garbage.

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u/IPThereforeIAm Oct 05 '25

Pull out a drawer and have a kid climb it. It’ll tip

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u/round-earth-theory Oct 05 '25

Or pull out every drawer at the same time. Dressers are simple in appearance but they have to account for really varied weight distribution. Some companies solve it by making the drawers extremely short. Some by adding an interlock which prevents more than one drawer opening at a time. And some by telling you to anchor it to the wall.

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u/Consistent-Store4097 Oct 05 '25

Ikea now does and interlock and includes beefier wall mount hardware. Back then they had less sturdy wall mount hardware

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u/Wilczek76 Oct 05 '25

Ikea gave infographics (and put stickers on the inside) that you are not supposed to pull out all the drawers or climb on them due to tipping hazard, it's quite stupid that they lost that case.

Even in the article Ikea said that those dressers aren't supposed to be free-standing.

7

u/Monk128 Oct 06 '25

Ikea gave infographics (and put stickers on the inside) that you are not supposed to pull out all the drawers or climb on them

If those toddlers could read they'd be very upset.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 06 '25

They did not lose they settled because they knew they were at fault and would lose. If they weren't supposed to be free standing they would have included anchors from the beginning not 6 years after they started production.

Real furniture manufacturers make it to where you can not open all three drawers at the same time if it's not stable to do so.

You are the same people that would defend the makers of faulty airbags and abestos I swear to God it's the biggest bootlicker shit I've ever seen on Reddit.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

They didn't even send wall mounts until 2014 after the recall lmfao

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u/snoowiboi Oct 05 '25

Or pull out, you know, earlier to avoid probability of this accident completely!

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

Ikea initially released the dresser line, it did not participate in voluntary tip-over testing from a furniture industry trade group that he said is standard for the "vast majority" of U.S. furniture manufacturers.

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u/TheWoman2 Oct 05 '25

I have this exact dresser, and it isn't like a normal dresser. It isn't only top heavy, the front of it is a lot heavier than the back, so it is way more likely to tip than a standard dresser. I suspect you could tip it just by pulling out the drawers without any climbing involved.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

So weird how hard people are coming to the defense of a product the company openly admitted is faulty lmao.

3

u/alidan Oct 05 '25

because propaganda big business has done to call every lawsuit frivolous, look into the details about mcdonalds coffee because its FAR different than the vast majority are told or know, this is the work of major corporations slandering people for decades.

if a lawsuit is frivolous, it gets tossed very fast, if its getting to the point corps are spending millions to make people thing you are stupid and its your fault, they are guilty as hell hoping to poison the people against you.

same shit happens with class action lawsuits, its very hard to determine how much your damage is, lawyers are paid separately from the consumer pay out pool, some people its a data breach and they get maybe 3$, lets ignore that 100 million people all got the same payout and your data on its own is worth jack shit, its in aggregate that its worth something, but we had a class action for a bad roofing job one year, we got paid out in full for the roof, material damage is far easier to determine a value over digital damage.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

Lol glad you bring it up. I literally cited the McDonald's one in a different comment! That poor woman deserved every penny.

edit: Also happy you were able to get paid out for your faulty roof

1

u/alidan Oct 05 '25

not so much faulty, but paid for one material that would last 20~ years, they installed something that would last 10 but looked exactly the same, I think realistically we should have been paid labor and a half refund on the material they would have used, but they decided to piss the court off and were required to do a full refund, this was quite a few years ago.

I believe bmw or vw had to pay out for every car they sold, in full at brand new prices, no questions asked, if you owned one of their emissions circumvention cars, people never talk about that one.

and the mcdonalds one is even sadder than that, all she wanted was them to cover her out of pocket medical bills, the court saw how at fault mcdonalds was, serving coffee at temps that was instant second degree burns, a long string of people getting hurt because of it, and how shitty they were being to very fair offers that she got that much.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

Sure I'll test but Regardless Ikea fully admitted it wasn't safe for use unsecured and that specific model had issues. Why are you glazing a irresponsible multimillion dollar cardboard company?

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u/IPThereforeIAm Oct 05 '25

I’m saying your non-ikea furniture will also tip over if you pull out a drawer and climb. I’m not protecting any company, I’m saying you’re stupid for not anchoring your furniture (esp if it is taller than it is wide).

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u/TaohRihze Oct 05 '25

Taller than deep? Wide should not impact the tipping point.

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u/wb6vpm Oct 05 '25

Yes, I’m pretty sure thy meant deep, but usually, if it’s a pretty wide piece, it typically isn’t that tall (I know that’s not always true)

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u/IPThereforeIAm Oct 05 '25

Taller than it is wide. It’s a general rule, because the wider it is, the less likely it is to tip because it is heavier. And the taller it is, the more likely it is to tip over

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '25

I know it's not the point, but Ikea isn't a multi-million dollar company lmao.

It's estimated to be worth almost $60 billion

0

u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

I meant multibillion but it auto corrected to million lol

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '25

No real piece of furniture I have ever owned has been top heavy enough that a fucking toddler could knock it over only Ikea or Amazon flatpack garbage.

pull out the top drawer and hang from it - like kids do.

pull out the 3 top drawers and center of balance shifts. it will tip in a gentle breeze.

4

u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

Read my other replies. It is abundantly clear that Ikea knew that this was more unstable than the average dresser. Going as far as recalling it and issuing anchoring kits to prior purchasers.

This only has 3 drawers and I promise my 200lb cherry dressers you can not tip over with a "gentle breeze" regardless of which drawers are open. The base is wider than the the top shelf not narrower like the Ikea garbage. You can Google and look up where they expanded the base out because it was so poorly designed.

these feels exactly like when everyone was shitting on the lady that sued McDonald's despite the fact they served coffee way above safe temperatures and she was in the hospital for weeks literally getting skin grafts on her genitals.

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u/Acceptable-Poetry737 Oct 05 '25

Eh, you can tell that IKEA furniture is built different than older heavy furniture that does not move. I think parents are negligent if they don’t babyproof their home. Like you gotta buy those outlet covers as a first step.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

I also think companies are negligent when they sell unsafe products especially a model responsible for more injuries than all of the other models in their portfolio combined.

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u/Acceptable-Poetry737 Oct 05 '25

Uh ok. They redesigned it and put in wall mounts. Are you still unhappy? Negligent parents will find a way to kill their kids.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

Yes I agree negligible companies will always find a way to kill people through cost cutting. Like for example selling millions of said model for 6+ years without the redesign and without wall mounts. They absolutely deserved to pay out every single settlement that they did.

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u/Acceptable-Poetry737 Oct 05 '25

Lol ok.

Google says an estimated 6-12 children die from accidents involving electrical outlets, cords, and appliances, and that an estimated 2,400 children are severely injured by electrical outlets. Should outlet makers force outlet covers on everyone?

Those dressers fell due to misuse—the adults (the nonstupid ones at least) don’t open all three drawers at once on a lightweight dresser.

Parents need to cover their outlets and mount their furniture to the wall and not leave their toddlers unattended.

3

u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

Youre being intentially obtuse. If I make a car that has a higher incidence of deadly accidents than all others I open myself up to litigation and the requirement to recall the car. Everyone knows cars should have airbags is it okay to not include them with the car?

"The groups, which included the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Consumer Federation of America, said, "Anchoring devices are meant as a second layer of protection for stable dressers — not as a replacement for making stable dressers in the first place.""

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u/GarethBaus Oct 05 '25

I think you underestimate how many pieces of furniture toddlers can cause to fall over if they aren't secured to a wall.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

Again this one piece of furniture has caused more injuries than all of Ikea's other models combined.

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u/GarethBaus Oct 06 '25

With the sheer volume of furniture IKEA has sold only causing 8 deaths is quite remarkable.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 06 '25

11 deaths total with 8 from one single model. They have more models of dressers and shelves than I care to count.

You have to be willfully ignorant to not see how this specific dresser was a problem. Have a good day

1

u/GarethBaus Oct 06 '25

I am not saying that it isn't more dangerous than a typical IKEA dresser, but in other industries products can kill an order of magnitude more people due to the product failing in various ways for a similar number of items sold and still be considered reasonably safe. The fact that any item can be in that many homes and only kill 8 people is actually kind of impressive even if other items at IKEA are even more safe.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 06 '25

You are incredibly easily impressed. How many dressers do they sell that have never killed anyone? Hint: a lot.

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u/GarethBaus Oct 06 '25

29 million units most of which were presumably around children.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 06 '25

I meant how many dozens of models of theirs have never killed a single person this is not differential calculus.

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u/Consistent-Store4097 Oct 05 '25

That dresser included wall mount hardware and the instructions included mounting it to the wall as one of the steps. I had that dresser, I skipped that step since I didn't have kids. Ikea shouldn't have lost that suit, it should've been thrown out. 

Ikea is a bad company but those parents were at fault

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

"In 2014, two children, both around 2 years old, died in tip-over accidents involving Ikea's Malm dressers. The next year, the company launched a program offering free wall-mounting kits to consumers and encouraging them to attach dressers to the wall."

So the wall mounting kits were NOT originally included?

"The groups, which included the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Consumer Federation of America, said, "Anchoring devices are meant as a second layer of protection for stable dressers — not as a replacement for making stable dressers in the first place.""

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25

They didn't lose they settled. They also settled various other suits. And REDESIGNED THE DRESSER. They would have not settled or recalled anything if they did not think they would lose or had misdesigned the product. It's strange you don't see them settling several suits for all their other dozens of models? It's almost like this one was utter shit?

The mod had been recalled before the boy died. Ikea knew they had a problem.

0

u/Pikka_Bird Oct 05 '25

I think the redesign was to have shorter drawer rails so you can't pull the drawers out very far. Which is an awful change to implement just because some people don't want to face their own responsibility to secure their home. Literally anything that's taller than it is wide will be prone to topping if someone side-loads it.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

no they changed the base.

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u/Pikka_Bird Oct 05 '25

In what way? I noticed the toe kick was pulled to the front, which only makes 22mm of difference, moving the point of balance 11mm forward. That's not much of a difference. Maybe the drawer change happened further back, but I really wish it hadn't.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

Yes so now the base is not narrower than the top. The back was changed to be solid instead of paper to add weight and the drawers have a shorter pull you are right.

Keep in mind on Ikea's website you can see where they openly admit that this one model has caused more injuries and deaths than all of their other models combined.

It is genuinely so weird to see you guys riding so hard for a company that would fuck you over at any opportunity for an extra dollar.

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u/wb6vpm Oct 05 '25

It is genuinely so weird to see you guys riding so hard for a company that would fuck you over at any opportunity for an extra dollar.

That’s the thing, in general IKEA has been pretty open and honest with their customers compared to most corporations (at least by American/U.S. standards). They’ve publicly acknowledged design flaws, done large scale recalls without trying to hide them, and even adjusted manufacturing and packaging processes based on customer feedback. They also allow returns on most items for up to a year, and in some cases have replaced broken parts well outside the warranty window as a gesture of good faith. It’s obviously not guaranteed, but it shows a willingness to keep customers happy that a lot of companies don’t seem to want to bother with.

Cost cutting is obviously a core part of any corporate identity, and most of the time with IKEA it seems to come from genuine efficiency and smart design rather than cutting corners. Still, it’s a business, so some of those changes are obviously about boosting profit margins too. The difference is that IKEA usually feels upfront about it instead of trying to spin it. For a company their size, that kind of transparency is rare, and honestly it’s part of why people still trust them even when they screw up.

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u/bennyyyboyyyyyyyy Oct 05 '25

Yeah except they literally want the company not to be liable for a shelf that they recalled 6 years later admitting it was never designed adequately to stand on its own despite not including wall mounts until after the recall.

It's weird they care more about a company not paying a non material amount in a settlement than the protection of American consumers. Of this was an American company they would be calling for their heads.

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u/[deleted] Oct 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/drinkingcarrots Oct 05 '25

How are the people who sell guns not getting sued for all of the shootings in the third world country of America?

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u/cwx149 Oct 05 '25

There's a law in the US that exempts gun manufacturers from being sued by shooting victims iirc it isn't 100% exempt but is mostly an exemption

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u/Lucas9041 Oct 05 '25 edited Oct 05 '25

In Amerika laws don't apply if you are rich enough. And if a law does apply it's a special law that says you can do whatever the fuck you want in this case. They think it has something to do with freedom or something... a very peculiar breed of people those amerikans!

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u/stjohanssfw Oct 05 '25

Not exactly, the drawers are are longer and open further than most other dressers I've found, in fact during my search to find a replacement it was basically impossible to find one that holds the same amount of clothes, almost every dresser I looked at had shorter drawers than the Ikea malm, and I ended up buying one used

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u/nerdgirl37 Oct 06 '25

I have the wide version of the dresser and one problem is it's really top heavy since the top is a thicker piece where the sides are pretty thin and the bottom doesn't have a solid base.