ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Retiree Teresa Cooke said washing dishes has become a painful chore. For more than a year, the retiree has washed dishes while bent over a five-gallon tub in her bathtub.
“It's not fun. It's really not fun," she said.
There's no sink in Cooke’s makeshift kitchen, where she pieces together crockpot meals and one pan dishes from an electric skillet to feed her son and grandson every night.
Cooke said it’s been hell living like this.
The trouble started in late 2021 after IKEA attempted to install new cabinets Cooke purchased from their Tampa store. She claimed she paid IKEA about $8,500 for the cabinets in October 2021.
Installers started the job two months later but stopped work after the cabinets turned out to be the wrong size.
“The stove would not go in the space that they made for it," Cooke said.
This St. Pete homeowner said she has made 31 trips from her home to IKEA in Tampa to get the correct cabinets installed.
IKEA delivered new cabinets, but so far, no one has shown up to install them.
ABC Action News emailed IKEA to find out what was causing the delay. A spokesperson responded:
“I have been in touch with the IKEA Tampa store team. This issue has been escalated and we're working to get this resolved as quickly as possible.
While each kitchen project is different, it’s important to note that they can be complex. While the parts are ordered through IKEA, there is a separate contractor that installs the cabinets, and a separate contractor who measures, orders and installs the counter tops, both of which have additional costs and need to be ordered separately from the parts order…..”
IKEA returned to Cooke’s home a week later and installed the new cabinets. Next, they will fabricate and install her countertop.
Cooke told ABC Action News she cannot wait to stop washing dishes in the bathtub and start cooking with a real stove.
