Hendrik Wallijn and his wife inadvertently became famous after trying to circumvent the rules of visiting the Ikea department store in Ghent. The Belgian branch of the furniture company has ordered that only one household member can buy at a time due to safety rules.
A married couple who is being reported all over Belgium faces a fine of € 250 for fraud. The Wallijns violated a regulation that only allows one member of the same household to shop at the Ikea department store at a time.
Violation of government regulations to protect against the spread of coronavirus involves a fine of up to € 250 for the culprit and up to € 750 for the trader. The Swedish furniture retailer therefore distributes a bracelet for one car to each car at the entrance to the shopping mall in Ghent.
Hendrik Wallijn waited in front of the department store as his wife headed inside. However, after a while outside, the Belgian received a bracelet from another man who was just leaving the store, the story was written by journalist Jules Johnston from the newspaper The Brussels Times.
“My wife and I pretended not to know each other. But in the bedside department, we exchanged a few words about the bed we were considering buying,” the man described the incident. However, their conversation was noticed by the saleswoman and she subsequently invited them to leave the store.
However, the Wallijns of Ostend are far from the only ones who have broken the regulation. According to a Belgian spokesman, Ikey even had to call the police on the cases. “We had several aggressive incidents in several stores. Fortunately, none of our staff were injured,” she said.
According to Hendrik Wallijn, the rules are meaningless. “In Ostend, where we live, people sit half a meter apart on the beach. In addition, I think that such expensive shopping as a bed, people should be able to do together,” he added.
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