Fair Chair?

The Halk

The Halk

The Halk

Soldato
Joined
13 May 2003
Posts
11,865
Location
Hamilton
Bought a chair from a marketplace seller on a popular shopping site in July 2010. It arrived and I was very disappointed indeed with the quality of it. It was cheap plastic. However the difficulty of sending back made me decide to keep it.

I paid £130 for it, so I don't feel it was cheap - nor do I feel it should have been cheap.

Now it's failing badly. Just in front of the centre pillar at the front of the seat the plastic has bent, and the chair is now uncomfortable to use for any length of time, it's bent because it was made of cheap, thin plastic.

It's within 2 years and I reckon paying £130 for a chair, it shouldn't fail that way within a short period of time, which means under SOGA I have grounds to ask the company to fix it.

I know what to do about it - I've already emailed them, without reply, and I've just emailed them again. So far just asking them what their policy is. And I know what to do next etc... However I want to make sure I'm not being unreasonable, and that it is fair enough to expect it to last longer than it has done.
 
Bought almost 2 years ago? You can try asking for a refund but I'm not sure if you'll have a leg to stand on. If you thought it was bad quality why did you sit on it for so long before acting?
 
I don't know if you're trying to help at all, or just have a go at me... In answer to your questions though I'd refer you to the original post.

I have two legs to stand on, but no chair to sit on... However the SOGA states I have a right to expect goods to last a reasonable amount of time. I also have no idea what this company thinks on the matter...

As for why I sat on it... it seemed to me to be poor quality, and I could have DSRed it, however it would have been very expensive to do so, and once it was assembled it was actually comfortable and firm.

What I'm trying to establish is if an office type chair should be expected to last up to 2 years.
 
In my eyes and in your eyes, yes it should probably last longer than 2 years depending on usage. Whether or not you can use that fact to get a refund is another matter.

I don't think pre1twa was having a go at you just stating the truth, the chances of you actually getting a refund are minimal and you wouldn't really have a hope if you brought it to court. You decided to keep the chair and use it for 2 years, thus acknowledging that it was fit for purpose. You'd have to rely on proving that a £130 chair should last longer than two years. If it was one of the high quality £700 office chairs then you'd have a case. You went with a budget version of them I'm assuming so unless they have a guarantee for 2 years on their site then there's not much you can do.
 
Well, I do have a £1k chair at the office, and what I bought is certainly not a budget version of that. It's more a higher end version of a standard office chair... if that helps you understand?

I know I'll struggle to get a partial refund from them (there's no way I'm entitled to a full), I just want to make sure before I go down the route of being a douche with them until they sort me out... I want to make sure I'm not being unreasonable about my expectations on the life of the chair.
 
£130 for a chair on ebay?

You can get better chairs at Staples and you can sample them before purchase in store!
 
Can I clarify, Amazon or eBay? xD Both I believe are permitted.

When you say marketplace seller? Is it a company you can find on CompaniesHouse?
Or that has it's own website apart from on said Marketplace?

I had an issue with a pair of headphones I bought from through Amazon's marketplace (presumably different seller), and after a couple of months the headphones broke - in the same way quite a well known way. Anyway, I tried to get in touch with the seller and he said 'I'd broken them'.... When clearly it was a manufacturing fault rather than my fault. Also because I'd dealt with a marketplace seller Amazon refused to help, because it was outside their special help period or something. Basically they got themselves out of it despite the fact that I'd talked to Trading Standards and stuff and reported the issue to them. In the end I went and got them replaced under manufacturer warranty because it was just much easier...

In your circumstances I believe there's more chance of you getting the chair replaced rather than refunded.

kd
 
Wasn't eBay. It was a "Trexus Plus High Back Chair Asynchronous W460xD450xH480-590mm Backrest H520mm Charcoal".

It was from a popular online retailer that allows other companies to sell on their market place. Competitor, so I can't name/link them.
 
Did you actually contact the seller when it arrived, expressing your concerns with the build quality?...or have you just waited almost two years before doing so?
 
King Damager said:
Can I clarify, Amazon or eBay? xD Both I believe are permitted.

When you say marketplace seller? Is it a company you can find on CompaniesHouse?
Or that has it's own website apart from on said Marketplace?

I had an issue with a pair of headphones I bought from through Amazon's marketplace (presumably different seller), and after a couple of months the headphones broke - in the same way quite a well known way. Anyway, I tried to get in touch with the seller and he said 'I'd broken them'.... When clearly it was a manufacturing fault rather than my fault. Also because I'd dealt with a marketplace seller Amazon refused to help, because it was outside their special help period or something. Basically they got themselves out of it despite the fact that I'd talked to Trading Standards and stuff and reported the issue to them. In the end I went and got them replaced under manufacturer warranty because it was just much easier...

In your circumstances I believe there's more chance of you getting the chair replaced rather than refunded.

kd
Click to expand...

Ok, I thought Amazon was considered a competitor, which is why I didn't mention them, I guess you're better informed! :)

I'm entitled to them 'making it right' or a partial refund. A replacement chair I think would be too much to expect, although they may send the seat of the chair to me - which would be fine.

A partial refund is what I'd chase after - I'd settle for 1/2 but I'd start out looking for more.

I'm holding off getting a new chair in case they do want to replace the faulty part.

Amazon previously have been really good with a company who weren't interested. They just forced a full refund and told me to put the faulty goods in the bin - but it was within a month of purchase. I'm not sure how they'll be now.
 
diverse180 said:
Did you actually contact the seller when it arrived, expressing your concerns with the build quality?...or have you just waited almost two years before doing so?
Click to expand...

It wasn't faulty when it arrived, I was just surprised at how cheap it looked while I assembled it. It's been fine - comfortable, etc - until now, when it has started showing a fault as the seat is bending.
 
Sorry for my earlier post, was just trying to get some chair related puns in, I hope it didn't upseat you.

To be serious though; it is certainly worth asking both the seller and the manufacturer if there is anything they can do for you. It is unlikley you are going to be taking this one to court but if you take photos of the failure and write a detailed desription of why you feel it was not of suitable quality then you may get somewhere.
 
pre1twa said:
Sorry for my earlier post, was just trying to get some chair related puns in, I hope it didn't upseat you.

To be serious though; it is certainly worth asking both the seller and the manufacturer if there is anything they can do for you. It is unlikley you are going to be taking this one to court but if you take photos of the failure and write a detailed desription of why you feel it was not of suitable quality then you may get somewhere.
Click to expand...

I didn't realise the puns were intentional - in that case I'm wheely sorry if I snapped at you, I'll go and sit in the corner. I love puns!

As for your advice, yeah, that's the way I see it too. I don't want to start down that route if I was being unreasonable about the chair. I feel it should last a long time, but if the consensus was that it's totally unreasonable to expect it to last that long I'd drop it and not bother. I am quite good at getting refunds/replacements etc - but I want to be fair about it.
 
Try it. Just don't let them know you thought the plastic was cheap in quality when you first got it. If you ever admit to that in writing, the instant come back will most likely be that you accepted it would not last as longer than it has, as who expects cheap quality plastic to last long?
 
The Halk said:
Wasn't eBay. It was a "Trexus Plus High Back Chair Asynchronous W460xD450xH480-590mm Backrest H520mm Charcoal".

It was from a popular online retailer that allows other companies to sell on their market place. Competitor, so I can't name/link them.
Click to expand...

Are they based in the Channel Islands? If so give up now. Channel Islands don't have the same consumer protection we have in the UK.
 
shadesofgrey said:
Try it. Just don't let them know you thought the plastic was cheap in quality when you first got it. If you ever admit to that in writing, the instant come back will most likely be that you accepted it would not last as longer than it has, as who expects cheap quality plastic to last long?
Click to expand...

Not sure if its the OPs job to act as a materials scientist and determine if the grade of material used in the construction of the chair is fit to withstand the loads placed on it over the lifetime of the chair. The responsibility should lie with the manufacturer in my opinion and if it can be proved that the material used was inherently weak for the task and liable to fail then they may have a responsibility to act.
 
They've ignored both emails... so step 2 I guess is to raise a dispute with Amazon. Which isn't immediately apparent how...

Edit : Got it. Of course I'd never find it until I posted to say I couldn't... :)
 
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