I have a chair that I got in March off of amazon. An hour ago the baseplate bent and now the pole that it sits on is just wobbling around. Cannot sit on it unless it is directly up. I found this out when the whole thing tilted back, slamming my head into a shelf and throwing me out of the chair. So I go to Amazon to at least leave a shitty review, maybe see if I can contact them for a replacement part. Product is de-listed and no contact information at all. So I contact Amazon who just instantly starts a refund process I didn’t ask for, smugly telling me I’m not eligible when I knew that. First rep sent me to a ‘special team to help’. That ‘special team’ was the front desk for Amazon.com instead of the Canadian one. She just did the exact same thing, another refund I never asked for and putting me on hold and refusing to listen to me. Asked to speak to a Supervisor who then started to say the same shit before I cut him off and said I just wanted the fucking contact information for the fucking manufacturer. He emails over a page for the manufacturer that is their warranty/refunds page.

It’s empty.

It’s literally empty.

It’s fucking empty.

So I’ve got a chair I can’t sit in without it causing personal injury, no way of getting a replacement part from the manufacturer without like buying a whole ass new chair that I can’t afford and both Amazon and this fuckin Company are just like “You bought a shitty product? Aww. Poor baby. Cope.”

I just wanted to LEAN BACK AND WATCH PORN BUT FUCKING NO.

I’d throw the fucking chair at the wall if I didn’t need to still sit on it like a goddamn stool.

  • Stamets@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
    151·
    3 days ago

    And if I could afford that, that’d be swell.

    I cannot.

    There’s a reason I bought what I bought and it isn’t because I chose that as the best option. It’s because I had no other option at the time.

    • Zombie@feddit.uk
      3·
      2 days ago

      The Sam Vimes theory of socioeconomic unfairness, often called simply the boots theory, is an economic theory that people in poverty have to buy cheap and subpar products that need to be replaced repeatedly, proving more expensive in the long run than more expensive items.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory

      I’m sorry that this comes across as the most unhelpful help possible but I don’t know how else to phrase it.

      Sometimes it is worth spending more on a good thing and foregoing other items. Obviously, I don’t know you and I don’t know your situation so it may still not be doable. However, if you can do it, but it just means tightening the belt a bit, then try and get a really good chair over repeatedly buying cheap. It’s worth it in the long run.

      I had a Costco office style one that lasted over a decade, the only reason I got rid of it was a mouldy damp flat ruined it beyond repair. I’m sure it was like £60 in around 2008. They might be worth looking at?

      My current one is about the quality of what you’re describing (gamer style) but it was acquired through mutual aid and I care not that the pleather is falling off. So that’s an option, just asking around friends and family if they have one they’re not using/throwing out soon.

      Do you have a local freecycle page? You never know what you may find there.

      https://freecycle.org/

          • Stamets@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
            12·
            3 days ago

            Still only a couple of things available on there, most of which are vehicles. Good to know on that front. I live in Newfoundland so things are just more of a pain in the ass here than in general. I do appreciate it though.

            • DeceasedPassenger@lemmy.world
              9·
              3 days ago

              There is a Staples in St John’s; I used to work at office depot, some of my coworkers came from there and I’ve been told the companies operate pretty similarly. When chairs go on clearance via style discontinuation, or an open-box 30-day “i just don’t like it” return, the prices are often cut by 30-70%. The longer it sits, the deeper it will be discounted, since the store manager will want to free up the floor space. This can equate to a $40 chair in some cases. We didn’t always have clearance chairs available, but sometimes we had multiple. It depends, but this time of year is actually prime as fuck for this. Why? Office purchasers and employees with WFH furniture budgets (lots of those where I’m from) trying to use the last drops before the end of the fiscal year.

              That particular store may run things differently, the whole clearance thing and any related decisions was ultimately at the SM’s discretion, not a result of policy. But given your current situation, it’s probably worth a call. (edit: they may not be willing to give pricing over the phone, hopefully they are, but they should at least tell you if they have chairs on clearance or not. When I worked at office depot it was one of my primary duties to take calls and run around the floor to answer questions like that.)

              If that avenue doesn’t work, here’s a list of thrift stores from the chamber of commerce. Myself and a friend have both previously got chairs from thrifting that were decent enough, just make sure there’s no smoke smell. Mesh see-through chairs are my personal favorite for many reasons, that one included.

              Hope this helps, it really sucks to be without proper back support.

              • Stamets@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
                2·
                2 days ago

                Definitely something I’m going to check into. Least I can do is check it out.

                The thrift stores I hit up pretty regularly because I just like them anyway. Even just walking around them. Most of them, unfortunately, are either priced to such an extent that they might as well be bought knew or they’re utter trash. Or both. That’s the problem with island life in general when it comes to buying used. I’m trying to check on Facebook Marketplace for some stuff too.

                And yeah my back is… not having a good time at the moment. Weirdly, that gaming chair was better for my back than other ones I’ve used.

                I appreciate the heads up though <3 Thank you

      • Rimu@piefed.socialEnglish
        3·
        3 days ago

        Wow it’s like craigslist and ebay had a baby.

        I love brutalist web design so much.

    • Triumph@fedia.io
      8·
      3 days ago

      Oh I get it, I do. I learned that the hard way myself, and it took several $120 chairs for me to finally suck it up and get a proper one. I’ve had this one three years and it looks brand new.