MAKRO WONDERBOOM - USELESS

Good day,

I have bought 10 chairs from Makro Wonderboom for my dining table. I bought the chairs because they fit well with the design in my house and I needed 10 chairs as I have a very large dining table.

After months of using the chairs, some legs of some chairs started to crack inside the corner of the legs. Together with that, the design of the legs are unfortunately not good enough, as two of the four legs constantly move when sitting on any of the 10 chairs. As the weight limit on each chair is 120kg, being in the mid-90's I was sure that there is no issue there. The chairs' legs are unstable and as mentioned, some chairs (4 or 5) have cracked inside the corner of the legs. In an attempt to reinforce the structural integrity of the chair, I have tied the opposing two legs to each other with a steel cable, in order to prevent the cracked legs from actually breaking through. That worked! The unstable legs however, I cannot fix myself as I have come to realize that it is a design flaw. It cost me a hefty R800 to prevent the chairs from spreading and breaking, but that was not an issue to me as I liked the chairs a lot, and didn't mind spending a bit more money to prevent them from breaking further apart.

Since my chairs were well within the warranty, I decided to report the problem I have. I have spoken with Shonald (at the Furniture Department) over the phone, and discussed the problem with him. I have also sent an email (on the 16th of January) with photo's and a video - reflecting the problem clearly. He told me that the best would be to bring in all 10 chairs so that they can be inspected by the supplier. I have done so the morning of the 17th of January.

So, after bringing in the chairs, Shonald ensured me that the supplier would be able to come within a day or two to inspect and report back on the chairs. After waiting a whole week, I had to call the Office Department, just to be told they haven't heard from the supplier back. It now has already been a week after sending in the chairs, after I was told only about 2 days until the supplier can inspect the chairs. Bear in mind that I am without chairs at my dining table, and I have explained to Shonald that they must PLEASE make a sincere effort to sort out the problem asap, as it causes huge inconvenience. He told me that the supplier would either fix my chairs, or the supplier would replace the chairs, or lastly they could refund me, depending on their discretion. I explicitly told him that I was not interested in the chairs being replaced (as the faulty design would cause the legs to stay unstable and break again), and that fixing them seemed like a very questionable approach as they have cracked legs already and are VERY unstable.

I still did not hear back from anyone at Makro or the supplier. I called again on the 29th of January but the office department didn't answer. Called the 30th again, still no one could put me through to Shonald. I tried calling on the 1st of February, but I still couldn't reach Shonald. On the 3rd of February I called twice, and I was told that Shonald is unreachable. Today, the 5th of February I called Makro Wonderboom again, but when I am being put through to speak to Shonald the line drops. Every. Time.

I can not reach the guys handling my chair issues, and they are refusing to call me back. It is frustrating to say the least, not to mention having 10 chairs less in my house?! Why don't they provide the service that we as consumers are paying for??? This matter should have been forgotten by now!!! It is now almost three weeks later and still NOTHING??!!