Inferior quality and poor service

On 11 May 2020 , I went and bought an office chair from Office Group at 282 Tipperary Road, Centurion, Gauteng, as their niche market is to supply office furniture.

I tried out a few chairs at their office that day and decided to go for the Office Chair called the Lumbar Pro Extra Highback. This chair can also be viewed as a line item on their web site under category office chairs.

The chair Lumbar was not available and only a demo model was available. I asked them if I could take the demo model and they said sure I can as it is like brand new and it has the same guarantee of 5 years. They gave me a discount of about R300. The total I paid was R4 200. This chair usually goes for about R4 500. It is not a cheap chair and when you pay so much surely you want a chair that is comfortable and will last a while.

On the 25th of May at 9 am, I gave them a call and told them that this chair they gave me is really uncomfortable and it feels like that the material and the foam is worn / like 10 years old. It was less than 2 weeks old. Their response was no problem, they have ordered a new one for their show room and I can come and exchange it for the new chair. I said great, however, I mentioned to Marius Jansen van Vuuren and Candice Groenewald that I am worried about how the chair sits. Their response was that the chair that I bought could have been worn out a bit on the floor as people try it out at their premises and they said I must come take the new chair. I said fine I will come and try the new one. It still worried me that the demo model was already feeling like an old chair within two weeks.

I got the new chair on the 25th of May. On the same day after a few hours it started to feel uncomfortable. The next three days just got worse. I phoned them on the 28th of May at 10 am again and told them I am not happy at all with the chair. They told me to change the setup of chair which I did. I said to them ok I will try this out over the week-end and see if it feels more comfortable. Candice, the store manager told me that same day that they cannot change the chair for another type of chair or refund my money. The only way they could help me is to first try sell my chair and wait until my chair is sold then they will be able to replace or refund my money. I told Candice I disagree - for a R 4500 chair I expect a chair to sit comfortably and that's where we left the conversation. I said fine let me try it over the weekend.

During the weekend the chair stayed uncomfortable. I phoned them again on the 1st June at 8:30 am. I asked them If I can bring the chair back as I am not happy with chair. I took the chair back on the 1st June, the new chair was 7 days old and it felt worn like a very old chair already.

I asked them If they could replace the chair with another chair brand or just refund me. They said the only way they can help me is they have to send it to the factory and first investigate. If there is a problem or not, they can only help me once my chair is sold to someone else.

I said to them I disagree why should I wait until my chair (which is brand new) is sold to be replaced with another chair brand or refund? They said that are there Terms and conditions. I said to them they also gave me a 5 year guarantee. They responded and said it is only applicable to the mechanics of chair. I said well the foam of this chair and how this chair sits is inferior. I also mentioned that they are making it difficult for me to claim the money back from my employer now. Candice responded saying it sounds like it is a money problem that you have. I was shocked with her response as I have asked her to try and replace the chair with another brand even if it was more expensive. I also asked her do companies that buy more than one chair first have to wait until all their chairs have been sold before they get replaced if they are not happy? Obviously no answer.

At this time the environment became hostile. The trust from a client's view was broken. I just asked them please just refund me. They refused. They then called the factory and the manager at the factory offered to replace the foam on chair. That raised concern that the foam they use is inferior.

Well the only thing I ended up with was a letter that I have returned the chair and stated on letter is: I returned the chair because it was very uncomfortable for him.

They also mention in letter which I will add in quotes: "We offered to sell the chair on his behalf and refund his money as the chair was custom made and according to our terms and conditions, we cannot take the chair back."

In response to their letter. As this is not correct as this chair was not custom made for me. This is a line item on their web site and a brand and offered to companies and to the public.

Well as a client I do not trust Office Group and want a refund, and will not recommend anybody to buy from them.