New Furniture Mfgrs and Retailers may have to change their marketing Agreements?

[baileyuph]

Today, I was given a brand new recliner (few days old) to fix the mechanism,  Said it wouldn't work.

One look, it was clear that it had been bent in the scissor area of things.  Well, I bought a heavy duty device used for straightening and was able to restore the functionality of the recliner.  When It was picked up I noticed that the user was a lady that would scale out at 350 pounds. 

Later in comment with the vendor, I was thanked for fixing the chair and that is when I said you will probably get it back and mentioned why.  He just shook his head as if he didn't know how to market the stuff to today and who?

People are way too big for the quality of furniture sold today (that I see maybe some here see better stuff?).

Do something or go broke or.......go out of business.

Doyle

[MinUph]

I would think it would be impossible for a furniture sales force to sell to who fits the quality or style of any given piece based on anything really especially size of that person. There is fine line when dealing with heavy people. When a large guy walks into the shop and asks about durability of some piece of furniture or fabric I use the term Large Man like yourself but not very often. I would never use ANY term to describe a woman's size. Or sell them on anything in relation to their size. That would be a sure way to loose a customer or worse.

[sofadoc]

The salesmen around here will sell anything to anyone. There isn't any moral dilemma. When a family of 300 pounders want a dual reclining leather sofa for less than 500 bucks, they're more than happy to accommodate them. There's no lie they won't tell, no promise they won't break.

When the furniture fails in a month or two, the salesman will act as if it's the first time in history.

Will they change the way they market their furniture? I see nothing to indicate that they will.

[SteveA]

Sent by the manufacturer last week to a home - the nanny let me in -  I was asked to ck a recliner seat that was sinking in.  I turned it over - looked underneath - all good.  Sinuous springs in place - tied across with twine - foam + padding - nothing wrong so I sat in it - didn't sink in ?  Leaned back - operated the recliner all good ?  Then I glanced at a Family photo on the wall and let the nanny know I was leaving -

SA

[kodydog]

I fixed this one yesterday, here is what they used for corner blocks.




The guy is about 250 lbs. Not huge but big enough. The recliner is 3 years old. The (green) glue failed as did the dowels. This is the front rail of the seat.

[baileyuph]

No, selective marketing wasn't the thought.  Instead, remove the warranty all together for all buyers.  I don't see how they can stay in business replacing a broken recliner for a customer every two weeks.  To do nothing different, well the "go out of business" will eventually be the result.

Other options, I guess heavy enough iron but here goes the price!

Some of the recliner issues are just abuse or ignorance; for some people will jump out of a chair with the recliner in the reclined mode and bend the dickens out of the recliner.  Then, come back and jump right back in torquing the heck out of the footrest iron.

No warranty against bending or a redesign that when the load exceeds a limit the recliner will fold up. 

Something around the warranty or engineering will bring on a change or..........?

Doyle

[sofadoc]

remove the warranty all together for all buyers.  I don't see how they can stay in business replacing a broken recliner for a customer every two weeks.

They're banking on the theory that most people won't demand a new recliner every 2 weeks. They'll just live with it until it's time to sit it out by the curb. Then they'll buy another one.

When a car manufacturer has a defective part or design that may cause a few deaths, they weigh the cost of recalling all those cars against paying a few wrongful death claims. If it's deemed cheaper to just pay a few claims, then that's what they do. Same with junk furniture. If it's cheaper to give a few customers a new recliner every month or 2 than to build a better product, then that's what they do.