need new office chair am lost on which to get 1 August 2018 at 3:45PM edited 1 August 2018 at 3:47PM in Shop but don't drop 3 replies 1.2K views

Chrysalis

I have in the past spent in the region of £150-250 on my chairs, but they only lasting 2-3 years is very underwhelming. I feel as if they been built to fail as soon as possible outside warranty period.

First chair the legs snapped (made of plastic).
Second I made sure was metal (chrome) legs they havent broke but after just under 2 years the left arm rest fell loose, the cause was the bolt securing it literally just snapped in half clean.
The manufacturer agreed to send me a new back and bolts to avoid me buying an entire new chair, it was also apparently at wholesale cost, chair new was £270, the replacement back and bolts was about £100.
Just 18 months later the exact same thing happened, and this time no weight was on the arm, I went to sleep with the arm in position, woke up and it was hanging loose, same cause, bolt snapped in half, cannot be removed from the back as its a clean break with it inside the hole.

Been looking around, lots of people recommend the Herman Miller Aeron supposedly because its built like a tank (like how everything should be built), but the chair looks very underwhelming, low back, no padding, and extremely expensive, I can buy a refurbished one off ebay for £250. But the low back and also the plastic around the edge of the seat stopped me, as I can forsee on the front edge of the seat that annoying me if I am wearing shorts.

Surprise surprise noone seems to offer a 10 year warranty or even a 5 year one for the higher priced chairs.

There is reports on amazon for the cheapo chairs of them failing within "months" not even lasting a year.

So this is what my requirements are to see if anyone can recommend anything.

If the chair is to fail in under 3 years, it has to be cheap sub £100, absolute most £150, it feels like chairs are effectively a £100 a year cost with failure rates.
I will pay up to £300 if the chair is known to last a bare minimum of 5 years before failure.
The base of the chair must remain soft under weight, so it doesnt feel like I am sitting on a plank of wood, so basically lots of padding.
Height adjustable with height of seat at least 55cm at max height.
Tilt adjustable
High back
Arm rests at least 40cm long and padded

If the price is over £150 the legs must be metal

Basically I will treat it as a throw away chair if its under £100 but it still needs to last over a year and be comfortable.

jenniewb

I can recommend Ikea, I've only had two chairs though so nothing to compare with but my first lasted me 10 years, the second seems fine after 2 years without issue. AFAIK the base is metal and is fairly sturdy. Mine was around £50 and I the only customisation I have is to add a cushion so the seat itself is protected from dust and dirt.

tacpot12

I would try to buy from a second-hand office furniture supplier. They will often have seats that have cost £100's available at reasonable prices.

LadyDee

Check out Preloved - some really super bargains available.