Faulty eBay chair

y3sitsm3

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

Really? It's a broken chair....

Really.

The OP got the chair they ordered.  It's faulty, not "not as described."

If it had turned up faulty, it would be not as described, but it didn't.  It was working fine for 3-ish months.

Thrugelmir

wolvesmat said:

I believe the chair was never fit for purpose although there's no way of realising this at time of purchase . I can accept stitches splitting but this is dangerous. It's rated weight is 130 kg and I'm nowhere near that! 

Buy from a reputable source next time. Thousands of Chinese companies turn out substandard product of all kinds.  Online shopping is no panacea. You may well find a bargain from an outlet selling second hand office furniture , you can check it over first as well. 

deannagone

Stable door, horse bolted etc but I always buy chairs with metal bases as plastic is a lot weaker (you only have it break on you once lol).

theonlywayisup

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

Really? It's a broken chair....

Paypal state in their user agreement that a SNAD example is as below.  A chair that fails after 4 months doesn't come under the terms for SNAD. 

Significantly Not as Described claims

An item may be considered Significantly Not as Described if:

• The item is materially different from the seller's description of it.
• You received a completely different item.
• The condition of the item was misrepresented. For example, the item was described as “new” but the item was used.
• The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic (i.e. counterfeit).
• The item is missing major parts or features and those facts were not disclosed in the description of the item when you bought it.
• You purchased a certain number of items but didn't receive them all.
• The item was damaged during shipment.
• The item is unusable in its received state and was not disclosed as such.

......and as has been mentioned, the buyer would be responsible for return shipping.  Even the 'returns on us' allowance of £15 won't go far enough to cover it.

That aside, for the buggerance factor alone, it may be worth opening the dispute to see what happens.  Paypal have been refunded for postage/not required to return - if you believe threads on the Ebay board recently.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

theonlywayisup said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

Really? It's a broken chair....

Paypal state in their user agreement that a SNAD example is as below.  A chair that fails after 4 months doesn't come under the terms for SNAD. 

Significantly Not as Described claims

An item may be considered Significantly Not as Described if:

• The item is materially different from the seller's description of it.
• You received a completely different item.
• The condition of the item was misrepresented. For example, the item was described as “new” but the item was used.
• The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic (i.e. counterfeit).
• The item is missing major parts or features and those facts were not disclosed in the description of the item when you bought it.
• You purchased a certain number of items but didn't receive them all.
• The item was damaged during shipment.
• The item is unusable in its received state and was not disclosed as such.

......and as has been mentioned, the buyer would be responsible for return shipping.  Even the 'returns on us' allowance of £15 won't go far enough to cover it.

That aside, for the buggerance factor alone, it may be worth opening the dispute to see what happens.  Paypal have been refunded for postage/not required to return - if you believe threads on the Ebay board recently.

I know, I did mention it's not a warranty   

Point is if this had happened within 30 days the OP would be told to open a not as described return with eBay so nit picking over the semantics of the definition is academic really. 

The seller should have a domestic return address set up on eBay (or face coving return costs to China or forfeiting the item) so they may well have a UK returns address on Paypal in which case OP should be able to return the chair for £15 or less. 

If the return address is in China there have a been a couple of examples on this board of buyers being refunded by Paypal without a return. 

Whilst cheap office chairs tend to fail, 4 mounts is pretty short and £84 isn't the cheapest (quick look on eBay and you can get one for £32). 

Given we are on the Money Saving forums I don't the see the harm in advising the OP to try to recover their money  

y3sitsm3

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

theonlywayisup said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

Really? It's a broken chair....

Paypal state in their user agreement that a SNAD example is as below.  A chair that fails after 4 months doesn't come under the terms for SNAD. 

Significantly Not as Described claims

An item may be considered Significantly Not as Described if:

• The item is materially different from the seller's description of it.
• You received a completely different item.
• The condition of the item was misrepresented. For example, the item was described as “new” but the item was used.
• The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic (i.e. counterfeit).
• The item is missing major parts or features and those facts were not disclosed in the description of the item when you bought it.
• You purchased a certain number of items but didn't receive them all.
• The item was damaged during shipment.
• The item is unusable in its received state and was not disclosed as such.

......and as has been mentioned, the buyer would be responsible for return shipping.  Even the 'returns on us' allowance of £15 won't go far enough to cover it.

That aside, for the buggerance factor alone, it may be worth opening the dispute to see what happens.  Paypal have been refunded for postage/not required to return - if you believe threads on the Ebay board recently.

I know, I did mention it's not a warranty   

Point is if this had happened within 30 days the OP would be told to open a not as described return with eBay so nit picking over the semantics of the definition is academic really. 

The seller should have a domestic return address set up on eBay (or face coving return costs to China or forfeiting the item) so they may well have a UK returns address on Paypal in which case OP should be able to return the chair for £15 or less. 

If the return address is in China there have a been a couple of examples on this board of buyers being refunded by Paypal without a return. 

Whilst cheap office chairs tend to fail, 4 mounts is pretty short and £84 isn't the cheapest (quick look on eBay and you can get one for £32). 

Given we are on the Money Saving forums I don't the see the harm in advising the OP to try to recover their money  

By whom?  Not eBay as it's not "not as described", it's faulty.

Whilst you might be able to fraudulently claim it was received faulty the eBay and PayPal processes explicitly does not cover things that break after receipt, you need to take that up with the buyer.  But advising people to make fraudulent claims is against the forum rules, as I'm sure you're aware.

Of course, the buyer has an email exchange with the OP that confirms it arrived in working condition and in my experience, Chinese (and for the sake of argument HK sellers are essentially Chinese) sellers vigorously defend refund attempts.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

theonlywayisup said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

Really? It's a broken chair....

Paypal state in their user agreement that a SNAD example is as below.  A chair that fails after 4 months doesn't come under the terms for SNAD. 

Significantly Not as Described claims

An item may be considered Significantly Not as Described if:

• The item is materially different from the seller's description of it.
• You received a completely different item.
• The condition of the item was misrepresented. For example, the item was described as “new” but the item was used.
• The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic (i.e. counterfeit).
• The item is missing major parts or features and those facts were not disclosed in the description of the item when you bought it.
• You purchased a certain number of items but didn't receive them all.
• The item was damaged during shipment.
• The item is unusable in its received state and was not disclosed as such.

......and as has been mentioned, the buyer would be responsible for return shipping.  Even the 'returns on us' allowance of £15 won't go far enough to cover it.

That aside, for the buggerance factor alone, it may be worth opening the dispute to see what happens.  Paypal have been refunded for postage/not required to return - if you believe threads on the Ebay board recently.

I know, I did mention it's not a warranty   

Point is if this had happened within 30 days the OP would be told to open a not as described return with eBay so nit picking over the semantics of the definition is academic really. 

The seller should have a domestic return address set up on eBay (or face coving return costs to China or forfeiting the item) so they may well have a UK returns address on Paypal in which case OP should be able to return the chair for £15 or less. 

If the return address is in China there have a been a couple of examples on this board of buyers being refunded by Paypal without a return. 

Whilst cheap office chairs tend to fail, 4 mounts is pretty short and £84 isn't the cheapest (quick look on eBay and you can get one for £32). 

Given we are on the Money Saving forums I don't the see the harm in advising the OP to try to recover their money  

By whom?  Not eBay as it's not "not as described", it's faulty.

Whilst you might be able to fraudulently claim it was received faulty the eBay and PayPal processes explicitly does not cover things that break after receipt, you need to take that up with the buyer.  But advising people to make fraudulent claims is against the forum rules, as I'm sure you're aware.

Of course, the buyer has an email exchange with the OP that confirms it arrived in working condition and in my experience, Chinese (and for the sake of argument HK sellers are essentially Chinese) sellers vigorously defend refund attempts.

Yes by eBay, if you call eBay and say the chair I purchased fell apart after 3 weeks customer service will open a return for you.

A contract for the sale of goods is taken to contain terms that ensure the goods conform to the contract and should they fail prematurely they are not as described as they have not met the terms of the contract.

Granted it muddies the water when the seller is based in China (as UK consumer law doesn't apply) but as an overseas seller with stock in the UK they'd be required to be VAT registered and may well have a UK presence such as a limited company.

Bluster about fraudulent claims is melodramatic. The OP is entitled to open a claim, they will be required to state what the issue is and Paypal will decide the outcome, if they feel the situation falls outside their terms they won't assist.

A fraudulent claim would opening one where there isn't an issue with the product.  

theonlywayisup

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

theonlywayisup said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

Really? It's a broken chair....

Paypal state in their user agreement that a SNAD example is as below.  A chair that fails after 4 months doesn't come under the terms for SNAD. 

Significantly Not as Described claims

An item may be considered Significantly Not as Described if:

• The item is materially different from the seller's description of it.
• You received a completely different item.
• The condition of the item was misrepresented. For example, the item was described as “new” but the item was used.
• The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic (i.e. counterfeit).
• The item is missing major parts or features and those facts were not disclosed in the description of the item when you bought it.
• You purchased a certain number of items but didn't receive them all.
• The item was damaged during shipment.
• The item is unusable in its received state and was not disclosed as such.

......and as has been mentioned, the buyer would be responsible for return shipping.  Even the 'returns on us' allowance of £15 won't go far enough to cover it.

That aside, for the buggerance factor alone, it may be worth opening the dispute to see what happens.  Paypal have been refunded for postage/not required to return - if you believe threads on the Ebay board recently.

Point is if this had happened within 30 days the OP would be told to open a not as described return with eBay so nit picking over the semantics of the definition is academic really. 

It isn't nit picking.  In fact, it could be deemed fraud and it certainly is a misuse of the ebay and paypal protection programmes.

Ebay are quite specific too.  

• The seller sent the wrong item, or
• The item arrives broken, damaged, or faulty

I can't see where the item arrived faulty or damaged. Therefore it is not eligible for a claim.  Twisting the reason does not change the eligibility.  

I don't disagree that the chair should last longer than it has.  But I do disagree that it would fall under an ebay claim.  It wouldn't.  That wouldn't mean the buyer couldn't open one and see what happens. But the temptation then may be to suggest it arrived like that.....hopefully not. 

theonlywayisup

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

theonlywayisup said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

Really? It's a broken chair....

Paypal state in their user agreement that a SNAD example is as below.  A chair that fails after 4 months doesn't come under the terms for SNAD. 

Significantly Not as Described claims

An item may be considered Significantly Not as Described if:

• The item is materially different from the seller's description of it.
• You received a completely different item.
• The condition of the item was misrepresented. For example, the item was described as “new” but the item was used.
• The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic (i.e. counterfeit).
• The item is missing major parts or features and those facts were not disclosed in the description of the item when you bought it.
• You purchased a certain number of items but didn't receive them all.
• The item was damaged during shipment.
• The item is unusable in its received state and was not disclosed as such.

......and as has been mentioned, the buyer would be responsible for return shipping.  Even the 'returns on us' allowance of £15 won't go far enough to cover it.

That aside, for the buggerance factor alone, it may be worth opening the dispute to see what happens.  Paypal have been refunded for postage/not required to return - if you believe threads on the Ebay board recently.

I know, I did mention it's not a warranty   

Point is if this had happened within 30 days the OP would be told to open a not as described return with eBay so nit picking over the semantics of the definition is academic really. 

The seller should have a domestic return address set up on eBay (or face coving return costs to China or forfeiting the item) so they may well have a UK returns address on Paypal in which case OP should be able to return the chair for £15 or less. 

If the return address is in China there have a been a couple of examples on this board of buyers being refunded by Paypal without a return. 

Whilst cheap office chairs tend to fail, 4 mounts is pretty short and £84 isn't the cheapest (quick look on eBay and you can get one for £32). 

Given we are on the Money Saving forums I don't the see the harm in advising the OP to try to recover their money  

By whom?  Not eBay as it's not "not as described", it's faulty.

Whilst you might be able to fraudulently claim it was received faulty the eBay and PayPal processes explicitly does not cover things that break after receipt, you need to take that up with the buyer.  But advising people to make fraudulent claims is against the forum rules, as I'm sure you're aware.

Of course, the buyer has an email exchange with the OP that confirms it arrived in working condition and in my experience, Chinese (and for the sake of argument HK sellers are essentially Chinese) sellers vigorously defend refund attempts.

Bluster about fraudulent claims is melodramatic. The OP is entitled to open a claim, they will be required to state what the issue is and Paypal will decide the outcome, if they feel the situation falls outside their terms they won't assist.

A fraudulent claim would opening one where there isn't an issue with the product.  

The OP is entitled to open a claim if they are within the period, the point it, the eligibility of said claim.  An item that falls apart is not covered by the programmes, on either platform. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

theonlywayisup said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

theonlywayisup said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

y3sitsm3 said:

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

soolin said:

MalMonroe said:

The seller may not be based in the UK BUT eBay UK does always boast about their money back guarantee.  .  And it seems that this seller has an agent in Lichfield.

An office chair should last longer than 4 months, no matter where you bought it from. 

Contact the seller again, via eBay, to advise that office chairs should last longer than yours has and thanks but sadly £20 isn't enough. Send photos of the damage and be polite. If you send all your messages via eBay then there's a record so you can refer to it when you contact eBay to ask them to get your money back for you.

What do you have to lose? You may have something to gain. Don't give up now, you're half way there!! And that's what eBay's Resolution Centre is for, of course.

[P.S. For your next chair it may be wiser to buy from the UK - and from a reputable retailer if possible. You can get a good one for the same price you paid.] 

Ebay will not help. Their buyer guarantee has strict time limits and any claim attempted can be immediately closed by the seller as out of time.

PayPal is a possibility , but that would require OP to return the chair fully tracked at their own cost to the seller, so almost certainly not worth attempting. 

Personally I would recommend Paypal (if the OP paid this way) as they allow 180 days for a not as described claim, whilst this isn't a warranty the seller may not reply or with Managed Payments may not be able to defend it at all. 

4 months for an £85 chair isn't great. 

It's not "not as described" though...

Really? It's a broken chair....

Paypal state in their user agreement that a SNAD example is as below.  A chair that fails after 4 months doesn't come under the terms for SNAD. 

Significantly Not as Described claims

An item may be considered Significantly Not as Described if:

• The item is materially different from the seller's description of it.
• You received a completely different item.
• The condition of the item was misrepresented. For example, the item was described as “new” but the item was used.
• The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic (i.e. counterfeit).
• The item is missing major parts or features and those facts were not disclosed in the description of the item when you bought it.
• You purchased a certain number of items but didn't receive them all.
• The item was damaged during shipment.
• The item is unusable in its received state and was not disclosed as such.

......and as has been mentioned, the buyer would be responsible for return shipping.  Even the 'returns on us' allowance of £15 won't go far enough to cover it.

That aside, for the buggerance factor alone, it may be worth opening the dispute to see what happens.  Paypal have been refunded for postage/not required to return - if you believe threads on the Ebay board recently.

I know, I did mention it's not a warranty   

Point is if this had happened within 30 days the OP would be told to open a not as described return with eBay so nit picking over the semantics of the definition is academic really. 

The seller should have a domestic return address set up on eBay (or face coving return costs to China or forfeiting the item) so they may well have a UK returns address on Paypal in which case OP should be able to return the chair for £15 or less. 

If the return address is in China there have a been a couple of examples on this board of buyers being refunded by Paypal without a return. 

Whilst cheap office chairs tend to fail, 4 mounts is pretty short and £84 isn't the cheapest (quick look on eBay and you can get one for £32). 

Given we are on the Money Saving forums I don't the see the harm in advising the OP to try to recover their money  

By whom?  Not eBay as it's not "not as described", it's faulty.

Whilst you might be able to fraudulently claim it was received faulty the eBay and PayPal processes explicitly does not cover things that break after receipt, you need to take that up with the buyer.  But advising people to make fraudulent claims is against the forum rules, as I'm sure you're aware.

Of course, the buyer has an email exchange with the OP that confirms it arrived in working condition and in my experience, Chinese (and for the sake of argument HK sellers are essentially Chinese) sellers vigorously defend refund attempts.

Bluster about fraudulent claims is melodramatic. The OP is entitled to open a claim, they will be required to state what the issue is and Paypal will decide the outcome, if they feel the situation falls outside their terms they won't assist.

A fraudulent claim would opening one where there isn't an issue with the product.  

The OP is entitled to open a claim if they are within the period, the point it, the eligibility of said claim.  An item that falls apart is not covered by the programmes, on either platform. 

I know your know your stuff so we both know if it was within 30 days eBay would expect the seller to resolve the claim for something that falls apart regardless of their terms.

Yes it's 100% correct the terms on eBay don't cover this specifically but CS aren't going to argue with the buyer and eBay aren't going to take the view the buyer is abusing the system. Any buyer who has an issue with their item falling apart within the eBay claim period will be told to open a claim with eBay pretty much wherever they ask for advice.

I also disagree it could be viewed as fraud, both processes require the buyer to state what their issue is in a comments box, I don't see how an honest response entered can be classed as wrongful or criminal deception.