To expect a chair to last longer than 14months?!

[OhMrBadger]

I bought a metal dining chair from an online company last March. I noticed yesterday that one of the support struts under the seat has snapped at one end. This means that the legs are no longer held in the correct place and the legs will now splay out and probably bend.

I contacted the company who have said they can't replace it as it is no longer under the year long warranty. My point is that unless I now resolder it, the chair is now pretty much unusable. The original soldering couldn't have been too great for it to have snapped at the join.

I think a chair should be expected to last longer than 14 months, surely?!

I'm going to have to email them again so any advice would be hugely appreciated. I really like the stuff they sell and I hate to vote with my feet.

AIBU?

Anyone?.

Forget the warranty, that is in addition to your statutory rights. Tell them you want it replacing due to your rights under the Consumer Rights act 2015 which allows you to claim for up to 6 years after the purchase. The criteria are, would someone reasonably expect it to last more than 14 months? I think the answer is clearly yes. I had a power shower which developed a fault after 15 months and the company accepted that this was unreasonable abd repaired it for free even though it was 3 months after the warranty had run out.

I've been back and forth with them and they are standing their ground. I've cc'd on the head of customer services too, to no avail.

My points were that 14 months is an unreasonable amount of time for a chair sold as a kitchen or dining chair to last. That the soldered join must have been poor in the first place as the chair isn't used daily and has not been under any extra stress.

I've asked if they could pay for a repair.

Each email is met with a "sorry to disappoint you, but etc etc".

I've looked at the Sales Act (as it was purchased before Oct 2015 the Consumer Act doesn't apply) and it says that within 6 months the onus is on the retailer to repair, refund or replace. After 6 months the consumer needs to prove that the fault was there from the beginning.

I can't prove that but I honestly thought common sense would win through!