Can anyone help me fix these dining chairs?

[indecisivewoman81]

Hi,

I bought 6 habitat dining chairs just under 2 years ago and all but one of the chairs are now broken.

The legs are wooden spindly style and are attached to metal face plates. It is the metal face plate that is the issue. The faceplate has a little metal but that sticks down and holds the leg in place and it has broke off in all but one chair. I will try to include photos

We are not a heavy family. Two adults both under 12 stone two primary aged children. This shouldn't have happened.

I contacted habitat and they said I was out of warranty and they couldn't help but I could approach their manufacturer; so I did. They told me they no longer have the parts in stock.

I love these chairs and they were not cheap at just under £200 a pair.

Has anyone got any suggestions on how I can try and fix them myself?

Home DIYer here- so take what I suggest with this in mind!
Clearly looks like a flaw in the metal plate not withstanding the stresses. You would need some serious metal welding to reattach the small piece on the leg back to the plate- a simple DIY job is unlikely to take the strain. You could try epoxy glue between the wood and the plate - but again unlikely to take the strain.
The only alternative I can see is buying new plates- this can also depend on the angle of the leg ( may not be. 90’- can’t tell from the picture) and would need some skills to fit a different style plate ( as some of these you would have to drill and insert central screw mount into the top of the leg)
Search ‘ chair leg mounting plate’ to search for options.
As a last report you could try epoxy glue between the leg and the existing plate and try a large L shaped corner bracket screwed to the leg and over the top of the plate ( if screws can be inserted past the plate- may not sit flush over the plate).

I agree with PP's analysis. I suspect they won't be fixable, even with a lot of faff, because anything using such badly designed leg plates is unlikely to be good enough quality to tinker with successfully.

What material is the chair seat made of?

What I would do is take habitat to small claims court. It's a slow but easy process and they will likely settle long before getting there.

Your consumer rights are nothing to do with the manufacturer- you bought it from habitat.

Thank you for the advice; I really don't think I can fix these so might have to take them to small claims court.