I broke the first office chair of this new job two weeks in leaning over to pick something up. A crack and a splinter, and the base came away.

I had admin buy me a stronger one, in leather, with wood armrests that make it look like the bosses chair.

Over the past two months it has started to sink, sometimes quickly, sometime slowly, but it always does.

I went to the shop to tell them their chair was shite, they told me they knew it was, and it happened to them all. They suggested sticking a bit of wood under it to stop it sinking.

So, do I go to admin, admit that my rather large frame has wrecked another chair by breaking the seals on the pneumatics, do I put up with it and keep raising it every few minutes or type at a weird angle, fix it myself and hope for the best.

I could ask maintenance to weld it up for me, which might work

Do other STW members have issues with office chairs?

Who-ever bought you the chair, should have taken your weight into consideration, when ordering it, and if it should carry your ‘weight’ then send it back or get it fixed. If they didn’t then it’s not your fault it’s broken…

Knowadays, larger (not necessarily but normally due to being overweight users…[really not pointing fingers Quirrel]) office chairs are in demand, as there’s no point in having a chair that won’t support you….
If you sit in the office all day, you need a chair that works & is suitable. There is no point in spending your working day being uncomfortable, it’ll only lead to other health issues.

Partner is a occupational health specialist, she’d say it should be part of your basic work station assessment..

PS: Multi adjustment is more important than leather and wooden armrests!

^ It was bought because it looked massive and would hold my 108kg mass.I ruined the wooden arms within 30s or so catching them under my desk.

Chair itself weighs about the same. I suspect that maybe it was designed for people, locally, who generally aren’t as large as me.

Just flipped it upside down, and I am going to have maintenance weld a support rod between the moving up and down parts to stop it sinking. That will sort it out for now.

Looking “massive” and actually being able to support your weight, is different & again, I’d say it’s not your fault they ordered incorrectly. I’d be going back to the ‘admin’ and complaining, as bodging a chair to work on 5 days a week is shite.

I’ve just weathered a small storm when our CEO refurbished the offices and gave everybody fancy new chairs with net backs. My own chair was one I chose about 15 years ago and liked because my chronic back pain went away. I even bought new castors for it out of my own pocket when one broke. So when I came back from a trip and found that my beloved chair had disappeared I was shocked in the same way that you would be if someone took way and painted your bike by hand and changed all the components. I tried the new chair for a few days and sure enough, the lack of support began to make my back ache. I managed to find my old chair and get it back, which earned me a visit from the CEO’s secretary then another visit later with the office furniture supplier but when they saw what an emotive issue it was for me they decided it wasn’t worth the battle. Phew.