Bad chair South Carolina

[jwolf6589]

I bought this chair at xxxx of xxx, SC on May 14 or sometime that week. On the morning of May 21, it cracked and I fell down. After the fall, I hurt my hip, and it stung for a half hour or so but thank goodness no medical operations. I returned the chair to xxxx on May 21 and exchanged it for a more expensive model. As I am young of age, the fall from the chair did not cause any serious medical issues. However, I believe you have a defect in the chair, and perhaps one day someone will get hurt and will sue you. It may be wise to recall those chairs, just encase someone else does get hurt. Apple Computer had to recall many thousands of their iBook G4 batteries because random batteries were deemed a fire hazard. I had used a “fire hazard” battery without knowledge for 3.5 years without a problem. So I believe with your chair there are others out there with this defect. Someone at the xxxx xxxx told me that they get lots of chair returns, so its possible that others who have had this experience have not bothered to contact you, and just have exchanged the chair for a new model.

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This is a part of the letter that I wrote to the chair company. The chair was returned to that store, and the company has asked for the chair back and will have their engineers look at it. I did some research on the Internet and discovered that this company has been involved in many lawsuits over defective products that either have harmed or had a potential of harming someone. In my letter I asked for a certain dollar amount from the company and for them to RECALL all the chairs of this SKU number made that year, or I will file on several consumer websites and warn others of the danger risk.

Do you think I have a case? I am not getting no lawyer involved and will try and resolve the matter with the company. the amount I asked was only in the thousands, and the company lost 7.2 M due to a lawsuit over a unsafe baby car seat.

Perhaps I wont get a dime and will end up filing safety alerts on several consumer websites, but who knows. What do you say?


John

[Troubleshooter]

If you have no actual damages, you are not entitled to collect.

[jwolf6589]

Originally Posted by Troubleshooter

If you have no actual damages, you are not entitled to collect.

No but there is a defective and dangerous chair that could cause damage to someone else. You never know how many of those chairs are out there. I do not know that other chairs do not have this defect and looking at the lawsuit and recall history of this company (if you bothered to read my original message which you did not) the company has been sued by others that did not have "actual damaged."

But regardless if they refuse to give me anything, I will file complaints with several different websites which are accessed by many and warn other companies that sell this chair encase someone else gets hurt or killed.

[CarynG]

I'm sure they appreciate you returning the merchandise and explaining the issue, but as Troubleshooter already told you, you're not entitled to collect anything because you have no damages - you haven't lost anything or been harmed in any significant way. I'm sure they are aware of their liability issue, but you don't get to dictate how they handle it. Even the best manufacturers have quality problems here and there and get sued. You got your money back, and that's all you are entitled to, end of story.

[jwolf6589]

Originally Posted by CarynG

I'm sure they appreciate you returning the merchandise and explaining the issue, but as Troubleshooter already told you, you're not entitled to collect anything because you have no damages - you haven't lost anything or been harmed in any significant way. I'm sure they are aware of their liability issue, but you don't get to dictate how they handle it. Even the best manufacturers have quality problems here and there and get sued. You got your money back, and that's all you are entitled to, end of story.

That may be true, but they sent me a form asking me to make a written dollar amount for how much I would ask for. This company has been sued by others that DID NOT, I REPEAT DID NOT experience medical damages and they won. In your book its all about medical damages, but the history of this company will show otherwise.

I may not get anything, and if that happens, then I will send a safety warning to a number of different consumer websites, and that would alarm others about the product.

Like i said you may be correct in your assertion and if so then its letter writing time. I have the photographs to prove the chair was defective. Who knows how many others out there are like this?

[cbg]

She is correct, and she is not assuming. If your damages are zero, then if you get anything it is going to be goodwill on the part of the manufacturer. You are not legally due one cent unless you actually have damages.

[CarynG]

Their form asks how much you're asking in damages because, if you actually had damages, their legal department would take a look at the amount you asked for and decide if it was a better deal than they think they can get in court. Your only loss was the chair, which you have already been reimbursed for. Since you don't have any additional losses, they probably won't even give the amount a glance. Believe me, in this economy, no company is going to volunteer thousands (or even hundreds) of dollars just for goodwill. Especially if they really do have safety problems and are paying a lot of money out on claims actually awarded in a court.

Without links, I can't really comment on the cases you cite where victims were awarded reimbursement for damages they didn't suffer. My best guess is that the judge assessed a civil penalty to punish the defendant company for their negligence, but that money would not actually go to the plaintiff, except maybe enough to cover their attorneys' fees.

[jwolf6589]

Actually the form does not mention damages. It only says that I need to put in writing how much I am requesting beyond the replacement of the chair. I may not get anything, but in my letter I told the company that they have a defect (which they were very interested in getting back). I also said that I would be filing complaints on amazon, consumer affairs, rip off report, and other websites if they did not fix this problem and give me the money that I asked for. They have a dangerous chair and someone could get killed and I wont sit around and wait for some kitten, toddler, puppy, or disabled person has their chair break on them and they go to the ground. If the company only paid me the amount of the chair, then they would not bother to fix this problem. Well for a company that has millions of dollars and has been sued, and has recalled many other products many many times, I hope they would give what I asked. But if not, then its computer complaint time here I come!

Originally Posted by CarynG

Their form asks how much you're asking in damages because, if you actually had damages, their legal department would take a look at the amount you asked for and decide if it was a better deal than they think they can get in court. Your only loss was the chair, which you have already been reimbursed for. Since you don't have any additional losses, they probably won't even give the amount a glance. Believe me, in this economy, no company is going to volunteer thousands (or even hundreds) of dollars just for goodwill. Especially if they really do have safety problems and are paying a lot of money out on claims actually awarded in a court.

Without links, I can't really comment on the cases you cite where victims were awarded reimbursement for damages they didn't suffer. My best guess is that the judge assessed a civil penalty to punish the defendant company for their negligence, but that money would not actually go to the plaintiff, except maybe enough to cover their attorneys' fees.

[CarynG]

You're right, a chair breaking is an issue they should take seriously, and I hope they do. I'm glad you weren't seriously injured, even if it means you likely won't collect anything from them. Good luck and good night!

[jwolf6589]

Originally Posted by CarynG

You're right, a chair breaking is an issue they should take seriously, and I hope they do. I'm glad you weren't seriously injured, even if it means you likely won't collect anything from them. Good luck and good night!

I hope they do take it seriously. If they did not intend to give me any extra money, I wonder why they sent the form to me. Regardless I hope they fix this problem.