A few years ago my wife and I spent our tax refund on two recliners from Globe Furniture in Lagrande, Oregon. My wife purchased a Lazy Boy and I purchased a Lane. She tried to talk me into a Lazy Boy because we had previously owned a Lazy Boy handed down to us from some friends, that chair was 20 years old. I wanted the Lane because it was big and fluffy. 6 months after this purchase the Lane’s back broke as well as the rocker. The furniture company (Globe) fixed it and a month later the repairs failed. My wife called Globe who repeatedly told us through their representative that they would repair it, but no one ever showed up to pick up the chair. I contacted Lane and their representative told me they could do nothing for me unless I needed a new rocker assembly and then they would ship that to me, but the actual chair was not covered. Lane refused to take ownership for the poor construction in the chair, and placed the blame on the furniture retailer (Globe).
Frustrated, I decided to take the chair apart and see if I could repair it myself. When I took the chair apart I discovered that the plywood that Lane had used to construct the chair was substandard. We have a plywood mill in our area; my father in-law told me that when a piece of plywood is substandard the mill sells the plywood at a cut rate so that it can cover some of the cost of this error. The plywood is usually used for pig pen dividers and various non structural purposes because this plywood is weak and sub-standard. One of the main reasons for this is that the glue that is supposed to hold the pealed layers together doesn't hold well and therefore the plywood is very pulpy and weak. With this in mind I examined the materials used in the construction of my chair. The plywood was very pulpy and the wooden pins used to hold the chair together didn't hold fast to the pulpy plywood. The pins split away from the plywood as if it had been glued into a piece of balsa wood (the wood used to construct toy airplanes, very light; not very strong).
It was very clear to my eyes and experience in the construction field that my chair was built in a very hurried fashion, and out of sub-standard materials. It is very sad that in this day and age American Made has no value. American companies use to take pride in the construction of consumer products, from automobiles to furniture. However, it is very clear to me that Lane doesn't care about the construction of its product and refuses to stand behind it. I feel this is because Lane knows that their chairs are pieces of Garbage and to stand behind such Garbage would mean sure bankruptcy for their company.
Recently, I explained my story to another furniture retailer telling them that I didn't want a Lane. This company offered me a great deal of money off my next chair to restore my confidence in Lane. I thought about this offer for a moment, and then almost vomited in my mouth. How could I swallow my words and go back to the company that had put me through so much stress and discomfort (the chair was horrible after it was broken, and my wife wasn't giving up her chair)? The mere fact that I had given this offer a second thought disturbed me. A reasonable consumer would count the almost $700.00 (the cost of my Lane recliner) a learning experience and never return to the * platter. Yet, even though I gave this offer a second thought, I won't be returning to the poo poo platter and anyone else that does, is just asking for trouble.
I have a suggestion for Lane. They need to get the price of their chairs down to what they are worth, (about $49.99) and sell them at Wal-Mart. I'm sure many consumers would be willing to buy them as throw away chairs like camp chairs. Then when they broke the camper could break out the wooden frame inside the chair and use it for kindling.
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