Herman Miller Warranty Repair After a couple of years of searching for a great deal on HermanMiller Aeron chairs, my wife finally found one, and we’ve been enjoying them for the past 8 months. Unfortunately, her chair developed a crack in the back (most likely due to mis-assembly by the store.) I feared an expensive repair, but started searching for parts anyway. and found out that it might be possible to have the back replaced under warranty. All HermanMiller chairs are covered by a 12-year warranty. So I filled-out the warranty request form on their site. They provided a diagram chair so that I could clearly identify the failed part and I also entered all of the chair configuration and serial number details from the sticker on the bottom of the chair. 4 weeks later, a replacement chair back arrived via FedEx. Instead of an expensive repair, I received a nearly effortless warranty replacement. Thank you Chair MD. RSS feed for comments on this post.One of the parts on my beloved Aeron chair broke:
I looked on their site to see if their products have a warranty, and.. It says right on their site: “The Herman Miller Warranty is a statement of our confidence in the quality of our products. It’s a straightforward promise to our customers that we stand behind that quality, 100 percent–100 percent of the time.” Well, apparently “100 percent–100 percent of the time” actually means… “100 percent– some of the time” since when I contacted their authorized repair center, they emailed me back: “The 12-warranty only covers the original owner, once resold the warranty would be denied by Herman Miller.”That’s kinda f’d up, no? I mean, yes, I’m the 2nd owner of this chair, but why should that make any difference as to the warranty?? The chair is still a G-E-N-U-I-N-E Herman Miller Aeron Chair as far as I can tell. I mean, yes, I could just buy the part.. but, this is about the principle of the thing at this point.. So, I wrote them a nice letter of my own…
I am a happy owner of an Aeron chair. Recently, the lumbar pad on my chair has fallen apart, as you can see from this photo: Anyway, I contacted Chair MD, and they informed me that your 12-year warranty does not cover me since I am the 2nd owner of this chair. The label on my chair says: Model # AE123AWB AJG1BBWP 3D01 Factory Order #: 493715 So, clearly, this chair is well within the 12-year warranty period, so I am writing to ask why it is that the warranty does not cover this chair. Is the warrantly less valid since I am not the original owner? Isn’t it still the same chair? I mean, if you buy a used car from somebody, the warranty goes with that car (and that makes sense). Anyway, it’s really not the money ($65 for a new pad isn’t bad, I guess), but I really would just like an explanation, since the reasoning befuddles me. So we’ll see what they say…I got a reply from Herman Miller… Hello Dennis and thank you for contacting Herman Miller.
We do have a 12-year warranty on the Aeron chair, but the warranty only extends to the original purchaser of the product when it is ordered through an authorized Dealership. The warranty does not transfer. I have included the verbage from our warranty below: Way to NOT ANSWER ANY OF MY QUESTIONS in my original email. I am fairly good at the google, and I was able to find that warranty information myself (as I explained in my email). Honestly, I just want someone from HM to email me and say something like “Yes, we know our warranty policy is ridiculous, and we only stand by our products if you buy them from authorized retailers because we do not care about the re-sale people.” If I am being ridiculous here, someone please tell me. So, I wrote Herman Miller: As I stated in my original email — yes, I am familiar with your warranty policy, so you did not answer my question. I am simply inquiring as to *why* your warranty policy is this way? Warranties for other durable goods like automobiles stay with the
I am still sitting on a quality-made Herman Miller Aeron chair, no? And then they wrote back (super quickly, I might add…): Hi Dennis, our original owner policy has been in place from the beginnings of Herman Miller as a company. I think you would find that there are very few products on the market where a warranty coverage is passed on to the second owner of the product. That includes several automobile manufacturers.that sounds like a classic “cuz that’s the way it is” answer. I mean, I kind of expected more from Herman Miller, but… oh well. I mean, it’s not really the money, I can find a new lumbar support (a $65 part) on eBay for pretty cheap, but like, why have a warranty at all if you’re not going to honor it?Home >> For Vendors >> Contract Summary Sheet American Office (Herman Miller) Effective Date: 03/15/2000 - 07/31/2014 Supplier #: 99426 Vendor: American Office (Herman Miller) Address: 309 North Calvert StreetBaltimore, MD 21202
Contact: Cassie Estes (Academic) or Abby Lenon (Medical Center) Phone: (434) 327-1182 (Cassie) or (434) 327-1186 (Abby) Contract Information:UVA Contract #: UCP-011-00 American Office will provide Herman Miller systems/modular furniture, design services, and rearrangement or removal of existing systems/modular furniture to the University. American Office will handle all customer service, order entry, delivery and installation. American Office will also assist each department with specification of furniture, verification of fabrics and finishes, identification of special product requirements, purchase order status inquiries, installation follow-up for adjustments, fine tuning and touchups Delivery and installation will typically take four to eight weeks after receipt of purchase order. Delivery and installation for the Rapid Response Quick Ship program will typically take two to four weeks after receipt of purchase order.Systems/modular furniture will be sold at discounts off of list price.
Discounts range from 10% to 68%. See price discounts below for specific discounts, dealer fees for design, repair or removal of existing furniture, etc. Pricing Discount Structure (based on price book effective date 02/03/14) Action Office Series 1, 2, Ethospace, Vivo, Avive, and Eames Tables with attaching or freestanding components in price books. Also included are textiles and paper management work tool accessories. Action Office Series 3 (Prospects) Herman Miller Sand V front files and pedestals Herman Miller G and A Series free- standing files Herman Miller/Meridian 5000 Series Herman Miller/Meridian lateral files, and storage/media cases, Intersect Herman Miller/Meridian pedestals, (no wood fronts, keyless locking or baseline product) Ergon 3 and Equa 2 Seating Aside, Reaction, Caper and Limerick Seating Aeron, Classical, Aluminum Group, Eames Shell, Tubular Chairs, Tandem, Ambi Seating, Mirra, and Celle Ethospace - Nurse Stations
Casework and Laboratory Systems Passage, KIVA and My Studio $0 - $250,000 = 52%$250,000 - 1 Million = 54%$1 Million and above = 56% $0 - $250,000 = 51%$250,000 - 1 Million = 52%$1 Million and above = 53%(no express orders) Delivery and Installation (Except wall strips & starts) 9% of sell price 4.5% of sell price Fees for additional services Monday - Friday 8:00-5:00 Design layout, specifications and consultations Rearrangement, removal or inventory of existing furniture Maintenance and repair of existing furniture Fees for additional services A after normal working hours Fees for additional services Sundays and Holidays Fees for warehousing or storage 30 days or less More than 30 days Fees for returning merchandise (Returns accepted only with prior written approval) Custom products Standard products Cannot return 85% of sell price Fees for wall strip installation American Office will provide custom modifications and wall strip installations on an as needed basis.
Wall strips can only be installed on structurally sound walls. Herman Miller will only accept responsibility for properly installed wall strips by authorized Herman Miller dealers. American Office will offer a discount of one hour of design services for every $3,000 of product purchased. This will be shown on the quote prior to beginning design services. Note:The contract will be used primarily for add-on furniture requirements to existing systems/modular furniture, and for new furniture requirements under $5,000.00. New furniture requirements over $5,000.00 may require additional justification. Please reference the contract number on purchase requisitions and when contacting the vendor. Furniture orders must be placed from the American Office UVA Marketplace punchout catalog. Furniture orders cannot be purchased using the Corporate Purchasing Card. Copies of this contract are available from the buyer. Click Here to rate American Office (Herman Miller)Ratings for American Office (Herman Miller)Customer ServicePrice / ValueQuality of product or serviceOn-time DeliveryInvoicingOverallNumber of Ratings4Number of Raters4