My feng shui consultant advised me to raise my Herman Miller Mirra chair up to its fullest height so my posture, while at the computer, would be straight and tall. Taking her advice, I lifted the flipper on the side of the chair to make the adjustment. Instead of allowing me to lift the seat higher, the weight of it pushed my hands away, and the seat sank it to the base of the chair. Wha?
I had no idea who to call. I couldn’t remember where I’d purchased the chair – on Amazon? Through a dealer? – so I did what everyone does, I googled Herman Miller chair repair. The company I connected to could not have been nicer. “Turn the chair over,” the customer service rep instructed me, “and read me the information.”
I saw that I’d made the purchase nearly 12 years ago, and my heart sank. Not that I’d even considered a chair that might be replaced, but that surely I was past due on any service I might have been entitled to at this late date. I told her the model number and read her what else was on the label.
“Hmmm,” she calculated. “That warranty expires on April 5, 2016. We will make the repair for free. Can you send us the chair?”
Herman Miller Chair
Another heartsink on my part. I have a hard time calculating postage for a square envelope. Shipping this chair is out of the question. “Not really,” I report back. “I’m a home-based business, not an office in midtown or anything like that.”
“Okay then. We’ll order the part and then send someone to your place for the repair.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. It was worth sitting on the chair with two pillows stacked up like telephone books for a couple of weeks while I waited for the part. She called me early this week to see if it had arrived yet. SHE CALLED ME!! I had checked the package room of my apartment building, but hadn’t seen a listing for my unit.
She emailed me the next day to say that her information showed it had arrived. Indeed, it had. The security guard at the desk handed it to me when I got back home that night.
A day later a serviceman called to arrange a convenient time to come by. He worked on it for under 15 minutes, completely dismantling the chair to install the new hydraulic lift, and leaving me with my chair at full height.
To say I am thrilled with this level of service would be an understatement. I am astonished, thrilled and tickled to have had such a pleasant consumer experience. These chairs cost a lot of money, but the value of the sitting experience and, now, the customer experience makes it worth every penny.
And I’ll bet Herman Miller sells a few more chairs just because of people reading this blog post. I certainly will put them at the top of my list the next time I go office chair shopping. This adds to their already stellar reputation in my book.
@ElizCottrell – Just between you, me and the doorpost, Elizabeth, I would have bought the identical chair again. I so love it, and their warranty makes me love it/them even more. It’s good for your back and, amortized over time, a wise investment. Treat yourself!
When you think about how much time you spend in front of a computer, a really good chair from a company with a high service IQ makes total sense! Next chair I buy will be a Herman Miller. (NPR reminds me about them every day!)
@gamebird – You deserve a Herman Miller chair, my friend!