Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'll start with the Pro's: 1) Easy & intuitive to assemble. Instructions included in an envelope with decent pictures but the labeled parts package make everything nearly impossible to go wrong. TIP: Short Armrest Screws are for the top & Long Armrest Screws are for the bottom of the armrest. 2) Breathable, so cooler than most cloth back chairs. 3) Locking tilt that allows a recline position for napping on the lunch hour or at home. 4) It's not priced at $600 to $800 like some obvious price-gouging chairs. CONS: 1) UNSAFE in recline position. At 5'8" and 208 pounds, I'm built like Hall of Fame, former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith... so I'm not a big guy and I'm well under the 300 pound weight limit of the chair. The weight limit is not the cause of the the problem; the base is the issue. It's too small and needs the legs to extend further out to better balance the change in weight distribution when reclining. I would also suggest adding a sixth leg for better stability. The chair not only felt shaky when reclining, but it also toppled over backwards twice. 2) The tile lever is too short. It's extremely difficult to reach over the armrest to tilt backwards when settled in the chair. I had to lean forward and over the right side of the chair, which only creates further unsteadiness as I settle back into the chair from that position, after locking the tilt. 3) Raising yourself forward from the fully reclined position is more challenging/effort that I anticipated. That could be a serious concern to people of certain ages or infirmities, especially with lower back pain or even abdominal pain or recent surgeries. 4) The headrest is an all-around failure because it's too far back to support your head AND it doesn't really "lock" in place, which renders it even more useless, by itself, when tilting back and trying to rest my head. There was a small pillow, which I think could be a lumbar pillow. There was no mention of it anywhere in the enclosed instructions or literature. Regardless, I used it to support my head/neck and that helped a little bit with the lack of a good headrest. A taller back would have actually provided more support when tilting backwards than this headrest. 5) Quality Control issues: obvious stain that is easily visible and readily identifiable as a hand print, including several fingers. I can't say that I'm happy about it, but it's the least of the issues and possibly one that I can clean to degree or even completely. 6) Instructions could be better. Back in the day, I would have called these poorly done, but by today's standards, they're simply "not horrible". Space might be tight and ink might be in short supply, but full sentences and punctuation would make everything easier to understand... and it use to be The Gold Standard for customer service. Review: I had to give the 1-star to make sure people read my concerns. The last thing anyone needs is a severe injury or death from hitting their head on a hard floor because their chair tipped over backwards. That being said, and the chair feeling more wobbly and less stout than many cheaper chairs, I feel as though the chair is overpriced, in addition to being unsafe. Just because it's priced within the ranges of other overpriced products doesn't make it any less overpriced. Honestly, at this moment, this feels like it's really a $45 chair... but maybe someone could sell me on it being worth as much as $65, but honestly no more. The materials are not expensive and it's made in China, so neither is the cost of manufacturing. To be fair, I will give the chair a few days to break in and for me to acclimate to the chair and its idiosyncrasies. It is more comfortable than my 20-year old office chair... but that's not saying much to most people... except that my office chair was comfortable enough to still be getting used 20 years later... and it's not the only office chair in my house, or even in this room. I kind of miss the ability to rock and that will probably bother a few people, but if you spend a lot of in your chair or watch TV, read, game in it, then being able to custom tilt and lock the chair is great. The leg rest felt study, but after toppling over backwards twice, I'm undecided about further use; however it was only a $10 price difference. Perhaps if I added some plate weight to the footrest, it would help counter the shift of weight when reclining. In fact adding a metal plate on the bottom side might be an additional solution to the problem. However, every fix adds weight and cost, which manufacturers really hate. On the other hand, some of my best friends are among the best corporate attorneys in the world, and they assured me that a single lawsuit could bankrupt and close a business, versus fixing the problem with a few design changes. In fact, with the uniqueness of this chair, they suggested that improvements could actually improve sales while improving safety.