Laura Davidson SOHO Soft Pad Chair Review
I wanted to post a review of the Laura Davidson SOHO Soft Pad Chair, as I've seen a number of people on this subreddit ask questions about the relatively new company and most of the responses have come from people that have owned the chair for a very short time.
TL;DR Fake leather upholstery cracked (see pics) within 6 months and is not under warranty
Most recent crack in the fake leather upholstery
I purchased the chair in July of 2020, hoping to get a more comfortable chair while I worked from home during the pandemic. It was back-ordered and I received the chair mid-August 2020. It has been my wife and I's everyday chair for the past 7 months (we alternate work stations to mix things up during COVID, but it has more often had a smaller woman sitting on it than a larger man).
My initial reaction to the chair was quite good. The warranty seemed strong, the chair looked good (and was more affordable than the Eames chair it was a knock off of), the product was well packaged and shipped quickly. I had a bit of a concern assembling it because of the plastic spacers between the arms of the chair and the body of the chair (they do tend to flex and the arms need tightened back onto the body every few weeks if you don't want them to wobble at all). I also worried a bit at the chair's weight capacity (at ~230 lbs. I think I'm at the edge of the chair's capacity) - esp. given the recline feature built into the chair. All that said though, my reaction for the first 3-4 months was strong. I really liked the chair and my friend even bought one after staying with us (might owe him an apology).
My problems only started this March, so a little over six months of daily use. The first bad sign was a crack in the fake leather at the front of the chair between my legs. I was really bummed to see this but figured it was manageable. Within a week or so another crack appeared under where my right leg would rest at the front of the chair and soon after a small network of cracks closer to the front right corner of the chair.
I contacted Laura Davidson and they responded within an hour. My email was reasonable. I noted that I imagined this wasn't under warranty, but wanted to check, and also was hoping they could tell me whether this issue was common or not and if they had any ideas about how to address it. They wrote back "Wear and tear unfortunately is not covered under our warranty. This is not a common occurrence and we do not offer upholstery services, however, you may be able to seek the services of a professional upholsterer."
First crack (right) and second crack (left)
To be honest, I was hoping for a little bit more, maybe information on what the material is that the chair is upholstered with, tips on whether or not it can even be fixed, ideas on what to do about it, or just in general a bit more sympathy for someone that purchased one of their products and is having significant problems with it just six months in.
I'd love to hear from others if they've had the same experience with the chair and/or customer service at Laura Davidson (of if anyone has tips on how to fix the upholstery myself and save some money).
I was wary buying a chair for its aesthetics rather than its functionality, and now I've learned my lesson as the cracked upholstery has left me with a rather ugly chair that is structurally less sound than the used Steel Case or Aeron I could've bought in my area for near the same price.