Caveat Emptor Ekornes?

Roughly 11 years ago my husband and I visited Stickley Furniture in Albany. I can't even remember what we were shopping for. We sat down side-by-side in two identical chairs to rest our bones and a 10 year love affair began. After a minute or so we looked at each other and said, "these chairs are REALLY comfortable." We ended up buying two of them before we even knew they were Ekornes Stressless Loungers - a ground-breaking ergonomic triumph created by a Norwegian company.

They were expensive. We decided they were our birthday, anniversary and Christmas gifts to each other for the next year and a half and never regretted it. For 10 years we sat in comfort and knew if the hips or back ached a session in "our" chairs would ease the pain. My mother fell in love with the chairs during her visits and 3 years ago I took her up to Albany and she purchased one for herself.

And that is when the story began to change. Within a year, the arm came off her chair. Reattached once. The second time the screws were irretrievable.

Despite Mom's experience, last January Bill and I decided the time had come to replace our chairs. Constant, rough wear had beaten up the leather on his and mine, although less worn, would be replaced so we could have a matching set.

The new chairs were over twice as expensive as the original ones. The store models were not as comfortable and a new sizing system was awkward, but we finally selected two we felt would suit us. I have been missing my old chair since the day a friend took it off my hands and the new ones arrived. The new chair is awkward at the back of my neck, although better than when I first started using it. It is definitely NOT as comfortable as the original Ekornes Stressless Lounger, and both chairs are already showing deterioration of their leather. Despite being far more expensive, the new ones are much lighter (what is that about?).

I Googled to see if other owners were having problems and found some negative comments, but mostly raves. Personally I feel Ekornes has made the same mistake Coca Cola did when they changed their formula back in the 80s. Coca Cola quickly rectified its mistake. It does not appear Ekornes intends to return to its original model - the one that established its reputation for excellence and eased the backs of so many weary customers.

Sad.