advice

[Joshri778]

We purchased a $5200.00 massage chair. It is made by Infinity. We didn't use it for the first few months (it is much too smart for me). I finally decided to try and figure it out. I was somewhat successful. It didn't seem quite right. After a few months, it began snapping my neck from side to side. Eventually, the remote failed. Here are the facts:
* We purchased it in California at the Orange county fair through Mattress Firm.
* The manufacturer is based in New Hampshire.
* The chair was delivered and assembled on July 22, 2019.
* We never received a written warranty other than the itemized statement showing that we paid for an extended warranty. Mattress Firm stated that Infinity should have provided the warranty and Infinity stated that Mattress Firm should have provided one.
* My first call to the company (Infinity) was on March 16, 2020.
* Five different individuals have been sent to repair the chair.
* The last repairman was here from 4 pm to midnight . . . yes, 8 hours!!! He told Infinity that the chair was not fixable.
* I have been more than patient and accommodating with Infinity.
* Infinity lied to me about the chair having "two brains." They actually sent us the same component twice. It only has one main component.
*The chair weighs 300 pounds and is basically a $5200 cat chair.
*Infinity offered to replace the chair. However, after what we have endured since purchasing the chair, the amount of times that repairmen were sent out, the fact that we were lied to, the amount of time that the chair has not worked, and Infinity stating that they could not refund our money and to call "Mattress Firm" because we purchased it from them . . . I do not want to deal with this company ever again. I cannot trust the company or their product. I do not want to take a chance with another defective product and the headache of getting it repaired.
*I called Mattress Firm and spoke to a representative. I told them that I wanted the loan zeroed out and to be refunded the payments that we have made.
* As of this moment, I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM EITHER COMPANY.
Is it possible to sue in Small Claims court? Would I name Infinity and Mattress Firm? Thanks.

 

[Taxing Matters]

You first need to see about getting a copy of whatever warranty you obtained when you bought it. Infinity offers several different warranties for its chairs, ranging from 1 to 5 years in length and varying in the degree of service offered. One thing is common among all their warranties: they only offer to fix or to replace defective chairs. The warranties do not allow for cash refunds. The warranties say that if they offer you a replacement chair and you refuse then they are excused from any further obligation to fix the chair you have. In other words, at that point you are on your own and out of luck if you don't take the offered replacement.

Mattress Firm sold you a chair that you had delivered and assembled in your home. You had the opportunity to inspect it at that time and reject it if the goods were defective or nonconforming. But you didn't reject the chair and when you did finally get around to trying it, it evidently did work, just not to your liking. So under UCC Article 2 (which all but one state has adopted) which governs the sales of goods, the seller met its obligations and is off the hook here unless it offered to you a separate warranty that it would honor. But you don't have a copy of any warranty from Mattress Firm and absent any proof of a warranty provided by that firm and that it breached the warranty you are pretty much out of luck in pursuing the seller.

I see nothing in California's sale warranty laws that requires a seller or manufacturer to offer you a cash refund. Thus, it appears that you are limited to the express remedies provided in the warranties you got from the manufacturer and/or seller. What this means is that you almost certainly can't get a cash refund here. If the manufacturer offers you a replacement and you don't want it, that may kill any claim you'd have against the seller. If you take the replacement and just don't like it, you're stuck with that chair. And if the seller did not give you its own warranty, you'd likely have no claim against it either as it does not appear that any of California's implied sale warranties were breached.

As for suing in small claims court, read the Plaintiff's Guild to Small Claims Court Procedures put out by several California legal organizations which explains, among other things, whom you can sue in small claims court and what the process is.

 

[quincy]

We purchased a $5200.00 massage chair [link removed]. It is made by X. We didn't use it for the first few months (it is much too smart for me). I finally decided to try and figure it out. I was somewhat successful. It didn't seem quite right. After a few months, it began snapping my neck from side to side. Eventually, the remote failed. Here are the facts:
* We purchased it in California at the Orange county fair through Mattress Firm.
* The manufacturer is based in New Hampshire.
* The chair was delivered and assembled on July 22, 2019.
* We never received a written warranty other than the itemized statement showing that we paid for an extended warranty. Mattress Firm stated that Infinity should have provided the warranty and Infinity stated that Mattress Firm should have provided one.
* My first call to the company (Infinity) was on March 16, 2020.
* Five different individuals have been sent to repair the chair.
* The last repairman was here from 4 pm to midnight . . . yes, 8 hours!!! He told Infinity that the chair was not fixable.
* I have been more than patient and accommodating with Infinity.
* Infinity lied to me about the chair having "two brains." They actually sent us the same component twice. It only has one main component.
*The chair weighs 300 pounds and is basically a $5200 cat chair.
*Infinity offered to replace the chair. However, after what we have endured since purchasing the chair, the amount of times that repairmen were sent out, the fact that we were lied to, the amount of time that the chair has not worked, and Infinity stating that they could not refund our money and to call "Mattress Firm" because we purchased it from them . . . I do not want to deal with this company ever again. I cannot trust the company or their product. I do not want to take a chance with another defective product and the headache of getting it repaired.
*I called Mattress Firm and spoke to a representative. I told them that I wanted the loan zeroed out and to be refunded the payments that we have made.
* As of this moment, I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM EITHER COMPANY.
Is it possible to sue in Small Claims court? Would I name Infinity and Mattress Firm? Thanks.

You waited a few months after the delivery date to use the chair, and you waited additional months to complain to the company about the chair, and the company attempted repairs without success, and the company is willing after 8 months of ownership to replace the chair with a new one. Do I have that right?

I think you should accept the offer of a new chair because I don’t see that you have a solid claim for a refund. But, yes, you could sue for a refund, naming the company that sold you the chair.

Your post was reported to have the link removed.

 

[Taxing Matters]

But, yes, you could sue for a refund, naming the company that sold you the chair.

One might read that to infer you think there is a good claim for that. For the benefit of the OP, I'll clarify that while you can file the lawsuit nothing you've said suggest you might actually have a realistic shot to win. So if you sue, you may find you lose the money you paid to file the lawsuit and have it served, along with the time you spent on it.

 

[quincy]

One might read that to infer you think there is a good claim for that. For the benefit of the OP, I'll clarify that while you can file the lawsuit nothing you've said suggest you might actually have a realistic shot to win. So if you sue, you may find you lose the money you paid to file the lawsuit and have it served, along with the time you spent on it.

I said I saw no solid claim for a refund.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I said I saw no solid claim for a refund.

You did, which is why it was odd you then made the statement about suing in a way that could be taken to contradict that.

 

[quincy]

You did, which is why it was odd you then made the statement about suing in a way that could be taken to contradict that.

And you said the same thing and then provided a link to small claims courts in California.

The fact that neither you nor I see a good claim for a refund does not preclude Joshri778 from suing anyway.

 

[Taxing Matters]

The fact that neither you nor I see a good claim for a refund does not preclude Joshri778 from suing anyway.

No, though he should be aware that if he sues and the court finds the claim completely lacked merit there is a potential for sanctions, so he wants to take that into account too.

 

[quincy]

No, though he should be aware that if he sues and the court finds the claim completely lacked merit there is a potential for sanctions, so he wants to take that into account too.

Sanctions are unlikely in a small claims action.