In the last 10 years we've seen the demise of the high street and some big names from it as well. Some household institutions we grew up with which seemed as certain as the sunrise in the morning. In some cases these companies couldn't keep up fast enough with the change in the way we buy goods and services nowadays. We all wanted to click a few buttons and have it delivered rather than the cost and inconvenience of going to collect it. This was then further accelerated by lockdowns and a change to the working model as well. So because of this we lost Staples and Office World as the physical stores that we knew of.
With the loss of a physical store we could no longer go and sit in office chairs or try out desks and furniture before we bought it. So that meant when trying to buy something like an office chair which we can easily sit in for 6-8 hours a day, for five days a week, we had to buy it blind without trying it. To be honest the offering in such stores wasn't the best (a topic for another day!) but a least you could play with all the options the chair had, try it under a desk and at least see if your feet touched the floor.
So with this we are drawn in by aesthetics of a few photos, price and some user reviews when buying online. The price range goes from a 'Temo' option of £24.99 or Herman Millar high end range of £1500. It's probably akin to trying to buy wine when you're going to friends house for dinner and you want to buy something nice to show you actually like them and want to say thank you. We scan the shelf from top to bottom and side to side, looking for some clues. Is it the price? Is it the label? Is the bottle an unusual shape? Does it have dust on the bottle? For someone who is a novice wine buyer it's daunting and we can often drift towards familiar brands we've seen advertised on the Tube or sponsors of a TV programme.
In the office chair world I think Mesh is one of those unusual bottle shape type things which lures us in. So to skip to the point of why you should be careful when buying a mesh backed chair read these 5 reasons below so you don't make a 'mesh' of buying the best chair for you.
- Mesh chairs tend to have fixed back height as their frame is integral to the overall design of the chair. So a taller user would find their shoulders peaking over the top of it - not ideal
- The mesh can stretch over time in some chairs. When it permanently deforms then its no longer functional as when it was first new - therefore back pain
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They can lack the lumbar or thoracic spine support you would need for certain users. therefore letting you spine not be supported which can lead to low back pain.
- Mesh back chairs can also have a very elegant long back with a fixed height headrest. This doesn't allow the user to set up correctly for them. During a DSE assessment this would then make the chair useless for changes, so likely a new chair would be recommended.
- The price - they often can be at the cheaper end of the market as well as the top end. So the chair you've seen for £95.00 on Amazon probably was an Alibaba bulk special for about £10.00 per unit. Sellers know people are driven by aesthetics so they look for the lower hanging fruit of customers persuaded by looks over function.
So don't discount mesh chairs, just be careful, don't buy without trying it and get your DSE assessor to help see if you can buy a mesh chair, if you want still want one!
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