What to Know Before Purchasing Imported Church Chair

Chino, CA—September 10, 2013

The church chair market today is flooded with low-quality import chairs sold via the internet from poorly regulated factories in Asia. The most popular of the low-cost chairs arrive unassembled. A consumer has to install the backs prior to use.

Most church chairs sold today that are less than $40 and even some of those higher in price are imported from regions of Asia. The quality of these chairs varies depending on the manufacturer and the controls put in place by the broker or the importer. While a small minority are of acceptable quality, the majority are designed to make it through the sales process and the first year of use before falling apart. They use low-quality materials such as foams with fillers, light-duty fabrics, sub-standard paints and cheaply fabricated componentry to ensure that the price paid by the middleman stays extremely low and their markup very high. Churches that buy such chairs find out soon enough that they received far less of a chair than they paid for. A consumer alert put together for churches by Bertolini discuss the facts on what to know before purchasing imported church chairs and the Companies that sell them.

Here are the typical risks associated with purchasing an imported church chair from an online retailer:

They may have finishes that contain lead
They are often made with questionable materials
They lack attention to detail that creates aesthetic quality
They may contain foam that does not meet local fire codes
They are unregulated for health and safety
They may contain formaldehyde and create unhealthy off-gassing
They may be difficult to match, replace or obtain service for

The negative environmental impact of import chairs is appalling. China remains the largest emitter of greenhouse gas pollutants in the world. Chinese factories have abysmal employee safety records, and that’s not all. The risk a consumer takes with products made in China is the lack of regulation (formaldehyde, lead, etc.) and the lack of consistent quality. Whether these risks are an issue really depends on the company importing the product. Do they have the integrity to look out after the welfare of their customers, or is it all about the maximizing profits by minimizing cost at the expense of the customer? Is there a real difference between chairs manufactured in the USA and those imported from other places? Yes, there is in health risk, quality, pride of workmanship and product warranty.

“We here at Bertolini Inc., strongly suggest the consumer to do extensive research and ask questions before they purchase chairs for their facility,” says Chuck Horn, President of Bertolini Inc.