Autonomous chairs

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. No one hurt

   Made Oct 6, 2023 · , sent to the company Oct 11, 2023 · , published by CPSC Oct 25, 2023

   The product, in the report: Ergonomic office chair. Kinn model (at the time I ordered it) now called the ErgoChair Pro+. Mine was gray in color. Below are the specifications from the Autonomous website: Dimensions 28”L x 28”W x 40” - 44”H Seat dimensions 19”L x 19”W Seat height 17” - 21” Back dimensions 20”W x 23”H Tilt range 25° Armrest height 7” - 11” Armrest height (from the floor) 23.5” - 27.7” Caster wheel diameter 2.56 inches Number of caster wheels 5 pieces Materials Mesh version: 100% TPE and polyester fabric upholstery with ABS plastic frame. Weight capacity 300 lbs Item weight 35.3 lbs

   I purchased the Autonomous Kinn Chair (now sold as the ErgoChair Pro+ in November 2019. In July 2022, I was working in my home office and sitting in this chair. I leaned back in the chair while on the phone with my manager. The chair snapped in four places throwing me backward to the ground. Outside of some soreness, I thankfully was not significantly injured. I reached out to Autonomous and they sent a new chair and would not take the old chair back for investigation. The new chair arrived in July 2022. About 6 months later, a hole in the armrest stripped out causing it to not hold a bolt and the armrest to move unexpectedly after normal office use at a stationary desk. After a few months, I decided to reach out to Autonomous. They agreed to send me a new seat with armrest. Unfortunately, the chair is still unusable as I am unable to remove the parts from the old chair to use on the new chair. I reached out to Autonomous after reading a couple of reviews on their website showing a crack in the base on one chair and another review showing a similar situation to mine where the chair cracked in multiple places. I noted that I wanted a full refund as well as compensation for trash and recycling of the products and packaging. Because of the original purchase date, they were unwilling to do so. I have requested corrective actions to prevent further issues and if there has been a recall and did not receive a response to my repeat requests.

   Model

   Kinn

   UPC

   118047670870629

   Serial number

   N/A

   Bought from

   Direct from the Autonomous website: https://www.au

   Bought

   Nov 4, 2019

   Where

   Grand Rapids, Michigan: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 36, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Autonomous, made or sold by Autonomous

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Incident, No Injury

2. Hurt, no treatment

   Made Jan 16, 2022 · , sent to the company Jan 20, 2022 · , published by CPSC Feb 3, 2022

   The product, in the report: Ergonomic office chair. Kinn model (at the time I ordered it) now called the ErgoChair Pro+. Mine was gray in color. Below are the specifications from the Autonomous webist Dimensions 28”L x 28”W x 40” - 44”H Seat dimensions 19”L x 19”W Seat height 17” - 21” Back dimensions 20”W x 23”H Tilt range 25° Armrest height 7” - 11” Armrest height (from the floor) 23.5” - 27.7” Caster wheel diameter 2.56 inches Number of caster wheels 5 pieces Materials Naked TPE version: 100% TPE upholstery with ABS plastic frame. Mesh version: 100% TPE and polyester fabric upholstery with ABS plastic frame. Colors Black Frame, Naked Black TPE Black Frame, Naked Grey TPE White Frame, Naked Grey TPE Grey TPE with Blue Mesh Grey TPE with Grey Mesh Black TPE with Black Mesh Weight capacity 300 lbs Item weight 35.3 lbs

   I leaned back in my ergonomic office chair and it failed catastrophically with the seat and back breaking off from the base. The failure was due to the plastic connecting the pieces breaking apart. The chair is designed to tilt back so I was using it within its intended purpose.

   I fell over backwards, hitting my head on another piece of furniture in the room. Fortunately, I did not head my head hard so did not suffer a serious injury but it was a near miss.

   I used this chair as my office chair in my home office. The chair was a Kinn model (now called ErgoChair Pro+) from Autonomous. I had the chair for about 15 months.

   Model

   Kinn (now ErgoChair Pro+)

   Serial number

   “SO Number’ SO-39599 “PO Number” AK20-312

   Bought from

   https://www.autonomous.ai/

   Bought

   Jun 20, 2020

   Where

   Doylestown, Pennsylvania: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 64, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Autonomous, made or sold by Autonomous

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, No First Aid or Medical Attention Received

3. Seen by a doctor or nurse

   Made Nov 15, 2020 · , sent to the company Dec 10, 2020 · , published by CPSC Dec 28, 2020

   The product, in the report: ErgoChair 2, Gray, Dimensions 29”L x 29”W x 46” - 50”H, Item weight 48.5 lbs https://www.autonomous.ai/office-chairs/ergonomic-chair?option20=54

   I made an online purchase for a chair advertised as “ergonomic” from a company called Autonomous. They were recommended on some reputable review sites and it looked to be a sound purchase. I already had a slight lower back strain from lifting something too heavy which drove the purchase. Within 2 weeks of sitting in the chair, the pain in my back worsened to the point that I scheduled an appointment with my physician. It was pretty severe and I was worried. I thought it must have been from the injury and maybe the injury was worse than I thought. We did a quick xray and some bloodwork to rule out anything major. Then I went to physical therapy and worked on it. I wasn’t using the chair much but thought it interesting that the pain worsened shortly after the purchase of the chair. Still, I thought it couldn’t be the chair that made things worse. Must be coincidental. Then, after the therapy helped reduce the pain sufficiently, I spent a full day at my desk, in the Autonomous chair. By that evening, the pain had escalated severely again. I was in bed on my back with heat on it for a couple of days and back to physical therapy. I removed the chair from my office and proceeded to purchase a more reputable brand - [REDACTED]. I’ve been fine since then. I deduced that the Autonomous chair is poorly designed and can cause physical problems. It may have a seatbed that is problematic. It needs to be examined. I did reach out to Autonomous with my complaint and the company was not interested in my feedback. They also refused to allow me to return the item since more than 30 days had passed.

   Model

   ErgoChair 2

   UPC

   I don’t see one

   Serial number

   I don’t see one.

   Bought from

   https://www.autonomous.ai/

   Bought

   Jun 15, 2020

   Where

   Glen Mills, Pennsylvania: Home/Apartment/Condominium

   Who was involved

   Age 55, Female

   The reporter’s relation to them

   Self

   As this report names them

   Brand Autonomous ErgoChair 2, made or sold by Autonomous

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, Seen by Medical Professional

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources