TL DR; Atlas sold me defective parts, sent me a defective replacement, ignored my emails for nearly 1 year, then tried to get me to pay shipping for additional replacement parts that they essentially admitted may not resolve my issue and that the reason for my issues may be due to contamination on their production line. Also, I made 3d printed parts to resolve the issue for anyone who needs them.
I purchased my Atlas headrest for my Herman Miller Aeron chair. The bearings that hold it in its position failed within approximately 1 month. I reached out to Atlas, and they shipped me replacement “bearings” (which are really small plastic strips the fit around the metal bar upon which the headrest slides) immediately without even asking me any questions. I appreciated their prompt response. However, these “bearings” also failed within a month or so.
I then reached out to Atlas about half a dozen times over a period of nearly a year with no response. Eventually, I received a response and was told that my emails were going to their spam folder and this is why I never received any responses for several months. No idea why that would happen, but hey, computers are dumb. They said they wanted to check with their engineers to discover why this would be happening and get back to me. A few days later they emailed and said that it is possible some residual contamination from their production line has lubricated the metal rods and that I need to clean them off with isopropyl and order replacement bearings.
When I followed this new process, I was being charged shipping for the bearings. I reached out asking for clarification and was told their process dictates the customer pays shipping in spite of the fact that this was not how they responded the first time and the issue is dealing with a manufacturer’s defect that came faulty from the factory twice. Atlas made it very clear that they were not sure why this was happening. They even told me to give them the order number so they could throw in extra sets of the bearings (so, clearly they don’t have faith in these bearings working in the long term). When I told them I was not willing to pay for additional parts that have already failed twice within a month, they basically told me to politely screw off (obviously they said it in a way that was not as harsh as that; but they definitely were not willing to stand behind their product).
I am not willing to gamble more money on this product, especially since they have no idea why it is happening and they suspect the issue is with contamination on their production line. I own entire chairs that cost less than just this headrest and these bearings are incredibly cheap plastic parts. I am a customer who was sold a defective product from day one. There is no reason to ask me to pay shipping to acquire the item I paid for in the first place. They made this mistake and sold me a defective product. Then they ignored me for nearly a year; which could have been an honest mistake. However, in that situation, wouldn’t the best option be to spend a couple dollars to stand behind your product and take care of a customer who paid nearly $200 for an item that has been defective from day one? I would recommend avoiding this company and this product.
However, if you already have one of these headrests, I created 2 very simple 3d printed models that can be used to keep your headrest in position. The longer one is for when I am sitting straight up working, and the shorter one is for when I am more reclined. These may not be the perfect lengths for you; but it is worth a try. They have been my saving grace. The clip part holds the support that is not in use by clipping it to the metal rod the headrest slides back and forth on.
Atlas Headrest Reviews
TL DR; Atlas sold me defective parts, sent me a defective replacement, ignored my emails for nearly 1 year, then tried to get me to pay shipping for additional replacement parts that they essentially admitted may not resolve my issue and that the reason for my issues may be due to contamination on their production line. Also, I made 3d printed parts to resolve the issue for anyone who needs them.
I purchased my Atlas headrest for my Herman Miller Aeron chair. The bearings that hold it in its position failed within approximately 1 month. I reached out to Atlas, and they shipped me replacement “bearings” (which are really small plastic strips the fit around the metal bar upon which the headrest slides) immediately without even asking me any questions. I appreciated their prompt response. However, these “bearings” also failed within a month or so.
I then reached out to Atlas about half a dozen times over a period of nearly a year with no response. Eventually, I received a response and was told that my emails were going to their spam folder and this is why I never received any responses for several months. No idea why that would happen, but hey, computers are dumb. They said they wanted to check with their engineers to discover why this would be happening and get back to me. A few days later they emailed and said that it is possible some residual contamination from their production line has lubricated the metal rods and that I need to clean them off with isopropyl and order replacement bearings.
When I followed this new process, I was being charged shipping for the bearings. I reached out asking for clarification and was told their process dictates the customer pays shipping in spite of the fact that this was not how they responded the first time and the issue is dealing with a manufacturer’s defect that came faulty from the factory twice. Atlas made it very clear that they were not sure why this was happening. They even told me to give them the order number so they could throw in extra sets of the bearings (so, clearly they don’t have faith in these bearings working in the long term). When I told them I was not willing to pay for additional parts that have already failed twice within a month, they basically told me to politely screw off (obviously they said it in a way that was not as harsh as that; but they definitely were not willing to stand behind their product).
I am not willing to gamble more money on this product, especially since they have no idea why it is happening and they suspect the issue is with contamination on their production line. I own entire chairs that cost less than just this headrest and these bearings are incredibly cheap plastic parts. I am a customer who was sold a defective product from day one. There is no reason to ask me to pay shipping to acquire the item I paid for in the first place. They made this mistake and sold me a defective product. Then they ignored me for nearly a year; which could have been an honest mistake. However, in that situation, wouldn’t the best option be to spend a couple dollars to stand behind your product and take care of a customer who paid nearly $200 for an item that has been defective from day one? I would recommend avoiding this company and this product.
However, if you already have one of these headrests, I created 2 very simple 3d printed models that can be used to keep your headrest in position. The longer one is for when I am sitting straight up working, and the shorter one is for when I am more reclined. These may not be the perfect lengths for you; but it is worth a try. They have been my saving grace. The clip part holds the support that is not in use by clipping it to the metal rod the headrest slides back and forth on.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5156483
I hope no one else falls into this trap.