Suppliers recalling Tolix replica chairs after several people’s toes sliced

EIGHT people have now been injured by cheap chairs with legs that slice toes like a scalpel. Four recalls are under way. More than 100,000 chairs are affected.

AT least eight people have now been injured by cheap metal chairs with legs so sharp they slice toes like a scalpel.

Three suppliers are recalling their versions of the “Tolix” chair and another is about to follow after its seat severely cut a Queensland man at a Victorian cafe. The four suppliers — Fantastic Furniture, Kmart, Early Settler Group (ESG) and Brayco — have sold well over 100,000 of the Chinese-made replicas, which sell for a little as $33, compared to $400 for the French-made original.

“There’s a real problem here. These chairs are everywhere,” said Robert Ahearn, who in January was injured by a chair Melbourne-based Brayco sold to the Upper Murray Community bakery in Corryong in north Victoria.

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Robert Ahearn, pictured in Camden NSW this week with his dog Gabbi, was injured when his toe became caught in a chair leg. Picture: Melvyn Knipe

As the 62-year-old Sunshine Coast man pushed the chair backward to stand up, its leg hit a rut in the footpath, causing him to fall. The middle toe of his right foot then got caught in the chair leg. Mr Ahearn’s toes were exposed because he was wearing thongs.

He immediately went to the local hospital. “The doctor said something to the effect of ‘I couldn’t have done a better job with a scalpel’,” Mr Ahearn recalled this week.

He required eight stitches. The toe still aches.

Mr Ahearn’s toe after eight stitches were inserted at Corryong Hospital. Picture: Supplied

But the cafe has not removed the chairs. The neighbourhood centre which operates it this week said it was waiting for an incident report from Mr Ahearn. He said he was not asked to provide one. Without an incident report, the neighbourhood centre said it had no reason to alert the chair’s supplier. Mr Ahearn did not know the name of the supplier, so he didn’t raise the alarm either.

“All I can tell you is a guy hurt his toe out the front and there was blood everywhere,” Corryong Neighbourhood Centre co-ordinator Michael Leonhard said this week. “Anybody could hurt themselves on any chair.”

Mr Leonhard did provide the name of the supplier to News Corp Australia.

“Clearly it would have been good it would if we had been informed of the incident” sooner, said Brayco director Harry Bray, who yesterday removed the chairs from sale and contacted the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which regulates consumer safety. Brayco estimates it has sold 6600 of the chairs, which it calls TCH.

Leg of the TCH Tolix replica chair sold by Brayco. Source: Supplied

“The likely thing is we will be doing a recall,” Mr Bray said. “There is obviously a problem. We have decided to stop selling them. We are not in the business of hurting people.”

On Tuesday the ACCC said there had been seven “consumer injuries involving Xavier Pauchard Tolix replica chairs” since the start of 2015. It wouldn’t provide details. News Corp Australia has previously reported Fantastic Furniture Worx chairs have injured a western Sydney man and a Gold Coast boy.

Jaclyn Gross and her son Trae McGovern, 11. Part of one of Trae’s toes was sliced off by a Fantastic Furniture Worx chair. Picture: Luke Marsden.

Mark Bulman, of Fairfield, pictured last year with his then two-year-old son Nate. Mark was chasing Nate in April 2015 when he kicked his foot against a Fantastic Furniture Worx chair. Part of his middle left toe was chopped off. Picture: Richard Dobson

Mr Ahearn’s injury would be the eighth, because it was only reported to the ACCC yesterday by Mr Bray.

Shine Lawyers general manager Kimberly Allen said: “People should not have to worry that a toe or any other part of them could be cut off because of household furniture.”

Melbourne-based ESG CEO Craig McKeown said: “We haven’t had any complaints or damage to our customers.” It had decided to recall its Saxon and Salvage chairs to remove “any potential laceration hazard”. It has sold about 7000 of the seats.

Kmart would not say how many it had sold.

In January, Fantastic began recalling nearly 100,000 Worx chairs.

The scene in Mr Bulman’s kitchen after he hit his foot on the Fantastic Furniture Worx chair. Picture: Supplied

ESG and Kmart began their recalls in March.

In all cases, the fix involves customers being supplied with plugs that go inside the chair legs.

Similar chairs are also sold by Bunnings, Aldi, Matt Blatt and Nick Scali. Bunnings and Aldi said they hadn’t had a problem. Matt Blatt and Nick Scali didn’t respond.

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