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The story
A customer who bought a sofa from Nitori went viral on social media after being refused an exchange, told that “normal wear and tear isn’t covered” despite the sofa coming with a 5-year warranty — and the story sparked a lively discussion on 5ch. The thread expanded into a broader debate about what furniture and appliance warranties actually cover in the first place, with posters pointing out that “manufacturing defects” and “damage within the warranty period” are two different things, and sharing real-world examples of warranty claims for PCs and Iris Ohyama appliances. The discussion also turned up accounts of Nitori mattresses being refused by moving companies due to their internal structure, making for a thread packed with practical knowledge about furniture warranties and shipping.
What people said
Some people don't even use it for 5 years after buying it
If a bed frame or sofa leg breaks when it shouldn't after just 5 years of use, that'd count as a defective product, wouldn't it?
The warranty's meant for stuff like a leg snapping or the bottom tearing out, not "the cushion sagged after 5 years so replace it." That'd never fly.
If they allowed that, you could keep every piece of furniture permanently like-new.
Apparently keeping problem customers away actually cuts sales costs, so it's a net plus for the business
Too much hassle to replace it.
Or rather, too much hassle to get rid of the old one.
If you buy one at a home improvement store, they'll haul away the old one for you
It's always either "this is expected wear and tear, so it's not covered" or "this is sudden accidental damage, so it's not covered."
So what's the point of the 3-year warranty then?
BTO shops probably rake in cash off warranties like that.
Mine stopped breaking once I started building my own PCs.
I've got a paid monthly warranty through Dospara, but reading this is making me nervous
If it breaks under normal use, that's covered.
"You can use it normally for this period" — that's literally what the warranty means.
For furniture with a 5- or 10-year warranty, saying "it's just a manufacturing defect" doesn't cut it.
Though sometimes those long warranties only cover the main structural frame.
A manufacturing defect and the warranty period are two separate things.
Even without a warranty, you can still get a refund or exchange for a manufacturing defect.
The line is drawn at whether it's still usable or not
Should've splurged on a decent one instead of being cheap.
Even the expensive ones mostly have hollow shelf boards.
That's why I buy plywood at the home center and cut it to size to use as shelf boards instead.
The actual repair work was outsourced to Sharp's repair division.
Sounds like you went over a month without doing laundry
At that rate you could've bought a whole new washing machine with what you'd spend at the laundromat
Movers will refuse to transport them, citing the internal structure.
Isn't it just a regular coil mattress?
If that's the bar, basically all IKEA furniture would fail it too
They always say to flip/rotate your mattress every 3 months. I wonder what Nitori's manual says.
If you search around you'll find real cases — apparently it's either "we'll move it, but the padding inside will shift and never go back, so that's outside the warranty," or a flat-out "sorry, we can't move this at all."
Huh, TIL — thanks ("サンガツ", a 5ch slang way of saying "thanks")
What happens to the very first buyer, then? Maybe it's fine because if something goes wrong on that first delivery to their home, they can return it as a manufacturing defect. Or maybe it's fine brand new, but the risk of it breaking during a later move goes way up once it's been used.
What kind of sofa should I get if I don't want it to sag? Seems like less plush, less fluffy ones would be better?
It's just the laws of physics — it's going to sag no matter what. If you don't want that, put something on top before you sit.
When you buy it, it gets compressed for delivery to your home.
Once you uncompress it after that, it can never be compressed again — so it can't be moved out either.
Re: #77
Thanks. So that's how it works.
Doesn't it arrive compressed? I'd guess it can't be moved afterward because you can't recompress it while keeping the internal structure intact.
Bought the cheap one, and now the shape of the foam padding inside is showing through the fabric on the outside. So sad.
That's what you get for buying the cheap one.
I've had an ¥80,000-ish Nitori couch for about 2 years now with zero problems.
For stuff you set up once and rarely replace, it's worth spending a bit more — same goes for fridges and washing machines.
When you move out, shady management companies like Sekisui will try to con you by saying "we'll need to replace the flooring" and bill you for it.
But legally that's recognized as ordinary wear and tear, so you don't have to pay — good to keep in mind.
They'll milk ignorant tenants for everything they've got. Japan really is a country built on scams.
I wonder how it'd go nowadays if it's cigarette smoke damage and they say "we'll need to replace the flooring." Back in the day, smoking indoors was just normal, so it probably would've counted as ordinary wear and tear.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
As a general industry standard, furniture warranties are built to cover manufacturer-caused defects and damage that shouldn’t occur under normal use (a leg snapping, the bottom falling out, etc.), while excluding ordinary wear and tear like discoloration or cushion sagging. The thread’s discussion centered on that line, with posters noting that “manufacturing defects” and “failures within the warranty period” are different things, and drawing parallels to how PC BTO warranties and electronics retailers’ extended warranties operate the same way. At the same time, the gap between that industry standard and the consumer expectation that “if you’re advertising a 5-year warranty, it should cover wear and tear too” is what sparked this whole controversy. The thread also branched into some useful practical tidbits about furniture and housing: Nitori mattresses reportedly can’t be recompressed once unpacked, so movers sometimes refuse to transport them, and dents left in flooring by a washing machine should count as ordinary wear and tear when moving out of a rental, meaning tenants shouldn’t have to pay restoration costs for it.
※This article was compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyō G) thread “Customer: “My Nitori sofa wore out after 5 years. Despite the 5-year warranty, I was told wear and tear isn’t covered”.”
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