EPA buys new office chairs for 16,000 employees; $730 each; some get $813 pencil holder bonus

[Anti Federalist]

I work at a alphabet agency (No Such Agency), this is the chair I am sitting in right now.

http://store.steelcase.com/seating/office-desk-chairs/think

$798???!!!

Sorry, but if I had my way, you guys would be sitting in a soup line.

 

[Slave Mentality]

I will say this in defense of the EPA. I used to break chairs every year or so. I bought an Aeron chair in 2010. They really are good chairs. It is what I am sitting on right now. They are comfortable and they last much longer than a generic office chair.

Yeah well fuck those guys with their sweet chairs. My chair sucks because I am paying for the chairs of too many others.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Yeah well fuck those guys with their sweet chairs. My chair sucks because I am paying for the chairs of too many others.

STFU Mundane.

How dare you deny our hard working masters the comfort they need to keep us all safe and out of trouble.

Reported.

 

[Occam's Banana]

I recall a story (this was in the '90s, I think) about a state university that bought a metric shit-ton of desks and chairs - and then warehoused them all. They didn't buy them because they actually needed them. They bought them because they hadn't spent all the money the state had allocated to them for that fiscal year - and if they came in "under budget" they'd get correspondingly less money the following year. (And IIRC, shortly afterwards they had to auction off most of the desks and chairs at a steep discount because they were taking up too much space in their warehouse facilities ...)

 

[timosman]

They bought 16,000 chairs and paid retail @$729.00 - http://store.hermanmiller.com/Products/Aeron-Chair
The price at this volume should be at most $300. Looks like somebody got $2mil or more in kickbacks. What a deal!

 

[JK/SEA]

saving money so they can buy new chairs...

http://www.wired.com/2013/04/drone-budget/

''Drones may be the Obama administration’s signature weapon. But the new, $615 billion Pentagon budget shows that the boom in spending on drones is a thing of the past.''

 

[RonPaulIsGreat]

I do have a very expense computer chair, though I got it at an auction. However, after using it for years, it developed rips, so the solution when paying for things yourself is DUCT TAPE, and it's good as new! It should last a few years. When I see government doing that, I'll believe they are using tax payer money efficiently.

Looking at the picture, the structure of my computer chair is far superior. It's chunky, it was like the executives chair at a casino that shutdown.

 

[jbauer]

They bought 16,000 chairs and paid retail @$729.00 - http://store.hermanmiller.com/Products/Aeron-Chair
The price at this volume should be at most $300. Looks like somebody got $2mil or more in kickbacks. What a deal!

Exactly what I was a thinking...no quantity discount? I smell a rat. Kick backs or nephew who sold it. Something.

 

[kpitcher]

I recall a story (this was in the '90s, I think) about a state university that bought a metric shit-ton of desks and chairs - and then warehoused them all. They didn't buy them because they actually needed them. They bought them because they hadn't spent all the money the state had allocated to them for that fiscal year - and if they came in "under budget" they'd get correspondingly less money the following year. (And IIRC, shortly afterwards they had to auction off most of the desks and chairs at a steep discount because they were taking up too much space in their warehouse facilities ...)

This is typical. A friend just quit working for a state university who had the same budget rules, if it's not used your budget is reduced the next fiscal year.

 

[PRB]

Exactly what I was a thinking...no quantity discount? I smell a rat. Kick backs or nephew who sold it. Something.

I agree. They probably figured the government won't argue with them, so just charge what they like. it might even be a no bid purchase.

 

[PRB]

This is typical. A friend just quit working for a state university who had the same budget rules, if it's not used your budget is reduced the next fiscal year.

then why not waste it on employee bonuses? at least they can take it home or get taxed for it

 

[timosman]

then why not waste it on employee bonuses? at least they can take it home or get taxed for it

A different appropriation

 

[FindLiberty]

...They really are good chairs. It is what I am sitting on right now. They are comfortable and they last much longer than a generic office chair.

Yea, I love both of mine too. I snagged a full size chair (and an identical, but smaller version) for free, right from the curb on the night before a neighborhood "amnesty" trash day pickup.

It was obvious why ONE of them had been thrown away. There was some sort of defect with the full sized chair that had caused the pneumatic support piston rod to "deploy", poking WAY THE HECK out of the BOTTOM of the chair (by approximately the length of an adult descending colon).

It was an easy repair that's lasted for over a decade now! I fixed it (my chair) by simply adding a large washer to hold those guts back in place.

My only design improvement suggestion (no, I'm not talking about inverting that entire piston assembly!) would be to redesign the arm height adjustment clamps with interlocking detent teeth instead of ONLY relying on the smooth friction grip applied with the thumb wheel. That would keep the two arms from slipping when excess downward pressure is applied as an infirm person might do as they stand up from a seated position.

 

[kpitcher]

then why not waste it on employee bonuses? at least they can take it home or get taxed for it

I believe a bonus has to go through the HR department and has rules for that sort of thing. Buying equipment or services falls within the normal budget process of the department so they can suck up the excess funds./

 

[PRB]

I believe a bonus has to go through the HR department and has rules for that sort of thing. Buying equipment or services falls within the normal budget process of the department so they can suck up the excess funds./

If it were a private business, how do they incentivize honest purchasing other than forcing all purchases to be open bidding? do they pay employees for saving money?