Rollerblade Office Chair Wheels Set of 5

tl;dr: The customer service, which I would actually categorize as customer care, is above and beyond expectations. Something that could have ended with complete and utter disappointment, ended up as the best experience, and I'm already ordering a new set of wheels. I'm writing this review on Sep 9th 2024 In late April (a bit over 4 months ago), after going over many caster wheel postings on Amazon, and a return of ones that upon arrival were a dud and returned, I purchased these (Original Rollerblade Office Chair Wheels) for $28.95. I installed it on a chair I bought from newegg for ~$130 about 3 years prior. I use the chair over a polycarbonate surface on a medium pile carpet. As I work from home AND I'm a computer geek in my spare time, I sit on this chair A LOT. Right before buying the replacement casters, I've replaced the polycarbonate surface for the 2nd time since I bought the chair and my goal was to extend the life of the brand-new polycarbonate surface, as they are becoming more and more expensive post pandemic. GREAT (at first) At first, as in the first week or so, they seemed like the best thing ever. Compared to the ones supplied with the chair, these were much smoother and because of the soft material touching the surface, it seemed that it would damage the polycarbonate surface less, and I won't need to replace it as often as I did (which was about once a year). FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE After a couple of weeks, the honeymoon was over. And the chair started to get stuck, depending on the directions of the wheels. Really annoying, but still not terrible. If I had written a review at that time, it would probably be a 3 stars review. Because it still was a better solution in the long term. Little did I know that that was a symptom of something to come. More about that later. WTF ?! DAMAGE! On Sept 2nd, the base of my chair BROKE while I was sitting on it. Imagine the disappointment! (especially from the wheels, right?!) I was livid, and started writing a "revenge" review (which I'm grateful I didn't just click send) FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH The Office Oasis customer care: Instead of writing a review here, I remembered the introduction material the wheels came with (in their quite pleasant looking and functional packaging) which stated that they are a privately owned business that care about their product and the customer care, so I sent them a message through their website - with an image of my broken chair (also attached to this review), the Amazon Order ID and noted that I'm pretty sure the cause are the wheels. Not a harsh one, but definitely a harsh message, without any expectation, as it's not the wheels that broke, but the chair. The following day I got a reply, letting me know that a refund has been issued prior to their response. I was AMAZED by this. A manufacturer/supplier that does not put profit above customer care - that's a rare thing. BUT WAIT THERE IS MORE... I replied with a thank you, and asking about possible reasons this might happen - understanding this is speculative. They provided an explanation above the difference in materials and build quality - and how the wheels, because of their structure, can cause additional stress on chairs that were not necessarily designed to these builds. And they offered to send me a replacement aluminum base, that handles the load much better. Not only was it not 'their fault' that I installed their wheels on a chair that wasn't able to function properly with the wheels, they accepted the responsibility, and also offered a viable fix - one that would mean - I didn't need to lose the chair or money fixing it. SO WHAT Did HAPPEN? (or "Are these good for my chair?") The original chair broke because the design of the newly installed wheels put way more pressure on the sockets on the base, basically pushing with a lot of force in an angle that started weakening the plastic, causing micro-fractures and semi twisting of the star-like legs. This is why it started to get stuck more and more after extended use, it was the plastic starting to get deformed, and the forces applied by the pressure of my sitting on it slowly eating at the structural integrity of the leg. The aluminum-base they sent me, is less likely to experience these microfractures. Got the shipment of the base a couple of days ago, and today I installed everything back and the chair is once again not only functional, but in a way upgraded, and the wheels have their smooth action back. CUSTOMER FOR LIFE If you're looking at purchasing these type of wheels, and the difference in price is your put-off, know that you are purchasing something provided by actual people who genuinely care that their customer love their product. Granted I got refunded and compensated, that makes me completely biased - which is probably the entire point of this review. I've never asked for the refund - but I reached out directly to them first, just to vent my frustration (in a calm and polite writing tone) letting them know that their product most likely caused damage to equipment I owned. I never expected to get the refund, didn't even ask for it in any direct way - didn't threat with a bad review (I am no influencer, just another schmo on the internet). They have NEVER asked me to review, either. But The Office Oasis's response was BEYOND stellar. Stumbling upon genuine customer care, especially with a primarily online physical-items ecommerce business, is a rarity that should be shared with other consumers, and that's why I've taken the time to write this. BACK TO THE PRODUCT This is after all a PRODUCT review, and not just a place to praise their customer support. The wheels are terrific - they provide exactly what I was expecting, a smooth operation on most surfaces - granted, directly on medium-pile carpet, they won't be as smooth as they could - but on a hard surface they don't leave a mark, and the movement is very pleasant (and silent). While my plastic base broke, keep in mind, I'm not a rather tall heavyset adult male (I weigh 280 lbs, I'm HEAVY). So if you're close to what your original chair can bare, or you're the same as me, look into replacing your base to an aluminum one as well as the wheels.