Sydney man loses toe and Gold Coast boy loses part of a toe, prompting retailer to plan recall citing ‘potential issue’ with design of Worx model

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A major furniture retailer is to recall a popular model of dining chair owing to what it calls a “potential issue” with its design: it has sliced off parts of people’s toes.

Fantastic Furniture, which bills itself as home of “Australia’s Best Value Bedding and Furniture”, will recall the nearly 100,000 Worx chairs it has sold after two incidents, News Corp Australia reported on Monday.

A Sydney man, Mark Bulman, lost the middle toe of his left foot in April last year after it became caught in the inner side of one of the legs when he tripped. “I’m still not used to having no toe,” he told the Daily Telegraph. He is seeking compensation.

The chairs passed subsequent quality control tests.

Trae McGovern recovers in hospital. Photograph: Channel Seven

Then Trae McGovern, 11, of the Gold Coast, lost part of a toe after stubbing his left foot on a Worx chair during a weekend barbecue at a family friend’s home in October.

Other retailers sell almost identical chairs but only Fantastic’s $39 version is known to have chopped off toes.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has asked Fantastic to recall the chairs. They are no longer available to buy from Fantastic’s website.



The chief executive of Fantastic, Deborah Singh, told News Corp it was a “potential issue” and it had sold “damn close” to 100,000 Worx chairs.

Fantastic Furniture has 74 stores across Australia.