“We had a slight issue with one of our chairs sinking when we would sit down (we ordered 2 chairs) after assembly. I reached out to customer service and they sent us a video explaining what we needed to do to correct this. In three minutes time, the chair was working properly. We were super impressed by this. Overall assembly was very easy. The chairs were packaged well and little really needed to be done to have the chair together.
The chairs are comfortable and have so highly customizable. I never knew an office chair could actually be so comfortable. We love these chairs.
I like that my back is supported and I can lean back in the seat. My husband loves the support as well but doesn't like to lean back as far so he's set his chair to barely lean back. Perfect for both of us.
I'm 5'2", my husband is 5'11" and my son is 6'1" and this chair fits each of us comfortably.”
“I bought the Lamia from BTOD a few months ago during the Black Friday sale and wanted to wait until I had really used it enough to write a full review.
Let me start by saying, after experiencing back pain for the last 2 years using an "executive office" chair that I had for 10+ years I had finally decided to look for an ergonomic chair to help alleviate that pain. I do also use a standing desk riser with a hydraulic lift which has helped and honestly standing can be great, but when you do sit the chair you use will always be the biggest factor.
I ended up considering the Lamia, the Fern and the Embody after watching a lot of review videos, checking the features on each and the pricing (since the warranties were all excellent), I decided to try the Lamia. This turned out to be a great choice, it shipped almost a week after I placed the order and arrived within a couple of days from that point. Assembly was incredibly simple (place the bottom with the wheels on the floor, insert the cylinder and then place the top of the chair in place).
An excellent ergonomic chair is not typically going to be cheap, considering how much you will sit in it for work or recreation just know that you are paying for quality in a lot of these cases and if you plan to sit for around 8 hours a day choose something that will work for you (look at all of your options, read reviews and if you can test them out please do - you will not regret the extra research, also sales are obviously a big thing to keep an eye out for too if you can wait for one like Black Friday).
My biggest hesitation was the fact that this was a refurbished chair instead of brand new, but BTOD did an excellent job with their process to clean and refurbish the chair. Outside of a few blemishes which are hardly noticeable on the back of mine you would be hard pressed to tell it wasn't new thanks to the new cylinder, arm pads, casters (I really like the rollerblade ones on the LVP flooring in my office), additional layer of foam padding in the seat and reupholstered back and seat fabric material.
My back pain is noticeably less at this point, currently just about 3 months in at this point and this was noticeable within days of use.
My pain is extremely tolerable now (sometimes even non-existent, which is incredible) versus quite painful before the Lamia so this is the real deal and really does help you sit better while supporting you with the adjustable lumbar, armrests (Steelcase really is the best for armrests) and backstop options from the Leap with the Amia's excellent seat.
A couple of notes, just to make sure folks thinking about this are aware in advance.
As other reviewers have said the seat is very firm and if I had a choice, I probably would have preferred something a little less firm with more give (if you can't handle that level of firmness then this might not be the chair for you). I would assume this also helps with the back posture and overall ergonomics involved for this chair so it might be a pill you have to swallow unless you want something like the Embody or actual Leap seat instead of the Amia's (the Fern for instance also has an extremely firm seat, but the Embody has far more flexibility). Some of the less expensive ergonomic chair options will have varying firmness levels (the ones I mentioned are more of the high-end ones).
The fabric used in the reupholstering process is a bit scratchy against direct skin contact, doesn't really impact me since I'm almost always wearing full length pants but if you wear short length shorts or less typically then this might be an obstacle. I almost wish they had offered the vinyl option that a new Leap would offer directly from Steelcase, but this is the only option so keep that in mind. It does feel pretty high-quality overall, it doesn't seem like it would wear out from normal use any time soon however it is a bit abrasive.
Also, headrests are not an option for this from BTOD (it's ok since the actual Leap headrest is awful). I personally like having an option to lean back and feel that support behind me, so I went looking for Leap headrest DIY options and found the Engineered Now H3 headrest, which is really for the Herman Miller Aeron but works for the Leap too.
It just sits on the top of the back of the Leap's backrest and can be zip-tied to the back bar on the Leap and Lamia with no drilling that would void the warranty.
They have the H3 model and H4 model for shorter and taller people and at 5'11" the H3 is fine for me (if you wear headphones the curved shape of the H3 can be annoying and bang into them when leaning back as a note, the H4 does not have that curve). I've heard that at 6'3" or taller the H4 might be better based on reviews, but under that height the H3 seems to be better.
There are other options if you look for Leap headrest "hacks", but this has worked really well for me and so far. I'm pretty happy to have this option at all and it worked great to compliment the Lamia itself.
TLDR summary, I'm very happy with the purchase of the Lamia from BTOD and my back is extremely thankful for the high-quality standards involved with their refurbishment process. Thanks BTOD team!”
“I've been really happy with my chair. The one it replaced would kill my butt after sitting in it for a while. The seat on this seems to have enough contour to not cause hot spots. I was looking at spending a lot more money and I'm glad I saw the youtube reviews. 100 % satisfied.”
“Every step of the process was perfect. From deciding which chair to choose, and watching the return process videos, to placing the order and receiving a perfectly packaged chair a bit earlier that planned.
I bought a a return Lamia and I've got to say I can not tell the difference from it being new. The chair is absolutely the most comfortable chair I've ever had.
To say I am pleased with the transaction would be an understatement - it was tremendous.
Thanks BTOD for being an American company and upholding the values od excellent customer support and excellent product!”
“I like my Lamia. It's a good bit more comfortable than the Herman Miller Aeron I had before I bought it. It has much better lumbar support than the Aeron.”
“Ordered this, and REALLY wanted to like it. The adjustability is amazing. The build quality is fairly good. The ergonomics were great! The only issue is the seat is pretty firm. It actually started bothering my rear. So if you're looking for a medium to medium soft seat, you may want to avoid this one.”
