Have you ever seen something sitting near a trash can and thought, “Hey, maybe I can use this!”
Dumpster diving isn’t for everyone. That said, those who know what to look for can find considerable success. Some claim to make tens of thousands of dollars dumpster diving, while others have simply shown off some of the gems they found after sorting through a store’s garbage.
One woman recently attempted to dumpster dive at a popular Tacoma, Washington, restaurant. Upon closer inspection, she realized something was amiss—and now, the internet has a few questions.
What’s Going On With These Chairs?
TikTok user Emma Semingson (@emmasemingson) frequently posts about thrifting. However, she recently attempted to dumpster dive. Now, in a video with over 1 million views, she shares the startling discovery she made while going through this restaurant’s garbage.
“I was driving past Stanley & Seafort’s, and they’re getting rid of all of their chairs,” Semingson starts. She then shows a large pile of chairs outside of the restaurant Stanley & Seafort’s, which is located in Tacoma, Washington. “And I was like, ‘You know what? I’m not usually a dumpster-diving kind of person, but I’ll go for it.’”
When she looked at the chairs a bit more closely, she noticed something strange.
“They sawed off one of the legs of each of these beautiful chairs,” she states. Not only that, but each leg was sawed off at a different length, making them near-impossible to repair.
“RIP,” the TikToker concludes. “I was gonna get new dining chairs, but kiss those goodbye.”
What Happened Next?
Semingson later posted a follow-up video in which she and her partner attempted to determine if there was anything wrong with the chairs.
As best they could tell, the chairs were not subject to a recall. Furthermore, as the legs were not detachable, the chairs with sawed-off legs could not be disassembled and recombined into usable chairs.
“So who knows? Maybe they had a good reason,” the TikToker says. “As far as I can tell, they’re perfectly fine.”
The Restaurant Responds
The restaurant in question is owned by Houston-based Landry’s Inc. In a statement emailed to the News Tribune, Landry’s chief operating officer Shah Ghani claimed that the chairs were found to have a “manufacturing defect.”
“The manufacturer replaced them and directed us to responsibly dispose of the originals, as they could not be safely reused or repaired,” the statement read in part.
Ghani also confirmed that the restaurant has now acquired new chairs. The News Tribune author Kristine Sherred could not find a recall on the chairs seen in the video but noted that the company behind the chairs makes custom orders.
Is This Normal?
While it may be jarring, it’s actually fairly normal for companies to destroy products it has found to be defective.
For example, a look through the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission’s website lists numerous recalls. In many cases, customers are requested to not only destroy the product, but send evidence of its destruction in order to get a refund.
This is largely done for safety reasons. As many of these products are dangerous, destroying them prevents people from being exposed to the known danger. Additionally, destroying the product can prevent resales of these dangerous goods and can prevent a brand’s reputation from being tarnished by having defective products on the market.
Commenters Are Frustrated
Even with the explanation, many commenters voiced their frustration at what they believed to be a waste of materials.
“It’s just a simple chair though. What’s the defect?” questioned a user.
“I call bs… they’re trying to save face because a very simply structured chair isn’t going to pose a big enough malfunction to warrant that kind of waste,” declared another.
That said, others countered that the restaurant was correct for destroying the chairs.
“As someone who works in the trash business, this is a very common occurrence. Brand new items recalled, manufacturer gives them specific instructions on how to destroy the item, then wants proof it’s destroyed before you can get your refund,” wrote a commenter.
@emmasemingson literally why not at least donate them to get a little tax break 🥲🥲🥲 was looking forward to a new dining set haha tacoma tacomawa @Emma Semingson: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️please be kind we don’t know why they did this I don’t think they need a million bad reviews. Let’s keep our lids on people. Thank youuuuu⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BroBible reached out to Landry’s Inc. and Semingson via email.