I can see why there are so many good reviews on this high chair. The design looks great, the seat covering is easy to clean, the base folds up, and it can be used as a swing for infants. I felt this was a great purchase too when we first brought it home. 6 months later, my opinion on this chair has changed quite a bit.
The first thing I noticed right out of the box was that the entire thing is made of plastic. The only metal parts on this chair are the screws and a few internal cables and rods. As long as the plastic is sturdy enough, it should be fine however, there are a few stress points on the chair that I feel should have used a different material or at least a stronger piece of plastic. After 6 months of use, I've noticed that the tray is beginning to sag noticeably from its own weight. Any round object will roll to the far end of the tray. For a $300 chair, one would expect the use of better materials.
The base is folded up by lifting a plastic lever on each side of the chair. About 3 months after purchase, the cable that is attached to one of levers popped off. We rarely folded up the base so I figured it wasn't a major problem since at least the side that we push against the wall still worked. Then about 5 months after the purchase, the other side popped off. Now both sides of the base cannot be folded up. As hard as I tried, the cables could not be reattached. I also noticed that the lever on the back of the chair that allows you to recline the seat is very hard to pull. It feels like the plastic lever is bending and ready to snap from the tension of the cable. Unless the lever is pulled all the way, the seat will not recline.
I would not recommend using the swing feature to anyone unless your baby is very young and cannot move their arms around. My baby was just beginning to learn how to move his arms to touch things by the time we purchased this chair. He was still well within the recommended weight limit for the swing so we gave it a try. As he was swinging, he tried touching one of the arms that was attached to the seat and got his fingers pinched. The arms that are attached to the chair crosses very closely to the arms that are attached to the base. As the chair swings, there is a very strong possibility that a child will get their fingers pinched or even seriously crushed between the two arms. The clearance between the two arms as they cross is very small. Its almost like a scissor action with two arms crossing back and forth well within reach of the child. Needless to say, we never used the swing after the first try.
I finally called the Peg-Perego customer service line regarding the broken levers and was told they would be sending me replacement arms for the chair but I would have to dissemble the chair myself to replace them. There are no repair locations in my area so I have no choice. They also informed me that they would have to get back to me on the total shipping and handling charge for the replacement parts. Yes, they even charge you for handling. I can't wait to find out how much this warranty fix is going to cost me.
UPDATE
Its been a week and I still haven't heard back from the Peg-Perego customer service dept on the shipping & handling charge for the replacement parts. Just this morning, the plastic cover on the piece that the t-bar attaches to fell off while we were placing our baby in the chair. We were not using the t-bar and rarely do. It took me several minutes to find the small metal spring that was underneath the button on the cover. The small metal spring is a choking hazard and had my wife not noticed the cover falling off, our baby could have found it before us. I just emailed them again to follow up on the first call and to report this new issue.
2ND UPDATE
After another email and a follow up call, I spoke their customer service and was told the shipping and handling would be $30. I asked if the arms would come with instructions on how to disassemble and reassemble the chair and was told that the instructions that came with the chair should show me how. After I hung up, I looked through the manual and could not find any instructions on this. I guess I will have to see if I can figure it out on my own when the parts arrive.
3RD UPDATE
I received the replacement part about a week and a half after they charged my credit card. They ended up sending the entire base and arms so no major disassembling was required. The seat and wheels were easily removed from the old chair and attached to the new base. The customer service rep said the part they were sending would also address the other two issues of the sagging tray and the t-bar base cover falling off but it does not. The slots that the tray is inserted into and the t-bar base cover are totally separate from the base they sent to me. I decided to just live with the sagging tray and wrapped the cover back on with strong tape after removing the button and spring.