Originally Posted by aerobat
I've had the same problem and I think the only answer is to put something like a small nail in that the head won't slip through, and then burr the other end so it won't go through either. It is annoying, the company should be able to provide a better fix.
I thought about the nail fix, but I'm worried that the relatively soft metal most nails are made from would fail over time if used as a hinge pin. It might work okay, depending on how much weight you put on the armrests and consequently how much stress you put on the hinges, but as you said they should do better than this. Surely they know by now there's a problem (enough warranty returns and you oughta get the message) and it's disappointing to say the least that so far they don't appear to have done j.s. about it.