Had the dubious pleasure of travelling in the refurbished first class 444 for the first time this morning and have to agree with all the comments made above. I cannot believe they engaged with a single customer on these changes? If they did then they ignored the feedback or were hamstrung by specifications handed to them.
I will give feedback but I suspect they don't want to hear.
I bet the DoT didn't say 'make the seats more uncomfortable than standard class'.
I will not be renewing my first class ticket, and I really would like a refund for the last few months of uncomfortable journeys.