Narrative:

Notified ZZZ maintenance via jetway phone, that seat 8C side panel was broken and protruding into the aisle. Maintenance said they would send out a mechanic to solve the problem. Prior to departure, flight attendant informed me that the mechanic fixed the seat. Assumed maintenance. Was resovled. However, during flight I became interested in how they fixed the seat. Flight attendant told me that the mechanic taped it. We never received a new mrd indicating that it was deferred. I spent the next hour sending messages to maintenance control questioning if the problem was deferred. There was a lot of confusion over this simple issue, because of no cm from ZZZ maintenance. The seat was taped, but never deferred by ZZZ maintenance. Maintenance control asked us to generate a log item and defer per maintenance and captain, which we did. If it wasn't for us being proactive, this deferral would have been over looked by maintenance. Unfortunately, we didn't catch it until en route to ZZZ1. I am concerned with the lack of communication between maintenance and first officer. Mechanics should be required to verbally report the status of maintenance items to the crew after evaluation. The only communication we typically receive is discrepancy. It is easy to fall into the trap of assumption, especially when dealing with several issues at once.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737-300 CREW RPTED A PAX SEAT PROB THAT WAS GIVEN A TEMP REPAIR. THE MECHANIC DID NOT DEFER A PERMANENT REPAIR.

Narrative: NOTIFIED ZZZ MAINT VIA JETWAY PHONE, THAT SEAT 8C SIDE PANEL WAS BROKEN AND PROTRUDING INTO THE AISLE. MAINT SAID THEY WOULD SEND OUT A MECHANIC TO SOLVE THE PROB. PRIOR TO DEP, FLT ATTENDANT INFORMED ME THAT THE MECHANIC FIXED THE SEAT. ASSUMED MAINT. WAS RESOVLED. HOWEVER, DURING FLT I BECAME INTERESTED IN HOW THEY FIXED THE SEAT. FLT ATTENDANT TOLD ME THAT THE MECHANIC TAPED IT. WE NEVER RECEIVED A NEW MRD INDICATING THAT IT WAS DEFERRED. I SPENT THE NEXT HOUR SENDING MESSAGES TO MAINT CTL QUESTIONING IF THE PROBLEM WAS DEFERRED. THERE WAS A LOT OF CONFUSION OVER THIS SIMPLE ISSUE, BECAUSE OF NO CM FROM ZZZ MAINT. THE SEAT WAS TAPED, BUT NEVER DEFERRED BY ZZZ MAINT. MAINT CTL ASKED US TO GENERATE A LOG ITEM AND DEFER PER MAINT AND CAPT, WHICH WE DID. IF IT WASN'T FOR US BEING PROACTIVE, THIS DEFERRAL WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER LOOKED BY MAINT. UNFORTUNATELY, WE DIDN'T CATCH IT UNTIL ENRTE TO ZZZ1. I AM CONCERNED WITH THE LACK OF COM BETWEEN MAINT AND FIRST OFFICER. MECHANICS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO VERBALLY RPT THE STATUS OF MAINT ITEMS TO THE CREW AFTER EVALUATION. THE ONLY COM WE TYPICALLY RECEIVE IS DISCREPANCY. IT IS EASY TO FALL INTO THE TRAP OF ASSUMPTION, ESPECIALLY WHEN DEALING WITH SEVERAL ISSUES AT ONCE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.