They were in the same position as we were - they'd chosen their seats then at the gate told they were being moved because one of their seats was broken. Because we all wanted to be in our original seats they were happy to switch. Just very odd that two couples were both given the same "story" and their pairs of seats swapped because each pair included a broken seat. Why anyone was actually moved in the first place is still a mystery as we were told someone on staff travel was giving up their working seat so we could have it. Clearly not true as we were given the seats of fellow paying passengers (and they were told exactly the same story!)