We've all seen them - those too good to be true deals at Home Depot or Wal-Mart, where you see something for $99 that seems to be "just as good" as what you'd pay $400 anywhere else for! The photo on the box always looks great - have you noticed how much better it looks than the one sitting in front of you on the store floor? But even the one in the store is probably better than the one in the box. After all, if they set up a chair that has a defect, they probably return it and set up another one!
Well, here's one of those deals - and what the photos don't make clear, I'll explain. First, the rocker is spindly - it has thin parts, which would be fine if it were made of a really strong wood - but it's not. Strong woods are too expensive and hard on machinery to be used in bargain furniture. You can feel it when you pick it up. You can also tell when you try to shake the chair or twist it a bit. Chairs should be firm and not twist - but a cheap chair will. It often squeaks or click as the wood parts or screws move and pop against each other. Over time, a rocker like that will break. Not only is the wood brittle (and will become more brittle with time), but the hardware is cheap and the screws will break. It always amazes me when a Chinese factory saves like 25 cents by using cheap screws made from pot metal instead of good screws that will last. A penny saved in China is worth a dollar to the American customer - but the decision gets made in China, and we have no way of knowing the decision they made - but I can tell you they save the penny every time.
Also, look at the paint quality on this rocker. you can see the drip marks on the slats of the chair - totally avoidable with decent painting equipment, an ounce of care by the painter, or by the virtually non-existent quality control department. You can see the marks on the finish left by wrapping the armrest before the paint was dry. There's no way to fix that other than re-sanding the arm and then re-painting - and your spraypaint won't match!
Well there you go, you've gotten me started ranting about low quality furniture again. Well, that gets me every time!
Well, here's one of those deals - and what the photos don't make clear, I'll explain. First, the rocker is spindly - it has thin parts, which would be fine if it were made of a really strong wood - but it's not. Strong woods are too expensive and hard on machinery to be used in bargain furniture. You can feel it when you pick it up. You can also tell when you try to shake the chair or twist it a bit. Chairs should be firm and not twist - but a cheap chair will. It often squeaks or click as the wood parts or screws move and pop against each other. Over time, a rocker like that will break. Not only is the wood brittle (and will become more brittle with time), but the hardware is cheap and the screws will break. It always amazes me when a Chinese factory saves like 25 cents by using cheap screws made from pot metal instead of good screws that will last. A penny saved in China is worth a dollar to the American customer - but the decision gets made in China, and we have no way of knowing the decision they made - but I can tell you they save the penny every time.
Also, look at the paint quality on this rocker. you can see the drip marks on the slats of the chair - totally avoidable with decent painting equipment, an ounce of care by the painter, or by the virtually non-existent quality control department. You can see the marks on the finish left by wrapping the armrest before the paint was dry. There's no way to fix that other than re-sanding the arm and then re-painting - and your spraypaint won't match!
Well there you go, you've gotten me started ranting about low quality furniture again. Well, that gets me every time!
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