Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I ordered these stools after searching locally and online for a reasonably priced bar stool that asthetically looked great along with reasonable quality for the price. I made the decision to buy six of these stools but was cautiously optimistic after reading the reviews regarding damaged stools, color variability and lack of appropriate hardware etc... So I took a few steps after receiving and during the assembly to ensure everything met my expectations. First, there is a date of manufacture on each box. Even though I received three separate shipments, each one was manufactured in December 2014. Next I carefully unpacked and checked to ensure color was a match. Next I carefully inspected each piece for damage looking for cracks or broken pieces. Do this without destroying the packaging just in case it needs to go back in th box. Happy to report not one piece was damaged and the appropriate hardware was included. After unpacking, I staged an area for two stools at a time. I then took each bolt and placed the locking nut and washer as described in the instructions ( which were perfectly clear enough to understand). Do this in advance so that you are not scambling around looking for the right bolt, nut and washer. Being that some people complained about bolts coming loose over time, I chose to purchase a couple of tubes of LOCK-TIGHT and added a small amount to each bolt prior to using. I highly suggest when assembling the legs to foot ring and seating base, DO NOT TIGHTEN! Leave them a little less than finger tight until all 16 bolts are in place. Stool should feel very woobly at this point. This helps with alignment issues that many of you may have had getting bolts into the holes. Next, put the base on a smooth level surface and then tighten. This is critical because if you tighten while on carpet or uneven surface, it will tighten in an out of level position and the stool will wobble. You need to make sure to move quickly during this step as the LOCK Tight will start to set up quickly so you should try to have this completed in 15-20 min and do not stop until you complete this step. Another reason to have all of the bolts ready to go. Once this is completed, attached the stool back to the seat following the guidelines above. Use Lock-Tight on each bolt, and again, do not tighten until each bolt is in place and of course DONOT OVER TIGHTEN! Once this is complete, attach the base to the seat using the four bolts provided. Again, use the LockTight on each bolt. This is the only tricky part of the assembly. The four bolt holes only line up in one way so make sure that the stool is positioned so that each bolt hole is aligned before you start putting the bolts in places. Additionally, you have to rotate the stool so that you can screw the bolt in easily. That means, you will have to rotate the stool around as there seems to be only one position where you can get easy access to installing the bolt and being able to tighten. I have to admit, this was a little frustrating but not impossible or that hard. I just had to figure this out on my own so hopefully this will help the rest of you out. Overall, I am very happy with the stools. I gave them FIVE STARS for price value and for the simple fact that I did not have one issue They look awesome and feel very solid/sturdy without any significant wobble etc... You can't beat the $80 price for each stool (when you order the two pack). If you are wanting a true $500 stool, this will probably not meet your expectation but for the price, you can't beat it! I hope this was helpful and I will update once we get some wear and tear on them in a few months. Good Luck!