Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE: Well, folks, I've had it a month and a day and it just quit. It was burbling along fine this afternoon. I pulled some leaves out, tumped out the dirty water and refilled it and. . . nothing. I can hear the pump running but it's not pumping. Remember when I said I thought it would last me the summer and I'd get a decent one next year? Hah. - - - ORIGINAL REVIEW At $40, I'm not expecting Buckingham Palace quality, but good grief. In the first place, the seller's page says it's resin: It is most emphatically not. It is cheap plastic. And so it is so-o-o thin, flimsy, and lightweight. The package clearly had been opened before. The assembly process was miserable. Parts did not fit together correctly, instructions for the pump housing did not seem to fit the parts as currently designed, putting it together as directed risks damage to the pump but there's no alternative, and the whole thing when assembled is so lightweight that when filled it's very top-heavy and tippy. It's out there happily gurgling away right now but it is not even--so is the pump fully submerged?? Who even knows? The cord is so short that there's little choice of placement: Right now it's by the back door, close enough to the outlet that, if it does turn over, it's going to be really, really exciting. You will need a good outdoor extension cord if you don't want it smack up next to the house. They don't tell you this in their item description, but it's in the instructions. . . you will also need to buy a special cleaner, use distilled water, take it apart to do maintenance regularly, re-seal and re-paint the thing periodically, and even bring it in for the winter. What, like birds don't need water in cold weather? All of which is going to be a major pain since it does not assemble easily or well. Overall, I would say that I wish I'd gone to the garden store, paid more, and lugged some heavy thing home in the back of the truck. This one is not going to be worth the price or the convenience. I figure it will last me the summer and I will throw it out and start over next spring. I also wish I'd read all the negative reviews before I bought it, but it had 3 stars overall, it looked cute, I believed the ad's claim that it was sturdy, and I bit. Live and learn.