Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Kudos to Amazon on delivery of the Drive Medical Kitchen Stool, White #12455. I got this chair in about a day and a half. All parts were included and in good condition. I rate this assembly an "F," however as the parts would not fit to allow all six supplied screws to be inserted. As per the instructions, one could put in four of the fasteners, two frame screws and nuts and two seat screws. The poor predrilled hole alignments prevented the last two screws from being inserted and tightened in their respective holes in the seat. The misalignment was about 1 mm off. That is not much, but it was enough to prevent a proper and safe assembly. I spent a good 40 minutes attempting to make the parts fit. I even took photos to show the misalignment so that I might complain directly in a separate email to the company. Finally, I loose fitted the front and back frame pieces, and inserted the four seat screws. Then I managed to get one of the attaching screws that join the front and back of the frame together through a predrilled hole. This left the sixth screw impossible to fit through its hole on the other side of the frame. With the chair partially assembled in this manner (and counter to the supplied instructions), I then had to use an electric drill to ream out enough metal in the misaligned frame holes in order to insert the last screw and nut. This should not have been necessary. Thus I rate the quality of the assembly a big fat F. Though there are only two nuts that must be tightened on the frame screws, they are fiber lock nuts. No mention of the size of the wrench needed to hold or to turn the nut in the sparse assembly instructions, and no simple wrench supplied either. The other tool needed is a Philips screwdriver. Be aware that one must have a good deal of wrist strength to tighten the lock fiber nuts with a Philips screwdriver. Just what you would expect with something made in China. Poor Drive Medical. Very poor. The label "Drive Medical Kitchen stool" implies a unit designed for those with physical issues. That inference is misleading as this unit can be woefully difficult to adjust for use owing to the spring button hole adjustments for the legs and for the insertion/removal of the arms and the back. I would like to have a word or two with the so-called engineer, who designed this feature, and who must have been absent the day they talked about ergonomics in design school. I would like to see this designer person observe someone with damaged, aging, or arthritic hands and fingers adjust a leg height or remove or add the arms or back, or adjust the arm width! In short the stool is not adjustable without help by most of the very group of people for whom its use is presumably intended. Surely there is a better way; apparently ergonomic design is not a priority for Drive Medical. With the above caveats, the stool is inexpensive and seems to be sturdy enough. The paint does not appear to be a durable powder coating and will likely scratch and chip easily in the course of time. The seat cover plastic is thin with a small amount of foam under it as is the back. The plywood beneath the seat cover is rather flimsy and will likely also not stand the test of time. But then this stool is sturdy enough and is about what one would expect for such an item costing just under $50. With all of this having been said, once assembled, configured (with or without arms or back) and adjusted with respect to height, the stool is serviceable. And unlike other stools this one does have sturdy arms (removable) and a sturdy backrest. Hence my cost/value grade of B+.