Levenger

Full review
I look at the Levenger website from time to time because I like books, reading, pens, writing -- basically accessories for the things I love; it is fun to look at that stuff! Recently, I finally "let myself go" and ordered two of the readers wing tables. They were delivered in a reasonably fast time (maybe 7 days) and I proceeded to assemble one of them right away. In the process, I discovered the instructions were very poor, the quality not what I expected for the price, so I wrote a review (included below). On the Levenger website, they solicit and show reviews -- all of them glowing that I saw (which I found odd -- so I have checked week after week to see if my honest and not quite glowing review would be published -- it wasn't. When I sent the review, I received a reply saying I would be contacted by Customer service shortly, that never happened (it's been 3 -4 weeks). So:
1) Levenger implies that they are showing the customer reviews/feedback for the products they sell. They don't -- only the good ones. This is NOT like Amazon.com.
2) I gave the 2nd table still in the carton to my boyfriend. When he unpacked it to start assembling, he discovered it had two left legs (won't work because the legs are drilled and slotted for the shelves in a specific way). He called customer service -- who did answer the phone and seemed quite cooperative -- and explained the problem. Instead of sending the missing leg, they are sending the entire product again and expect us to ship the bad product (38 lbs) back to them. We are still waiting 10+ days later, so I don't know if this will be resolved easily or not. Like, who is paying for, arranging for shipping?
3) About a month prior to this order, I ordered a desk turnabout that they had on sale for $49. They took the order but never delivered. I have received notices about every 3 - 4 weeks saying it is backordered/out of stock, and they seem to be encouraging me to cancel the order. I want that item at the price they advertised it. They claim it it not in stock, yet they have it listed in their products that are not on sale, so I suspect they just don't want to give it to me at the advertised sale price. They claim they can cancel the order if they can't fill it in 90 days -- which I'm sure they will do because they don't want to fulfill their contract.

Now for the review I sent to levengers 1-28-06 on the Readers Wing Table:

I loved the look and usefulness of this so much that I ordered two. They arrived nicely packaged with the screw driver needed along with the screws, washers, simple instructions -- very nice!

The rest was a disappointment: the package contained 4 long screws and 8 short screws, and only enough washers for 8 screws. You will need 8 long screws and 4 short ones + 12 washers minimum.

The instructions say to attach two legs to the top of the table then put in the four shelves, then attach the other two legs. This assumes the table parts are well made and things fit tightly -- they don't and it isn't. There is no way to keep four shelves attached to the two legs at the same time, so you cope. I tried attaching the other two legs loosely so I would have some give slipping the shelves into the notches. I could get two shelves in, but every time I put the 3rd or 4th shelf in, the whole thing would all collapse and I would have to start over. This causes many scratches on the legs and underside of the table, but it doesn't show on the finished assembly.

After many tries, I somehow got all four shelves in at the same time and quickly tightened the last two legs. Having used two long screws on the 2nd set of legs as per instructions (they said to use short screws on the first pair) I only had two long screws for the final part: putting the screws through the legs and bottom shelf. The instructions say to do this on only one leg, I realize now they probably mean all four legs but it gets lost in the Chinese to English translation. I only had two long screws, so I put them in legs that were diagonal across the bottom, made sure all was very tight and turned the table over to put next to my chair.

1) the table isn't as tall as I thought, the top can't swing over the arm of my leather chair like it does in the picture, Shame on me for believing the marketing picture and not measuring!

2) every shelf popped out of the two legs that didn't have the long screws put in the bottom shelf-leg; it seems the stability is very dependent on filling every hole in the thing with a screw! I removed the long screws from the two legs at the table top and replaced them with short screws, put the long ones in the bottom. So far, so good.

The table looks as good as in the catalog. It is not worth $300. Had I known, I might be willing to pay $50 - $70 for it. I guess this experience answers my wondering if it's worth it to get the swiveling bookshelves I've lusted over for years.