The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was the color of the wood. The finish was flatter and darker brown than it appeared in the photo. The packaging left a lot to be desired as well. Almost no packing material at all. There were more pieces to put together than I had expected as well. And they were mostly just wrapped together without any kind of cushioning. But all the parts and hardware were there. And, I found it fairly easy to assemble, though the directions were extremely limited. And, once put together it is sturdy and attractive. And, given the price being so much better than the prices found at any of the numerous other sites that had this item, the value is great.

This item looks beautiful when once you put it together but the wood is not very good.

The bench broke after one use. The slates in the seat broke - upon inspection the amount of wood holding the slates is 1/4 of an inch or less and is poorly made. We are building plywood seats and more supports under the seat, so we are extremely dissatisfied with this bench. It's a terrible piece of furniture.

Although this is a beautiful addition to our garden, it should be noted that assembly was made difficult due to misaligned screw holes (we had to drill new ones) and a slightly off finished curvature, not allowing one seat section to sit completely flat (we were able to force it to "close enough"). Assembly problems aside, it is a beautiful bench and most likely worth the $150 or so price tag.