Even after reading some of the negative reviews about this dining set, I decided to buy it anyway because I like the way it looks and the price was good (even better since I bought on Black Friday). It arrived earlier than I expected. Assembling the table and chairs wasn't difficult (once I was able to decipher the meaning behind the crappy illustrations), but it did take a ridiculously long time to complete. I did it by myself with no problems, but unless you want to spend all day putting this stuff together you should get a friend to help. Everything fit together exactly as it should. Some of the reviewers who said chairs were crooked or holes didn't line up were probably using the wrong pieces. There are a couple parts specifically made to go only on the left or right side. I realized this when I'd reached the last step for the first chair and everything was out of whack. Backed up a few steps, realized my mistake, swapped out the incorrect part, no problems. So, overall this dining set looks pretty good and I expect it to last a while (no mysteriously shattering boards or cracking chairs, because I put it together properly). It's not super high quality, but it's decent. If you want only the best top-of-the-line stuff, you're shopping on the wrong website...