A nice addition but many hurdles to get there...
I ordered two of these bookcases with the intention of possibly ordering a third one once I had a better feel for how they would fill my space. When the two bookcases arrived, the cardboard packing boxes showed significant wear, perhaps via inadequate package preparation and/or rough handling but I held out hope that the abundant internal Styrofoam packing would save the day. When I opened the boxes, I was initially very pleased with the finish and rich cherry walnut like finish. However, as I unpacked the pieces, I found that all of the side panels (4 in total) were damaged in one way or another. All of the smaller pieces survived the shipment but my guess is that the packaging did not prevent the longer side pieces from flexing and therefore caused damage during shipment. I contacted Great Offer Stock and over the course of three days of attempting to find replacement parts, I was told that two new units would be shipped to me and that I could take the necessary replacement parts from these packages and then repackage and return the rest within 30 days (prepaid UPS) without additional charge. When the two new bookcases arrived, the packaging was significantly more robust with the addition of reinforcement edges. Interestingly enough, four replacement sides (the ones that Great Offer Stock told me they could not get) arrived separately. Even more interesting was that while the overall appearance of the two new bookcases was essentially the same as the original bookcases, the construction design was different (i.e. 3 back panels instead of 2, 2 back stretcher bars instead of 1, different dowel and screw alignments, and a much darker (almost black color)). Fortunately, the new shipment had no damage, so I assembled these units and was left to repackage the two original damaged units. If you have received anything from Great Offer Stock before, you know that the Styrofoam packing and cushion sheets is a bit of a puzzle but with determination to do the job right, I finally got the bookcases successfully packaged at the expense of nearly 2 hours, $10 in shipping tape and an added expense for UPS to pick up these packages at my home because they were too large for my car. I have since successfully ordered and received the third bookcase but I have to admit that in light of many successful transactions with Great Offer Stock in the last 6 months, I was very disappointed with how this issue was handled. Shouldn't they have known that a new production design was in the works and that parts would not be interchangeable with the earlier design? Why was the onus put on the customer to pull replacement parts from new units and then repackage and return what remained at personal expense. Great Offer Stock has not responded to my request to be reimbursed for costs associated with returning the damaged bookcases that were above and beyond the prepaid UPS label. In the end, I gave the end product a fairly high score but Overstock's poor handing pulled down the rating to average at best.
