You know how those ‘put it together yourself’ TV stands are. A big old box, 20 parts, 500 screws, nuts & bolts and a 1-page instruction sheet. Been there, done that, must have put together, over the years, 20+ pieces of this portable, easy-to-assemble faux furniture. The last piece, a huge entertainment center that fills half the wall, took my business partner and I two days to assemble. Right then and there I swore I’d never do it again..........

So, I opened the box in the trunk of the car.

The reason I opened the box in the trunk was because the dang thing was too heavy and bulky to carry in the house even with Diane’s assistance. Let’s face it, that MDF is heavy. Much heavier than real wood, and there were glass shelves too. No way, no how, I or a team of I’s, was gonna be able to lift that box of parts intact and carry it into the house.


Including glass, there were 16 pieces to the unit plus a bag of assembly devices. Of the 16 pieces, only 6 were marked with identification. Of course, the two glass shelves were easy to identify, even without the corresponding letter reference. The balance of the pieces, you’re on your own baby and ya better hope your decision is the right one. You know how these units are, once assembled the parts generally cannot be unassembled without damaging something.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to let you know that the instructions are trilingual. Not bi - tri - so you would think, that in three different languages that somewhere it would occur to someone to actually describe what you are doing. And even worse, they wait until the unit is almost entirely assembled, cranking out at about 200 lbs. now, to let you know that you now have to invert the unit and attach the back glass shelf supports with screws from the bottom.

I’m on my fourth break, 5th cigarette, considering hard liquor. I looked at Diane and said “What damn brain trust decided to wait until you have added all this additional weight to the unit and then decide to turn it upside down?” And on top of that, because of the construction, you cannot lay it flat, you have to hold it suspended in midair while attaching the four screws.

OK, I’ll take partial blame for this. Had I looked the entire instruction booklet over in advance I would have attached the back supports out of order from the giddy-up instead of following their plan. Those supports could have been attached in the first step before anything else and not caused a problem. My bad .....

It is a crying shame that something so beautiful when completed, so well constructed from the manufacturer, lacks the basics like ...... hello? Instructions? Their 6-page assembly instructions consists of each page showing several parts. All the parts on the sheet have identification by means of a letter, like A, B, C, D, etc. However, they forgot the follow through step on that by actually putting the identifying letter on the pieces laying all over your floor.

I can forgive that, I’m a forgiving person.

Besides, it only took 10 minutes to figure out which was the top piece and which was the bottom piece. They were identical except for one tiny screw hole. What’s a screw hole between friends?

Their next, and most unforgiving faux pas, even if you can figure out which is part A and which is part B, what now? How do you marry these pieces and make a sturdy unit. Oh sure, they show the pieces laying separately on the page ........ pretty aren’t they? On the next page they are assembled. Uh, how did those 7 pieces become one finished unit? Any help here Gusdorf®? Apparently not.

Also, no mention of tools needed for the job on the front sheet. I’m no dummy, I’ve done these before, I lined up the 25 tools needed in advance. No one mentioned band-aids.

Am I displeased with the unit - no possible way. Finished it is a gorgeous piece, a sleek matte silver finish with doors and glass shelves. A handsome addition to any living environment and a sturdy and sound piece of furniture. It measures 42" x 24" x 20" and I can’t imagine the weight of this piece when completed. Gusdorf® products carry a 5-year warranty.

Would I do it again? Why not? I’m a pro now.

Visit www.gusdorf.com for a complete line of home and office products available.

Thanks,
Susi

p.s. Little did I know that this was phase 1 of my wonderful, beautiful birthday surprise, a RCA 36" TV - smile

Recommended: Yes