Monday, August 11, 2014

Lift Top Coffee Table

Jofran 280 Series Wood Lift-Top Coffee Table in MerlotTable is extremely heavy as its made out of particle board with veneer. Finish is extremely shoddy and edges are sharp and poorly trimmed. Chunk of particle board was broken off the underside of one of the top's corners. Dings and scratches on the top. Made in China.

I ordered this from OJ Medical / OJ Commerce. Unfortunately, it arrived with one of the corners of the top of the table completely cracked. The crack was about 8 inches long, and there was a small opening that formed because of it. It was shipped by a private shipping company, not UPS or Fedex or anything. I told OJ about it, and they sent me a second one free of charge, about 2 to 3 weeks later.

The second one came directly from Jofran instead of OJ and was shipped by UPS Ground. It had special reinforced corners along the entire outside of the package. But looking at it, I saw the package was roughed up and had dents and tear marks in the cardboard. It looked like it went through a war. But that's UPS's fault.

This second coffee table also arrived cracked in the corner! But this time it was not as bad. It had about a 6 inch crack, but there was no hole opening in it. And so I accepted it rather than asking for a third attempt. I had no faith that the third one would arrive any better, and I was accumulating junk in my living room.

Incidentally, even though the package arrived from UPS with tear marks in the cardboard, it was in different places than the corners. The corners of the package were solid and heavily reinforced. So it's not the shippers' faults. The problem is that it's a fragile table that requires more intelligent packaging to begin with.

I told OJ about the second one I received. I told them that there's something wrong with the way they're shipping these if both arrived cracked in the same corner and both were sent by different shipping companies. They agreed and said they'd pass that along to their shipping department. They said they were sorry and that I could have actually asked for a third one. I said no thanks. They let me keep the first one, by the way. I didn't have to return it.

As for the quality of these coffee tables, I agree with a previous commenter who said that it is made with fairly low quality, heavy particle wood with veneer. When you put the pieces together, the whole thing doesn't look all that bad, actually. And the table top mechanism works well. It's not great looking, but it's not ugly either. There's no shine on the top of the wood like I wanted, but it at least looks like real wood. The wood pattern and the stain is pretty good. I did notice that the first coffee table had some unevenness about the stain, but it was hard to see unless you shine a bright light on it.

As for the bottoms of both coffee tables, they were very ugly looking. They were unfinished, unstained, unsanded, and had a kind of charcoal-like powder on it. They also have some splinters coming off. They have an appearance like they came from wood that was salvaged from a burnt building. It looks half burnt, with a sort of powdery charcoal color to it. I was even worried that if I put it on my carpeting, it would rub off and mark the carpet. But it apparently doesn't come off very easily, so that's good at least.

There are two pieces to this table, the top and the bottom piece. On both pieces, the bottoms of each are this ugly, powdery charcoal color, with potential splinters coming off.

Mind you, when you put it together to make the full coffee table, you won't notice it unless you're literally on the floor looking up at it. And even then, you'll probably need a flashlight, because it will be too dark to notice anything. In my living room, it doesn't look bad.

Still, I know the ugly undersides and splinters are there. And I would rather they sanded it down, stained it, and sealed it properly rather than taking these shortcuts. I'm also a little worried about the quality of the wood itself if it looks so bad on the bottom. I may just sand them myself and then paint them brown or black.

Functionality... The lift-top is a great thing. It's very stable even when it's in the fully expanded position. You can rest your arms on it and hunch over onto it, and it won't go back down. It takes intentional effort to push it down, though it doesn't require a lot of muscle. It's just right.

As for the drawers on the bottoms of both sides, they're just okay. They're pretty small. I doubt I'll use them for much. The insides of them are covered in felt, which is a nice touch. The knobs on the outside aren't very attractive. Nor are they ugly. They're just bland, which is okay. They can be screwed off and replaced with something else if you like. Personally, I think they're a hazard to feet, because they protrude a little too far from the table. It's very easy to not see them and stub your toe or something. I will probably replace them with something smaller.

Oh, and the table itself has optional canister wheels, by the way. They can make it easier to move the table, since it's so heavy. But on my plush carpeting, it just makes it slightly easier. The wheels only stick out about a quarter to a half inch or so beyond the table's legs. The wheels are screwed in to the understand of the table, not the table's legs, by the way. There are holes for the wheels to be used on the bottom of the legs as well, but if you lift up on the table, the wheels will fall off since they don't actually screw in there. But it's an option if you really want to try it.

The price of this is not bad comparatively speaking. Other lift-top coffee tables are selling in the $600-$800 range. Many companies are charging less than $300 for this one, and so compared with other ones, it's a good deal. However, judging only by the quality of the wood and the workmanship, I'd say it's worth about $100-$150. Since it's made in China, I bet it even costs far less than that to make. Probably most of the cost is just due to shipping, since it is so heavy.

Overall, like I said, I'm just okay with it, but I was looking for something of better quality. It looks just okay in my living room. I only like it because it has a lift-top that works and is useful. This is something I'll probably sell someday in order to get something better. So, perhaps the quality merits 3 stars, if it could be shipped undamaged. I gave it 2 stars instead of 3 because of the fact that even the maker of this product can't seem to ship it without cracking the corners. I didn't give it one star, because I think you can risk it and be lucky enough to get an undamaged one shipped to you, since the sellers appear to be willing to ship at least three times to get it right. So, 2 stars it is.

Hope that helps.

Buy Lift Top Coffee Table Now

I have this table and absolutely love it!! The color is great and the drawers are handy! I think we have uno cards on one side and pens/candles/lighters/etc on the other sideyes! Drawers on both sides! The lift top always surprises people! You can even lock it if you don't want anyone getting to... whatever you put inside. We have remotes on one side and Xbox controllers on the othergreat way to keep them out of sight!! We used ours as a coffee table/dinner table when living in a tiny apartment, and its currently my desk for my laptop. Would definitely buy again in a heartbeat!

Read Best Reviews of Lift Top Coffee Table Here

Ordered this through PlumStruck nine months ago, along with the matching end tables. The drawers are very small, but the storage room under the lift top makes up for it. I did not have any issues with packaging or shipping as mentioned in some other reviews. The table arrived quickly and in excellent condition, and when I had a question, the customer service response was prompt and helpful. The table itself is high quality for the price, and I recommend ordering from PlumStruck in Amazon Marketplace based on my experience with that particular seller.

Want Lift Top Coffee Table Discount?

The product itself is okay.

Worst shipping expereirence I ever had.

Before I have ordered this table, I learned from other reivews this product might come in with possible damage.

But, I was hopping that this will arrive in one whole piece without any damage.

No, it did not happen. Poor packing cuased the damages..a few dings on the top of the

table and a BIG chip on the side of table top.

Well, I should have trusted the others review and should not ever never ordered this product.

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