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- Verified Buyer
The desk is great. But I'm not here to talk about that.I'm here to talk about the packaging. A week after receiving the shipment, assemlbing the desk (which I am very pleased with all around), and using it every day since, I still can't stop thinking about how amazing the packaging was. Remember those cannisters from the movie The Rock that were filled with the highly toxic and very fragile green balls of death? If for some reason I had to ship one of those things, I would be contacting ErGear to figure out how to do it. I have experience in engineering, and I work in manufacturing - and I can undoubtedly say that this packaging was designed by a team of packaging engineers. Every cubic inch of space in the box was used to its utmost potential. When you first receive the box, you notice that the outside corners are reinforced to protect from shipping damage. Upon opening the box, you'll notice that each component is enshrouded in custom cut sheets of soft shock absorbing foam. Nothing moves around, and everything is extremely well protected. When you pull out the pieces to the desk top itself - which appear to be a veneered pressboard (and I expected that, but these appear to be great quality) - not only are they secured tightly together and separated with more foam sheets to prevent scratching, the corners of the wood pieces are further reinforced with protectors. But these protective corners aren't just some cheap corrugated cardboard corners that really only serve to give you a little extra peace of mind - oh no - they are 1/8" ribbed rubber! They are so nice, that I couldn't bring myself to throw them away. I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but they could be repurposed for so many other things. I also saved a single corrugated sheet of cardboard that was used as a spacer/protector because it's so high quality. That one piece of cardboard alone cost over $1 - which is a lot in the manufacturing world. All the other packaging components appear to be readily recycblable as well. When you consider the price point of this desk, and you take into account that the packaging alone costs the manufacturer probably around $15, the value for this purchase becomes even more impressive, particularly given that what you received arrives as if it was fresh off the assembling line (so to speak).A few folks have left negative reviews here and there about certain components arriving damaged. Look, nothing is perfect, even with this level of packaging. It's the nature of the beast when you're getting single items shipped directly to your door. It'll happen from time to time, and I'm sorry you drew the short straw. Not having been in touch with ErGear myself, I nonetheless have no doubt in my mind that they happily replaced your purchase with a new one - no one goes through this amount of effort to ensure you receive a pristine shipment, only to turn around with subpar customer service and deny you support. It is very clear that ErGear WANTS you to be happy. And for my part, I very much am.Back to the desk. The assembly instructions are excellent. IKEA can certainly learn a thing or two from whoever put this together. The asembly itself was simple and, dare I say it, even a little fun. Again, the engineer in me also appreciates the thoughtfullness of design choices when it comes to how each component is assembled. They really did an excellent job here. The manufacturing of each component was also done with some impressively tight tolerances (given the price point), and so everything lines up perfectly and fits like a glove. Fully assembled, the desk is wonderful. I love this thing. It's everything that was advertised and more. They've even given thought to cable management. The desk raises and lowers smoothly and quietly, and I have no doubt that I will be enjoying it for years to come.A few last comments about some other negative reviews. You broke your keyboard tray? That's... kinda your fault. The desk wobbles *very* slightly when it's raised all the way up? This is standard stuff when it comes to knowing what you're getting yourself into. Buyer beware and all that. I paid under $200 for a desk that FAR exceeded my expectations. It's not a 250 lb behemoth made of solid oak that will last me a lifetime. Know what you're getting yourself into, and treat it accordingly. If you use the desk as a normal desk and don't *misuse* it, you will be very satisfied with your purchase.Highly recommended. Bravo ErGear. You have made a new raving fan out of me.
