At the thirty day mark Hobedah finally decided to just send a whole new unit. It arrived about a week later and it has a completely different color and finish from the original. The top also has a chip in one corner.
I was tempted to pack it all up, both units, and drop it all off at Walmart for a refund but I decided I could patch the chip in the top and I still really needed a new dresser. After about four hours of assembly I wish I had gone for the refund. The pressed wood they are made out of is really dry, brittle and course (porous). Several of the holes for the dowels were too shallow and I blew out one of the sides before I realized what was wrong. Fortunately I was able to glue it back in pretty cleanly.
The drawers are much smaller than they should be. Their is a strong 3 inches of wasted space at the back of each drawer making the cabinet far more prone to tipping forward. Each drawer is also very shallow vertically. Overall it will hold far less than it could. At least a third of the cabinet’s inner space is wasted space.
I really wish now that I had followed my initial instinct and returned it for a refund the day it arrived.
I won’t be keeping the original one. I’ve started repairing the damaged parts and will put it together as I find the time. Once it’s done I’ll probably donate it to Goodwill.
As you can see the top two drawers don’t line up correctly and even overlap if you switch them from one side to the other. Nothing in the direction state that they are anything but identical.
Adding insult to injury the handles are made of a really cheap, soft plastic. They likely won’t last more than a few months.
I honestly wasn’t expecting a lot considering the price but I also wasn’t expecting the train wrecks that I ended up with.
I cannot recommend any of Hobedah’s products after my experience with these two dressers. I’ve filled out a review with Walmart stating that but it has not been posted yet.