A few weeks ago, I purchased a Sauder TV stand (Item number 161153) from a retailer in my area. We were purchasing a brand new HDTV and the stand looked like a nice piece of furniture to sit the TV and other components on. After a week of use, a strange problem occured.
We decided to play a DVD, which was located on one of the lower shelves behind the glass doors. I had decided to get up an put the DVD in. I sat down on the floor, and opened the glass doors.
The door on the right hand side opened up perfectly. It was sitting in the opened position when it inexplicably shattered. There was no one else near the stand except me, and I wasn't even touching it at the time of breakage.
Needless to say I was shaken up by this incident. I was afraid a piece of glass could have flug into my eye or have seriously injured me.
I don't mind glass breaking when something happens to make it break. But this was the strangest thing to ever happen. The TV stand was assembled correctly, but the glass doors were cut unevenly by the manufactuer and were hard to align. After examining the left door, I also noticed how thin the glass actually is.
After regrouping, I called Sauder customer support. I was on hold for 20 minutes trying to reach someone. When I finally reached someone, I explained my problem. They kept saying that "It is safty-tempered glass. It is supposed to do that." From my own experience, safty-tempered glass isn't supposed to suddenly shatter without warning.
After reviewing the Sauder website, I noticed a few of their products, which were actually TV stands, were being recalled.
During assembly, I also noticed that some of the parts were not labled with part letters like the instructions specify, so it was a guess to find the part you needed, especially if there were similar parts. Also, there is a bolt that fastens the swiveling portion of the stand to the bottom. This protrudes out of the top of the bottom shelf, making only 1/3 of the shelf usefull. Obviously there are engineering faults in their merchandise.
Sauder is sending a replacement door. Hardly a consolation, because I'm sure the replacement will be just like the original.
I'm not sure I should be trusting a new HDTV to a stand like this, but this stand was actually a gift to a family member. I bought it, assembled it, and was using it. Now, I won't go anywhere near it, and I am urging them to allow me to return it for a different brand.
They insist they still want to keep it, and that it is safe. I just hope for their sake, they are right.
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