Julian Bowen CAN001 CANTERBURY Dining Table, Lacquered Rubberwood, Mahogany

This is a lovely extending table which seats 4 comfortably and 6 when extended. It looks very good quality and went together extremely easily. What really impressed me was the cost, which was a third of the price of the exact same table with Next. Beautifully packaged & quickly despatched.

purchased this table to replace the rectangle one. Colour much nicer than I expected a more golden mahogany than a reddish. so easy to assemble and extends big enough for when the family come round for dinner. very sturdy and good quality considering the low price. didn't like the chairs that was suppose to be matched with the table so I purchased four dark brown knocker chairs to go with it and they look perfect together. gives it that classic but modern look.

What expected

We really like this table ..nice colour, easy to assemble. Wish it comes in bigger size

Should you have no issues with the table, you’ll have acquired a reasonably priced piece of lower to mid-range quality furniture. Experiencing no issues however, appears to be a most unlikely scenario based on my own experiences and that of others. My experiences follow.Delivery was good, reading through some reviews I notice this isn’t always the case but I have no problems with the delivery or the state of the packaging. The very large gentleman carried the one package into my dwelling without any problem, though I doubt many could. The box itself had been resealed a few times from the look of it, but although suspicious it is not unique and could be for a variety of reasons.I unpacked it and was initially quite impressed as the tables surface was revealed, a polished table top, with the crevice down the centre where the top no doubt slid apart when extending it. I had to manhandle this out of the box and put to one side to get at the other contents. Given its awkward bulk I was terrified it might slide apart under its own weight, but it didn’t, and I later discovered it couldn’t, and why.The pedestal was not quite as impressive as the table top, but still a good quality surface until one looked at the interior. The contrast was startling; high finished exterior with a rough-hewn hollow interior. It had the appearance of having been carved out by hand.The instructions were reasonable and appeared fairly detailed if not fully comprehensive. It was only later I realised the more complex details, the fitting and operation of the extending piece had been omitted entirely.The screws, bolts and washers etc were all itemized on the sheet and the instructions referred to their part numbers. Two tiny pressed tin spanners of different sizes were included, but thankfully I have a set of proper spanners of my own as these included ones are rubbish, not the least because they have to be used to secure the legs to the pedestal from inside the hollow pedestal i.e. using the included spanners ones hand is down inside the pedestal cavity to well beyond the wrist and with no room to manoeuvre or see what you are doing – difficult to fully tighten the bolts. With a proper long handled spanner one has infinitely more torque and can at least see what you’re doing, just. Fitting the four legs to the pedestal with two bolts apiece is at least an understandable operation; it makes sense and serves a purpose. What came next didn’t.The next operation really needs two people. The intention is to lift the table top onto the pedestal, slide open the table, lift out one section of the extender, and through the gap thus revealed bolt the table top to the pedestal upper surface. Obviously the very heavy table top is no more than precariously balanced on the relatively small surface area of the pedestal top while all this is going on.In my case this serious situation was compounded by the fact the table was in no way going to slide open so I could get to the extension pieces and complete the operation! It was jammed tight shut. It was also here that the instructions stopped being helpful and started being anything but. There is no mention whatsoever about the extension, its mechanism or how to operate it.There was now spent an unhappy hour with the table top on the carpet, while I attempted to prise apart the table top haves! All I succeeded in doing was make small nicks in the edges of the two halves of the table top. In the end I had to turn the table top over and work at getting the two halves apart from the underneath. I was eventually successful, and the reason for the jam was immediately obvious. The attached photo will help explain, but the entire mechanism that controls the table extension had collapsed because a screw was missing, and the whole assembly was jammed tightly together at an angle.A search of the whole area, and especially the box and the packing revealed no screw and given the age of the screw hole (it wasn’t a “fresh” break) it looked to have been done a long time previously, and I suspect the whole table was packed while in this condition.I had a suitable woodscrew “in stock” and was able to make the repair myself, and the mechanism, albeit an awkward, cumbersome and potentially finger trapping affair did at least work once again. I could now reposition the table top carefully on the pedestal, and screw it into place.Once assembled the table looks a tad odd, as the extending mechanism is open on two sides (See photo). The mechanism for extending the table itself is very Heath Robinson and a potential multiple finger trapper by its very nature.Frankly, for me at least, it’s not worth the hassle I went through, hassle I wouldn’t wish on anybody. I did write to the seller, explaining the difficulties I experienced, the fact I was sold a table that was essentially broken and advising them I would be giving a less than favorable review. My communication wasn’t even acknowledged, much less replied to.

Takes up very little space but can be extended Also easy to assemble

Love table lot smaller than I thought it would be. But very happy with it. Delivery man was excellent when putting it together could not fault him very polite so he gets 5 stars 4 for table as it's small shown in pictures.

Can’t think of anything to say