As Of Today,...

I would keep away from HOS. I received my set in December but it had faulty finishing. I contacted them in January and they have ignored me ever since. I posted a bad review on FB a month ago which got a response: they asked for my phone number. But they never called. It's now over two months of them not supporting their product. If you get lucky and buy a set with no problems then their products are good, but if there is an issue you seem to be on your own. I ended up revarnishing the pieces myself.

Graham: They have been slow to answer emails but I have found that calling them or using their website live chat feature is effective at getting a response.

Not really, they told me bluntly on live chat, the set I bought is a cheap one and they can't and will not do anything about it. As soon I told them I'm posting what they said, they stopped chatting.

Do you know how I get them to call me after not responding to my phone calls and emails? I spammed their social media, telling in details about the set I bought and not getting support. Prompt within one hour they called me.

binomine mentioned in his order his son had an issue. I pointed out things with the set that might be a problem for his son in an email rather than ship and have him return it. He did not respond to the email after a good deal of time I refunded his money.

I probably will not order anything else from Royal Chess Mall (RCM).   I own 10 wooden sets, of which two are from RCM.  These two sets are the only ones which developed cracks, all in the boxwood pieces.   RCM replaced a cracked king only after I complained about it here.  

Sometime afterwards, in an attempt to apologize for their initially poor customer service, they sent to me gratis the triple-weighted, Fischer Spassky, Bud Rosewood set.  The set is gorgeous, although in less than 6 months a white pawn has developed a crack.  I sent them a message a few weeks ago via the ebay message link we previously used to communicate, but no response.  

Although the lack of response is irritating, I'll just live with it since it was a free set.

Finally, in the first set where RCM replaced the king?  Now a white knight has developed a crack above the L eye along with some weird discoloration.  I hope the knight isn't possessed.

 

Have not been a customer of RCM. And now never will.

My most recent purchases were from House of Chess. I got 2 sets(Yugo and Sovereign) and 1 travel set. All were very well-packaged. They were up front about shipping times of about a month, which didn't bother me at all. I'm very happy with my purchases from them. 

RCM replaced a cracked piece for me that took a few months to arrive. The Chess Empire set had no issues.

I got 5 sets from CB with no major issues but to be fair, all were from their sale or imperfect sets. There were a few minor issues(probably were returns), like some bubbles in the varnish, and an occasional tool mark, but not enough for me to want a refund. If I had paid full price than I would definitely have expected better. 

I've dinged enough chess pieces to learn to live with their imperfections, so I guess that's why I have no problem ordering the imperfect sets, expecting to see some minor, but tolerable flaws. 

I think that ,sadly,most folks are going to have to live with imperfections,unless they are major.

It just seems to be the new norm with most mfgrs...Unless you go for the likes of NOJ and the top tier guys and are willing to pay their prices.......I did get one NOj set and it was worth it.

The wife wasn't happy though-

@Magictwanger I agree. We all have to live with imperfections if we buy wood sets this year. I am going to be strictly into non-wood chess stuff this year. I really regret not buying the Cooke Luxury last year from HoS. They had one long recurring coupon from January until fall. Oh well. I love what I have so I'm good for now.

Well,there's always Konig Tools Soft Wax......They offer a million colors.....

To quote one of the most famous Martin Guitar restorers and overall fantastic guitar builder(John Arnold)......."All wood wants to crack".

I am not a fan of imperfections,being quite OCD,but I have come to the conclusion that as long as any subtle inperfection does not affect the integrity of whatever I own and is not of significant flawed aesthetic,I can live with it....Not happy about it,but it is what it is.

I have OCD too. I guess when all else fails the wax will work. That is fine if I have no choice. These days cracks on new sets seem to be the case so often. I am going to do my best to avoid buying any wood sets. I should have said "my best" originally because I love chess stuff. 

I see Konig also does hard wax that must be melted before being put into the crack. Is this worth the hassle? Is it better than sawdust and glue? As @MCH818 says all wood wants to crack, particularly if it's fairly thin, having been drilled to accommodate a lead weight. 

Just out of curiosity, in the history of the internet, has a NOJ piece ever cracked at the base where the weight goes? (Not cracks due to drops or accidents.) I don't remember any mentions here. Anyone?

I own 6 sets made by Noj and there are no cracks to the bases at all.  And I have never heard of one either.

I did have a collar chip on both of my Walnut Dubrovnik II Queens.  Of course Gregor replaced both at no charge for even the shipping even the 7 years after purchase.

That was especially nice of Gregor, since a chipped collar theoretically is more likely to have been caused by the owner as compared to a crack in the base.

Respect. 

As of Today... I would purchase from a local games store where I can inspect the product - albeit, range is limited and prices are generally higher than online. I may also take my chances and purchase direct from a manufacturer again -
probably from Chess Bazaar because I have have been well satisfied with the 2 sets and a board sourced from them. I use the word ‘may’ - not because of any particular company. Rather, continued global demand has me concerned about wood use (improperly dried as wood stocks diminish perhaps) and quality control (manufacturers using less experience wood workers or inspection moving to fast to keep up with demand) - so it feels to me (whether reality of not) that there is a level of increased risk in the product being less than ideal. That said, I understand the risk and should in see something I like (and can’t hold back temptation😊) I may purchase again and then hope that I don’t have to wrangle replacement pieces due to quality control issues.

Gregor actually posted once recently about this and he said no Noj set weighted or unweighted has ever cracked.

[edit] I would assume Gregor meant no one has every reported a crack to him which required a replacement piece to be made.

I'll be totally honest....After all this "cracking talk" and so many new buyers having issues,though I am fully aware of the possibility of it all,I am loath to look too closely at my chess set collection.-

I've done three orders from House of Staunton in the last month. Bought a plastic 3.75 chessmen set with silicon board and travel bag. The bag and board I'm thrilled with. The chessmen are OK. The weights in them are lose and the seams from the mold are very prevalent. 

I then ordered a 6" Fischer/Spassky set with a beautiful huge board in Elm burl and Birdseye maple along with a large hinged box. The chessmen are to die for. Flawless, besides a little bit of tolling marks on the ebonized boxwood knights. But I had to inspect them very closely to see it. The board does have a single, small ding in the one of the squares, but otherwise is perfect. The box is standard and in great condition.

Lastly I ordered a cheap wood set, with board and sliding box for my kids to play on in the house. It hasn't arrived yet. 

All three sets were shipped quickly. The two I received were packages well and free of damage. 

The one gripe I have is the website. It's constantly timing out on me when I'm trying to check into my orders. I can browse the site, navigate to all pages, but when I try and log in, it times out. It happens more often than not. I get this paranoid feeling like I'm being scammed. But then the package arrives, I'm happy overall with the purchase and then can log in eventually.