Chess Set Problem

I just bought a chess set from www.thechessstore.com , I bought this set http://www.thechessstore.com/product/PSGSBC/Guardian_Series_Plastic_Chess_Set_in_Black_Camel__4_King.html

When it arrived I couldn't believe how awful these pieces were. Granted, it was a cheap set. I was just looking for something to play at my local club with, that was weighted and looked decent. These pieces looked like they were dirty, they had bits of burned plastic, im assuming from the mold they were in. The top of the king was broken, and some of the pieces were misshapen and had rough edges all over them, like they had not been properly cleaned. I called the store to tell them, and they told me not to worry about it keep that set they're going to send me a new one. Im worried that the new set will be the same way. So I have decided that I am going to pay a little more money and get this House of Staunton set, is anyone familiar with this particular one? http://houseofstaunton.com/Store/product_name=The+Championship+Series+Chess+Set+-+3.75+inch+King/exact_match=exact/user-id=/password=

If so, did you like it, or not. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

If you are happy with the styling then go for it.

Typical feedback to HOS is that the sets are twice as nice as expected. I have 2 nice wood, 1 cheap wood, and 1 good plastic from HOS. I pretty much agree: They are very nice.

I had issues with a few pieces of the Collector I was sent but I sent them back and got good replacements.

In the end, I got a very nice set. Well worth the money and the trouble to have pieces sent back and replaced (no fee for replacing, just postage out of pocket for sending the defectives).

Thanks for the info goldendog, I purchased the set, I am sure I will be pleased with it. I have heard nothing but good things about House of Staunton.

You will not go wrong with the House of Staunton. One thing I will say is that it's often cheaper to buy HoS stuff through a third party such as Wholesalechess.com. They are also active on eBay and you can occasionally get good deals if you're lucky--I was able to get an ebony and boxwood set on eBay for $100 less than retail.

I might also give the Chess House the benefit of the doubt until the replacement set arrives. I've been shopping through wholesalechess.com for years, and not long ago I ordered a mousepad board that was thoroughly crappy when it arrived--dirty, poorly packed, stray ink spots, you name it. So I wrote them in order to raise a stink about it, but before I could get to the yelling they agreed to send a replacement at no charge, and the second one I got was perfect. So you never know.

The quality of the pieces I've received from HOS are outstanding.  Even their less expensive Proline pieces are much better than sets costing three times more from other sellers.  One thing to consider if you buy wooden pieces is to inspect the lower sections for cracks in the wood.  When adding the hot weight to the pieces, it dries the wood and can cause it to split.  Some of the non-HOS venders will sell pieces that have had cracks but been "doctored up" for a sale.  HOS's pieces that were made from the middle of last year until now have a very good process in place to prevent those cracks.  The best deals on their wooden pieces are on Ebay, but this will be changing very soon so you will not be seeing those deals long.  So if you want some, get them now.  For your club, buy nice HOS plastic pieces so you can spray them down with disinfectant when you're done.  If one breaks, who cares,... cheap to replace.  Keep the wooden ones at home.

Thanks for all of the input guys. I just received my house of staunton set, and it is amazing! The pieces are spectacular, and the felt is nice than any set I have ever used. That's not saying much before Oct 2008 I had only played chess once, and it was a checkers,chess combo set. I also received my replacement set from chessstore and they're are in much better shape than the first set. So now I have three sets, two for playing in clubs, I'll leave the HOS set at home :)

Thanks Again

 I presume they (Collector II/Centurion) are soon to be discontinued as they are on clearance at the HOS site, but this is just my surmise.

Just for the record, I had a relatively lousy experience with the HoS.  My case might be exceptional, but it was a double-dose of exceptionality because the replacement pieces I got were not great either.

In summary, I ordered a plastic set from the Collector Series.  When they showed up, I was really shocked given everything I'd heard about HoS.  The felts were literally hanging off the bottoms of several of the pieces.  There were several instances of visible cracking/fractures on the bases (I assume from when the weights were inserted).  There were lots of lines left from the molds and best of all, the white King was actually warped (he looked a little drunk or sleepy, I guess).

On the surface of it, customer support was good (i.e. responsive), but I was not thrilled with the quality of the replacement pieces either.  The funny thing was that I thought I was replacing a well-worn cheap tourney set I've had for ages (about 15 years) with something 'deluxe.'  The whole experience simply underscored how awesome my original set was; most of those pieces are still in better shape that the new ones.

I'm happy to say that I found my original set for sale on-line, and I'm replacing it.  I'd whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone looking for a heavy, sturdy tournament set - particularly one that well-suited to fast play.

 They'd been selling the Centurion / Collector II sets on Ebay for a third of the price of what they were selling them for on their website, so I'd call that losing money.  Now, they've marked them down considerably on their site and are on clearance.  So they're either not going to be on Ebay because they've sold out, or because it doesn't make sense to sell them for so little on Ebay and then for retail on their site.  Something has to change.  The last time I spoke to them (this week), they indicated that to me.  Evidently, they control which sets go on Ebay and which sets they only sell on their site at retail (or "on sale").  For the most part, the only difference between their nicest sets and their lesser sets is polishing.  If you like the style of the pieces, then get them on Ebay.  If you don't like the finish, then polish them.  If you'd rather have HOS logo'd leather base pads, then send the pieces for leather pads and polishing and then you'll end up with the eqiuvalent to the nicest that they sell.  I've had several different designs and some sets are nicer than others in their line-up, but not always worth double or quadrouple the price unless you just like how the knights are styled.  Again, the best deal going is the 4" Centurion or Collector II on Ebay.  If you want to get crazy, buy them, and then send them to HOS for polishing (or polish them yourself) and treat them to a nice board.  That's where the real fun begins.  I've put more money into boards than pieces and couldn't be happier.

seasterl, did you mean that their less expensive sets are less polished or that their ebay sets are less polished? I've been eyeing a couple of their more mid-priced sets on ebay but I wouldn't want to have to polish them. Also, the sets I'm looking at are 50% off on their web page but listed at full price on ebay. One of them in ebony is out of stock on their web page but available in ebony on the web page. I've never dealt with HOS or ebay and I'm wondering if the web site sale price would be valid for the ebay item.

Thanks in advance for any info

nice

 The ones that are at full price on Ebay were probably purchased by another seller with the intentions of making a profit.  If you do a search of completed items for the Centurion or Collector II pieces, you'll see that there have always been a LOT of bids, and sometimes the buyers names are not disclosed.  IMO, these are other sellers that are buying up HOS pieces cheap and then turning around and selling them at retail prices.  (Hey, it's one way to make a business!)  Anyway, if you like the design of the HOS Centurion or Collector II, buy them as cheap as you can (perhaps from HOS at this point).  They were only selling on Ebay one set of each color per week until they deplete the inventory for those styles.  So if you take your chances on Ebay, someone will just outbid you in the last fifteen seconds.  So if you like the design of the knights, I'd get those from their website (apply your 10% discount if you have one).  If you don't like them and want to upgrade them, then you can have the base pads changed and polish them more (do yourself or maybe get HOS to do it at a charge).  When finished, they'll look like a more expensive set.  For some sets, this is really what separates them (besides a piece of paper serving as a certificate).  BTW, even the lower-priced pieces like the Prolines have adequate polish and finish on them, but the higher-priced collector pieces are polished more.  I've had the Proline, Classic (I think), Royale, Centurion, Collector, and Golden Collector series (and multiple wood species for most series) as well as felt and leather base pads.  By far, the best bang for the buck is the 4" Centurion or Collector II with felt pads.  If you're tight on cash, even the Proline or "lesser" series are still better than sets from other venders costing $300.  IMO, the most talented carvers are Indian, so all this stuff is made overseas and marked up already to make up the difference in the two economies.  The prices come down on the sets that become less popular.  That doesn't mean they're not made as well.  It just means that sales dropped and they want to make room for something new, so shop wisely.  BTW, since all these pieces are made abroad, if you want to invest in the US economy, get your pieces but buy a custom board made in the USA.