I ordered from four of the major chess retailers and heres what happened.

Now, there has been a problem of quality from Chess Bazaar noted on this forum for over 3 years that I have been on this forum.

You will find that a good number of posters here no longer will do business with them because of problems they have had with Chess Bazaar.

On the other hand there have been a good number of people that have had positive experiences with them.  In fact there are a number that have had both good and bad experiences.  Lou Balch made a claim a long time ago that he would do no more business with them.  Then, a few years later he kind of gave in and bought a couple of their sets.  He reports that he is happy with them.

The problem with Chess Bazaar, as I see it, is inconsistency.  And that inconsistency is unpredictable.  It is hard to predict when there will be a problem with one of their sets and when it will be nice.

The customer service has also been inconsistent.  Sometimes we see they send replacements and completely fix the problem.  Sometimes they abandon the customer completely.  And sometimes they offer to fix the problem only if the customer buys something else.

For a long time Chess Bazaar had the cheapest prices by a long shot.  Then about a year ago or so, they started raising their prices.  Some of their sets now are not cheap at all in price.

There are a few design sets that don't seem to be problems.  I bought a Soviet set and it is fine.  I also bought a 3" Fierce Knight set and it is also fine.  And I bought a Sheesham Hungarian - Romanian set that also is good.  I haven't seen any complaints or problems from people with any of these designs.

And when they have  poor quality, it's really poor.

So, all I can say about Chess Bazaar is you pay your price and you take your chances.

Personally whenever I have seen a set from another company that is the same design as a Chess Bazaar set, I have always bought it from that other company.

And yes there are a few sets, I wouldn't buy from them because of the problems I have seen here.  And we can see pictures of sets from them, that are really nice.

First i want to address your points from your first reply, I dont know much about any of this so I am speaking from a place of pure assumption and ignorance (completly honest here). Since I have started buying wood peices I have worried about cracks, They thankfully havnt happened but assume like all wood objects they could (esspecially given I live in florida, where the hummidtiy is aweful). I cant say whos right or whos wrong, only that if you say that I shouldnt worry about cracks or anything that comes with treatment of wood ill just be a little relieved. But in all honsty I didnt really mean for this forum to dive into those aspects (since I cant contribute to that feild).

In terms of your second post about CB I agree, and I am sadly in the community that has a distrust of them. I have the hungarian set that you have but I splurged and got the bud rosewood before it sold out. Its great but like I listed before some of the peices have scuffs and singe marks from friction burns and when the peices were being worked. I cant help but be upset by this but I know its only my experience and invetiably dont wish everyone a bad experience...Im glad you and others have walked away from the company with posative experiences, I just regret that was not the case for me. Would you suggest another company that youve shopped at over the years and trust?
I also agree that the experience with CB fluctuates and think this would be much improved if they had a larger focus on quality control. Right now I dont know if they employ a lot of people in that feild.

Well, this problems with Chess Bazaar have existed for the 3 plus years that I have been coming to this forum.  And they have had their quality control problems and problems with how they handled things back then also.

I'm not here to say that wood never cracks.  I live in Peoria, Illinois and have been very lucky with chess sets in this environment and my very simple way of storing them, in plastic Plano boxes (believe it or not).  I have heard of pieces cracking in other climates.  Areas where it is dry like the Northeast and the West are problematic.  I also have heard from people in high humidity areas like yours, Florida having cracking.

The only answer I have seen that works is to buy from a more reputable retailer like The House of Staunton, Official Staunton Company, Your Move Chess and Games (www.chessusa.com) and some notable others that will replace the cracked pieces.

If the sets are older, Alan Dewey has been known to repair or even make replacement pieces.

Back to my first point, this guy is making claims like the jaws of the Knights breaking that just isn't really happening, anywhere.  He has made a lot of other crazy and wrong claims as well.  Yes, every once in a great while he says something that is true.  But those times are very few.

Back to the good topic, i'm sorry for you that you had such problems with Chess Bazaar.  If you can get a refund from PayPal, that would be great.

As I mentioned in my OP I can not recommend chessusa enough. excellent customer service and quality.

Thank you, I hope so too.

Kyle,to answer your question....I had a fabulous experience with Official Staunton! Actually,I'd ordered a nice set on Christmas day and they offered to upgrade it,at no additional cost,to a much more expensive set,in the "true holiday spirit"! GREAT people!!

As to CB....I've had my issues,but they actually called me(twice) from India to iron things out.Of course,this came after a hassle,but that doesn't bother me these days.In my latest CB go 'round,they have really lived up to their claim of no hassle replacements.So,I can't kill them as some do on this site.

I mean,if somebody demonstrated where I can find the Russian collection that CB offers,I'd be interested,but I have not seen that,so I'm going to go with CB in their new 1940 Reproduced Russian set....Which Goodnight Mike highly recommended here and in a personal message to me.He is honest and I trust in his recommendations.....Good luck-

Btw,regarding....Stauntonmaster......He has indirectly knocked both myself and  other folks  who have given business to CB and some other companies too(to my best recollection) as well as criticizing  quite a few  of  the sets that many "good natured" posters have been kind and generous enough to put on this site......But....From what I can remember,he has "not" made any direct insults to any specific individuals(I think).I take his comments with a grain of salt,but he's entitled to his opinions,as long as he does not directly attack a forum member,imo.....He's not "always wrong",btw. I see him as a passionate guy who loves chess and has a "very" thick skin.

Just my two cents worth.

Hey not a problem. Im not here to take sides, really just to say who I ordered from and what happened when I did and of course look for suggestions so the good experience keep happeneing and the bad ones wont happen again.

Amen, and that's why most of us are here.

We see pictures and reviews of Chess sets that give us a nice insight on them.  Then of course we end up buying some or even all of them.  And if things go right, we have nice sets that we can enjoy.

What's it like ordering from Chess Bazaar, or as I like to call them, Cheese Brassiere?

It's like this:

Sometimes you win, and sometimes it's just crap(s)!

I don't know much about the subject, but recently I ordered Judit Polgar's  chess pieces from New in Chess, and the quality is super-excellent!

https://www.newinchess.com/en_US/judit-polgar-chess-pieces

Hey Kyle,I want to let you know that I was "not" singling you out regarding my comments about Stauntonmaster.They were just general observations from past postings on the forum....Everyone deserves a voice,as long as they stay civil.

MT, I'm glad that you had resolved any issues pertaining to your orders with CB. I also admire their offering of several interesting Soviet/Russian reproductions but one thing that bothered me is when I made a flat offer for two sets (Botvinnik Flohr and the 1940 Soviet Club chess set antiqued for $500.00) they flat out said it's not possible. Mind you with their current running discount going on right now if I were to apply them the cost would be $20.00 extra yet they squawked at the $500 flat offer. I think as a sales rep you'd do your best to land that sale but when I told them I'lll shop elsewhere he said hold on but I immediately declined any such continuing banter on the subject. I can't see how they bucked at my initial offer and having some issues in the past I decided perhaps I'll wait and see if these sets get marked down over time. After they improved the knights on the 1940 set it was much more appealing to me and I'm still trying to add a few more Soviet/Russian sets to my collection. Patience is a virtue I would guess in this instance.

Looks good!

If this thread is to be believed, stauntoncastle.com has very questionable business practices (see discussion starting at post #55):

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/what-manufacturer-from-amritsar-india?page=3

Thank you for the clarification, No offense taken. I agree with you 100 percent.

I think you are better off practicing patiance, gives more time for them to get their act together and even if you only want to wait a short while they are bound to have another IAMBACK40 40% coupon that they send out.

Kyle,one of the Soviet sets I have happens to be the Botvinnik Flohr and I am going to be ordering the 1940 Soviet set soon(whatever discount price they have at the time).....The Botvinnik set is truly superb!! Very high quality and an eye opener,imo......But,I am always cautious regarding CB and can only hope I have no issues.I have been fairly lucky this year(not so much in 2017,but got things resolved)....Admittedly,I am lazy(reflects in my crummy play as well...yuk) as the 34 replacement pieces they sent me have not even  been checked yet.One reason is,I only need 4 of them to be good,so the odds are in my favor....Yup! I'm lazy,but happy-

I should have mentioned that the Knights on the Botvinnik set are not "period correct",but I like them alot! 

I happen to like the one from HOS more (just my opinion and going off aesthetic and not feel), but I wish you luck in your next purchase.

And yeah, I wish I was laid back with this stuff...but im not good with ignoring flaws. Its something personal to myself that needs work, but in the meantime Im a bit obsessive.

That makes me sad. Is there any remedy or fixes, or should someone with my mindset (I get upset when I notice flaws and its something I cant not focus on after the initial sight) just steer clear of those woods and go with ebonized boxwood and plastic sets?