We had two deliveries of this item both returned by my wife as they were damaged the last delivery came when I was out, the driver put pressure on my wife to accept this last one as she had returned two. When I got home I was furious as this item had an unsightly mark on the top.This is slapbang in the middle at the front and just draws your eye to it. I went through the complaints proceedure with them (Laura Ashley). An engineer came out who was a trained Joiner I remarked that the one who used that piece of wood on this table needs sacking, he told me that they strive for the natural look!!. However this visit was to no avail we received a letter from laura ashley 6 Oct 2009 saying, " Unable to accept resposibility. Lisa Harlock"