I purchased this set to replace a cast iron set that was rusting away quickly in the salt air of my beach house. I'm assuming that the cast aluminum will survive much better, but I won't known that for certain until it's been in place for awhile.I was very pleased with the way in which the set was packed for shipping. Each major piece was sealed in bubble wrap and the hardware was separated into one pack for the table and another for the chairs, which made sorting for assembly easier. The bolts were capped to prevent damage during shipping. The set was secured in the cardboard box with styrofoam. The set arrived with absolutely no damage.Assembly was relatively easy, despite any written instructions. The included tools (small scredriver and open end wrench) were adequate, but I would recommend using a standard 9/16ths wrench to make assembly a bit easier. In the absence of supporting text, some thought was required as to the details of assembly, but it's easy to figure out. Each part was secured by a combination of bolts, flat washers, lock washers and nuts, all the same size which made assembly simpler. If you remember to place the lock washer between the flat washer and the nut on each attachment, it's hard to go wrong. One thoughtful provision was an extra piece of each type of hardware; so that you don't have to worry about losing a washer or nu during assembly.I couldn't; tell if the hardware was stainless steel, but I suspect that it wasn't so I'm planning to coat each bolt and nut combination with grease before enclosing them in the provided plastic caps. Bolts and nuts tend to rust out quickly in the salt air.The assembled set seems to be very sturdy. The lock washers make for more secure attachments.I gave it a 4 for comfort because the 15 inch seats are a little on the small side. I don't see myself sitting for several hours in seat that size. On the other hand, it's probably not any different from similar chairs for bistro sets. A 15-16 inch round seat pad might be a useful addition. Overall, I would say that it is good for what it was designed to be.