Workmates/Workbenches

[Edrof]

Ello!

I've been after a classic B&D Workmate for a while but then I saw a Ryobi RWB02 Foldable Workbench with Adjustable Angle in the recent Black Friday sale. It was only £30 - down from £55. Great! It arrived last week and I put it together straight away as I have a bit of carpentry that I've been wanting to get on with. Sadly, the thing is USELESS as a clamping tool. And I do mean useless.

1. All the nuts and bolts have been triple-checked and there's still a good four inches of play in the frame.
   
2. When vertical, the wooden surfaces only really meet at the bottom, meaning the item being secured is loose at the top (like a metronome).
   
3. A similar problem occurs when the wooden surfaces are used in the standard horizontal fashion: no matter how hard I clamped them together, a simple small plank of wood was held so loosely that I could lift it out of the 'grip' with a single fingertip.

Spoiler

I've contacted Ryobi, but they haven't got back to me. I really wanted to get on with making this sword stand too

TL;DR - I take it this shouldn't be happening? Can anyone recommend a good, budget workbench for when I get an exchange/refund?

 

[Edrof]

Thanks guys! This will be going back for sure. I emailed Ryobi with a chance to make it good, but they don't care enough to get back to me and there are so many problems with it that I feel obliged to leave negative feedback. It's just damned annoying because I have jobs to get on with.

I'm tempted to make my own table now after seeing yous guys'!

 

[Edrof]

I'll have to keep an eye out at some car boot sales for an old workmate. Failing that, I'll make my own in the new year.

Amazon have been great and the bench'll be picked up by courier on Monday. The worst part is that I now need to disassemble to damned thing - and I put it together tightly! Ryobi still haven't replied so I've left a negative review. Live and learn!