Although the parasol looks great and operates perfectly fine, the design of the product has a major flaw, as the base is barely able to support the weight of the parasol when opened. This makes the parasol unstable, and essentially renders the product unfit for purpose. The base should be able to adequately support the weight of the parasol when opened, but this is far from satisfactory, as all it does is pose a safety risk! As a result customers are encouraged to buy (at a cost which is more than the price of the parasol itself!) a base weight. Given the obvious design flaw, surely the base weight must be included with the product as standard!?!