I want to say first that I am pleased with the tree itself overall. The assembly is simple, the tree is nice and full, and it’s a nice shape. I was looking for one with the fiber optic lights to replace a similar tree I’ve had for years. The lights flicker in a sequence of slow color change followed by fast. I would have preferred it to twinkle at a consistent speed but that’s a personal preference. The part I am disappointed in is the quality of the packaging. The tree and all its parts were thrown loose in the box, which was also the outer shipping box. Therefore, when it arrived heavily damaged by FedEx, there were pieces of the branches sticking out. The base of the tree was dirty, and the box with the plug was dented. Since it still works properly and is close to Christmas decorating time, I decided to keep it and will just clean off the base. The tree is nice—the shipping is the only gamble.