Ok every review I read said great chairs but very frustrating to put together. I agree, however heres the trick that no one has mentioned. I had trouble also in the beginning but realized that I was tightening 1 bolt at a time and then trying to get the next 1 in and have trouble. So I installed each bolt wwasher 1 at a time in every hole 1st by tighening each bolt until it grabs just a couple threads. You need them all loose so you have the wiggle room to fit the next 1 into the hole, etc. then start tightening each bolt. So do it that way and its a whole lot faster  less frustrating.