Does anyone know anything about oak wood?

[Thelineisadottoyou]

My grandma has bought an oak table, she is really careful with her pension money so this is a huge thing for her and she has been very excited about it.

It has arrived and it has marks on it that just don’t seem right, the table looks a mess and she’s quite upset.

She complained and they sent a guy round to inspect it who basically said she has wasted his time and that’s how oak looks and she’s stupid if it thinks this is bad.

I’ve attached a picture, should I be pushing this further or is this an acceptable oak table?

A shake is a separation along the grain, d1970. Not what this is.

I think medullary rays are beautiful. However, the table looks like it's made from narrow pieces of wood, bonded together, which possibly makes the medullary rays look more jarring and less natural.

If your gran is set on a refund or replacement for an item which was purchased in-store, rather than at a distance (i.e. fewer rights for the consumer and no automatic right to have a refund/replacement unless goods are faulty), I think a key question is whether or not the retailer made clear before the sale the likely variation in the appearance of the wood due to natural features. If not, then I don't think it's something a customer can necessarily be expected to anticipate.

We have a large solid oak table and that has knots and markings just like those. Because it’s a more rustic looking finish and I just oil it every now and then it looks fine. We were warned though when we bought it that every table would be different. I wouldn’t be particularly happy if I’d expected a uniform finish though, would they consider exchanging it?

I bought DS an oak desk from Oak Furnitureland. The pre purchase stuff was really clear that there may be natural marks and they had to be expected.

This is mass produced cheap furniture. Very different from the Oak bureau passed onto me when grandparents died and the oak beams in my inglenook.