We needed a new tree after our old one had light malfunctions. I was a little hesitant about buying such an expensive tree but after checking prices around town and seeing that this one was on sale, I decided to go for it. I usually am very anti LED but that was the only option available with the sale. I chose the "warm glow" lights for and I am very pleased. They are brighter than the traditional mini lights but they are beautiful. I had to watch to tutorial video on the website to get the full "fluff" effect. I can see why some people may be disappointed in their tree if they don't realize that it takes A LOT of fluffing the first time the tree is put up. I used the gloves provided. Some other reviewers complained of tips falling off. Yes, some of the tips do fall off. I thought about gluing them back on to the tree, however, after finishing the fluffing process, it was not necessary. I would have been a bit concerned if I had not expected it after reading reviews. It is slim tree but not a pencil tree. The tree fits perfectly in our space. I do not use ribbon, and it still looked perfectly beautiful with all of our family ornaments. I am going to try the gold beaded garland next year for an added effect.

Remember, the key to making these trees look like the photos is the "fluffing" process. It took many hours, but well worth it in the end - especially if bought on sale.

I got this tree to replace one that I got a few years ago from another company. Just a portion of its lights quit working, and after trying everything possible, I couldn't get them fixed. I can't believe we're in a place now where non-functioning lights forces us to buy a whole new tree, but we are. It did give me the ability to upgrade to a taller and more natural looking one, especially with a Black Friday sale. Once up, this tree is beautiful. Initially, I wasn't sure I was happy with the branches. About the end third of each branch is the realistic part, but it's feel is very stiff plastic. The inside two-thirds of each branch is the standard thin and softer old style. I'm not sure if there's a reason for this other than cost, but I wasn't very happy at first. I didn't remember reading anything in the description indicating that this is how the tree branches are. I almost left it in the box and started a return. I was afraid if I built it and didn't like it, I'd never get it boxed again to return. I decided to go ahead and build it anyway, and I am glad I did. It looks incredible. I still wish it was clear in the description about the branch design and why it's like that. You feel a bit ripped off. I think Balsam Hill should be more clear about the branch design so people understand what they're paying for. Had I understood up front, I think I'd still purchase it, and it would have 5 stars instead of 4. Lastly, there's no way to plug anything external into the tree lights. Especially at the top where you want your topper. I had to string an extension cord all the way through the center of the tree to hide it, to the very top of my 12' tree, and secure it to the tree as well. This should definitely be changed. At least 1 outlet for use at the top at a minimum. This took my initial 4 stars down to 3.

Tree arrived in a large box, which was inside a larger box. The box was designed to be opened standing up and once you removed the styrofoam blocks around the wheels the bottom part of the flip tree rolled out, . The top part of the tree was secured to the back of the inside of the box by a ribbon and was easy to remove. After removing the heavy duty bag from around the bottom of the tree, the tree flipped up, just as advertised. The top part then plugged into place on top of the main part of the tree. The tree came with extra lights, fuses and a tool to maintain the swivels that hold each branch of the tree.
Once the limbs were fluffed out we noticed that there were still some holes in the silhouette of the tree. So since we had previously purchased the "Branch Sample Kit," we used some of those branches to fill the holes. Worked great, the core of the tree looks thicker now. We do have more branch samples that we will add to fill it out more.

Tree and packaging quality are top notch as I expected. Really appreciate the storage bags and gloves for fluffing the tree. Tree stand is very sturdy and overall quality of tree is great. I'm not sure if the "real" version of this tree is like this, but the color feels a little artificial to me. After a couple hours of fluffing, tree looks great with some room between branches so ornaments can hang. I took one start off for incomplete lighting - there is a section all around the lower part of the tree (a band, so to speak) that is darker than the rest. As I was fluffing I noticed this section had fewer lights attached to the branches compared to other sections. Would have been perfect otherwise. And because of that I would not recommend to others.