I was so excited to get this pencil tree, but the moment I took it out of the box, that excitement turned into complete disappointment. First, part of the lights don’t work — on a brand-new pre-lit tree, that alone is unacceptable. Second, while this is supposed to be a flocked tree, I have three other flocked trees in my two homes, and I have never seen one shed like this. The amount of flocking that fell off was unbelievable. I wish I had taken photos of what ended up all over the floor and floating through the air. I felt like I breathed so much of it in that I should’ve been wearing a mask. Even after fluffing and shaping it, I vacuumed twice — and within minutes, there was yet another pile of white flocking underneath it. To make matters worse, the branches at the bottom won’t hold any shape at all. They lay completely straight down with no angle, no matter how much I try to adjust them. It makes the whole tree look misshapen and cheap. “Disappointed” doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel. I can’t believe a brand-new tree not only sheds this badly but also arrives with lights that don’t work and branches that can’t even be shaped. For the price, this is absolutely not worth it. Unfortunately, it feels like too much of a hassle to box it back up, haul it to a shipping location, deal with labels, and possibly pay return fees — otherwise, it would be going back immediately.