Took this one back

I loved the idea of the Soft and Wide Gate because it was perfect to block off a wide hallway that we have that the traditional gate wouldn't work on.  When I received the gate I got it out and put it together.  It was fairly easy to put together but the instructions were somewhat unclear.  The worst thing about this gate is the tension rod design.  If you're making it wider than your arm span, it takes two people to adjust because you have to hold one end to turn the other.  And to make matters even worse, when you adjust the top and not the bottom, it goes all lopsided and hard to handle.  I had to lay the gate down with me on one and and my husband on the other to get it close to the width that we needed it and even enough that it would hold steady and flat.  Then we placed it in the hallway and it's pretty tricky to twist the rods when it's in place to get it tight enough.  I never was able to get it tight enough to hold very firm.  I knew that this was not the gate for me.  I needed something that I could take up and down as necessary and this was more of a gate that you would want to leave in place because of how much trouble that it was...and that is assuming that you were able to get it in place securely.  Loved the idea, but the design needs some work. I'm still looking for a wide gate for that area that isn't so much trouble.