I bought a table and chairs 18 mths ago and I love the contemporary look of the metal frame and wooden surface. However, having taken the cover of this month, in addition to general colour loss from all the rain, lots of small patches of the colour had totally gone - maybe attached to the cover? The customer services team were very defensive , telling me they don't recomend covering, and if i did cover, then it must be breathable. Fair enough, but this is not on the website care instructions and the assembly manual says it can be covered. I was also told I should have been reapplying the grey colour protector 4-6 times a year. This is not on the bottle or web-site. I only did twice. Anyway, on the positive, I have put on a couple of coates of the colour and it seems to have been taken up by the wood, put on 2 coates of protector and it now looks good again. Finger scrossed.