Took a stab at assembling the desk this morning. Hit a snag when I discovered the rear legs didn't have screw holes drilled in them, as the illustrations in the instructions indicated. Not a huge problem, not one that the drill couldn't fix, anyways. But the crossbar seems to have been mis-drilled as well. There are two holes, one for the screw and one for the dowel. The screw hole begins on the bottom of the bar, and hits the leg at an angle. The screw is supposed to exit in line with, and below, the dowel hole. In my case, it's coming out somewhat to the side.
When I try to tighten the screws, the off-center entry point torques the bar and the leg, causing the legs to not lie flat if they were placed on the floor, and the bar to be twisted along the longitudinal axis.
I could try to fix it by bolting the legs to the frame and forcing the legs to behave, but I don't think I want that much pressure/tension on these base pieces.
I called Crate and Barrel, and a manager got back to me. Since visualizing the issue seemed to be a problem, I sent the (helpful) manager pictures. As it stands right now, the options are to return the unit (unlikely, considering the pain it was to get it up here) or to possibly get new parts. She didn't sound enthusiastic about that second one, though.
We'll see what she comes back with.
UPDATE: Nikki at C&B was very helpful, and secured a new crossbar and legs for me. However, they were drilled - or not - the same way. Either the entire shipment was screwed up, or the instructions were wrong.
But this is where the Tyson's C&B staff went above and beyond. From the floor model, it was impossible to tell if the legs were drilled, or where the crossbar screw exited. They tried to track down who had assembled it, and when that failed, Nikki and one of the stock room guys tried a couple different times to put the pieces together, until it got to a point I was happy with. It wasn't perfect, but they were straight, not under a lot of pressure, and there was a small gap at each end of the crossbar.
Took the assembled piece home, slapped it into the leg mounts on the desk frame, and finished the rest, righted it, and slid it into place. It definitely feels big, bigger than I thought it would be, even with measuring it. But I think it's going to be a great workspace.
Now to find a chair.