Bestar Pro Concept Plus L Desk with Metal Leg in White and Deep Gray

Happy with this purchase. A bit of a complicated assembly as it needs two people. Delivery was late by about a week due to supply chain issues. But all in all, it's very good service and product.

My wife bought this a couple weeks ago through Sam's and I put most of it together. The boxes were full of an excess amount of fine cardboard dust from the packing material that needed to be vacuumed out prior to removing desk parts. Aside from the damage to the side of the desk, the holes that connect the two pieces of the desk together are too shallow (1/2 in deep) for the 1 in screws to tighten all the way. Problem is, the screws are 1" long and the desk material is 1" thick. The bracket is around 1/8" thick, so if I drill the holes deeper, the tip of the screw will be just under the surface of the top of the desk and I risk drilling a hole all the way through. You can see in the pictures how much the screws stick out. I drilled the ones on the left deeper, and the ones on the right are as is. Those screws are sticking out 1/2 inch. I called Bestar customer service this morning and I was told that was the only screw for this desk and I would just have to drill deeper holes and screw it in. I tried explaining that the screws would be nearly piercing the surface of the desk, but I don't believe the customer service person understood the problem, despite explaining the screw is 1" and the desk is 1" and the bracket is only 1/8", leaving zero margin for error if I need to drill more. I guess I'll go to the hardware store and try to find screws that are shorter. I hope the filing cabinet section that I haven't assembled yet don't have similar problems.