Is veneer furniture bad?

Not at all — good veneer is real wood, a thin hardwood layer bonded to a stable core, and it is how most fine furniture has been built for a century. It resists warping better than solid slabs and puts pretty grain within reach. The quality question is the core underneath: veneer over plywood or dense MDF holds screws and survives moves; paper-thin foil "veneer" over soft particle board chips at the first corner strike. "Solid wood" is a premium worth paying for in table tops and chair frames; in case pieces, a good veneer over a good core is the smarter buy.