Some time ago i won at auction a nice haul which I described in another thread. Included in it was a Lee 4 20 Pro that had been modified into a dipper and was missing all the bottom pour stuff plus the heat shield . After making sure it worked i thought id ask lee about the parts mostly the heat shield. If they had the parts in stock etc.thinking at worst i had a working melter.
So i sent a message about that asking if they had parts in stock describing the Pro noting that it had been modified into a melter and if they had parts on stock for it. I got a response from "Ann" asking for pictures. Thinking they wanted to nail down what it might need i took several and off they went. To my surprise a few days later Ann asked me to send it in for free repair or replacement and provided return shipping labels if i paid the shipping. I was stunned at this above and beyond customer service but said heck yeah!
$30 boxed up sent. A few days later got a call from "Betsy". The unit had been modified and couldnt be fixed but they would sell me a new one half price at $65 plus shipping. Uh...no kidding it was modified as i said that in the original message and all i wanted was parts not shell out over $100 as i had 3 pots already Back and forth told her to throw it out and i would consider the $30 a lesson learned.
Next day got an email from Ann that i could have a $56 gift certificate for the modified melter, they were quite fixated on that cyoa term. I replied to cancel that as i had no intention of buying anything from them again
So $56 - $30 = $26 for something i wasnt interested in buying in exchange for a pot that worked and I sent in at their request which i would never have done on my own.
A company should not promise something out of the blue then realize their mistake and offer a half baked solution. Remember, all i wanted was to buy a heat shield and other parts if in stock. Now i have no pot and am out $30.