When do you return new vinyl?

You got that right, nit picking is for nit wits. If the album is completely perfect sonically. Even with scuffs, I won't return it. Obvious warpage creating a weird tracking speed is simply out of the question must be returned and any vinyl areas that are not readable, skip, or scatch etc..

It depends what I paid. If I paid $50 for a multi-disc, 45 rpm pressing and it's got any repeated pop or imperfection more than a pop or two, I'll send it back. If the level of the pops a low, I'd put up with several, but if there are one or two load pops or major cruve imperfections or out of center or warping, I'll send it back.

OTOH, if it's a new popular music release that I paid say 16-bucks for, then I'll expect a few pops and less than pristine surfaces, but won't keep it if it's warped significantly.

I must say that I've had very few bad experiences lately.

Dave

DCstep seems pretty dead on, IMHO - although I did buy a slightly warped $30 LP yesterday, and I'm not going to bother returning it. The warp seems to be cosmetic (I can't hear it affecting playback, it just makes my tonearm bob up and down slightly) and I'm pretty sure it might flatten out after a month on the shelf between my other records. The only records I've ever returned were ones pressed off center, but that's pretty rare.

However, if I had purchased a $50 LP and it had even minor flaws I'd be pretty upset. If you can't guarantee quality for $50, what's the point?

You cannot complain about the sound quality. One should be familiar with the sound one gets out of a particular label. If all else being equal, warps, skips, high amount of backround noise (unless record is from 78 RPM) you keep the album.