Sunnyboy,
I was fairly well surprised at the path this thread has taken in the weeks since I last visited it.
When I last visited this topic, it was privately, in response to an e-mail you sent me. I commented to you privately about the fact that your dealer makes a markup and part of this is earned by handling customer service issues.
I further explained the reality of small manufacturing to you, and while I didn't state it explicitly, perhaps I should have mentioned that a "proper" customer service organization costs money and would be reflected in a retail price that would likely add $1,000 to the price of every tonearm. This is reality.
Whether your dealer actually tried to contact Tri Mai is something you never called into question. You took his word at face value and yet chose to soil Tri-Planar's name on this forum. I find this "interesting" as well, but will let this one slide as evidence of your frustration.
Dan and Ralph have explained this in public for you as well. Perhaps this is a language problem, but you do yourself no favors in spending time posting on this forum when you could easily pick up the telephone.
I'm not trying to be harsh, and I understand your frustration at the sinking feeling of having stripped a thread.
I would bet that every one of us on this thread has learned about working with a steel screw tapped into aluminum the hard way.
I would further bet that each and every one of us was frustrated at a minimum. Some of us were lucky and did not do this to a $4,700 tonearm. I learned on an aluminum cylinder head years ago :-(
We are sympathetic, but Dan, Ralph and many others on this thread take exception to the manner in which you have approached the problem.
Others disagree. To those of you who do, I suggest that you take up a pool amongst all perspective Triplanar owners to pay the true economic cost of a customer service organization for a small, cottage industry.
I suggest that you take a deep breath, re-read this thread, and get on the phone with Tri Mai. He is a man up extraordinary integrity. If you search the archives for posts of mine, you'll note that I do not treat such a statement lightly.
Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier