I take offene at the comments concerning We Americans and our lamb mentality.It is possible that you have not been taken advantage of,spent a year while fingers were pointed between a dealer (Hudson Audio) and an importer(Audio Advancements),and finally by the manufacturer,who felt I was not being honest about the troubles WE Americans were experiencing with their representation.
I bought a cartridge ,represented as new and within a year that units' cantilever collapsed,taking out a coil.
I really thought it was something I had done.It was not.I spent considerable monies to have my analog front-end checked for DC volts and shorts.None were found.
Then to finally be offered "to be taken care of",if I were to retract my statements made to JA.
My admiration of the performance of said cartridge,drove me to furnish a retraction against my better judgement>The importer then turned around and "cleared" himself by sending it to JA.Then he promptly turned around and dropped it back in my lap.The stated repair would run $1050 ,plus $200 shipping.
I refused to spend $1350 (it cost me $112 to get the cartridge to JA),plus the $1700 to restore the cartridge.
I ask,would anyone buy a $2K cartridge for over $3K?It is obvious to me that a cartridge rated for 10K hours,has been used extensively to collapse during the first year of use (I may listen to 3-4 sides of an LP,3-4 times a week).
I might have spent even more money chasing people around and going to court to try and resolve this.That is not how I wish to spend my time.In talking with several dealer (on various carts),I find that both have left dealers holding a lot of useless gear and misrepresented product that the consumer is now stuck with.
When you have had this kind of experience,YOU will certainly want to know who is behind the products you wish to include in your beloved system.
The Industry and its's representive persons have changed over the years here in the US,maybe due to OUR throw away society.This is no excuse for the way music lovers are treated when the issue of a "warranty" must finally be executed.Many Warranties (a piece of paper or a notation on a website) are only as good as those who stand behind them.When you deal with a bean-counter,you will always lose-it is strictly a matter of money (think "Fight Club",where Ed Norton is explaining when a company will do a re-call to the passenger next to him on a plane).
I don't know what to say any further.If you can display compassion for fellow human beings,my hat goes off to you.