Thats a load of crap and I would steer clear of the online retailer you purchased your cues from. Lucasi makes a very good cue at the price point. I have owned several over the years and never had an issue with any of them. On top of that Lucasi cues are distributed by Cue & Case in St. Augustine Florida, if you had a problem with the cue you would send it to them for Warranty/Replacement and from my experience with them recently your cue would either be repaired properly or replaced. Again it sounds to me like you got screwed by the retailer not by the brand.