I'll say this much. I've spent the last twenty minutes or so reading about something that, in my opinion, shouldn't be posted on a public forum in the first place. This is no place to try complain about an individual and what he sold you.
Cues are a tricky business. Just becuase a cuemaker makes a nice hitting cue doesn't mean that every cue he churns out is going to hit the same way. If you test hit with a cue that comes with two shafts, test hit with both shafts. If you know that the second shaft is warped and you have the price discounted as a result, you can't really complain.
Also, Tom knows that every cue he puts out there is a reflection on his reputation and, if he puts out something with a defect, he should be willing to look at the problem, see if it originated on his end, and if it did, offer to make ammends as Erik informed you about the problem before the sale. If he does not, you're gripe should be with Tom.
Erik sold you a cue and informed you about the problem. You then agreed to a price based on the problem. Then, you played with the cue for a few days and decided you weren't happy with your decision. I'm sorry Jordan, but if you ask me, Erik is in the clear.
Now, let's stop slandering each other and get back to talking about pool again.