Hello Sawmill Creek. I will try to limit my rant, but never the less. I came back from the Lee Valley store today with a detail rebate plane and found out it was defective and needed to be shipped back for an exchange. This is the 5th time I am returning a plane in a years time for non cosmetic reasons.

First, I returned my combination plane because the skates were not aligned causing the blade to not fit.
Second, my large shoulder plane lever cap pivot was off meaning it could not be inserted,
Third, a low angle jack I got as a gift had a chipped blade and a chipped lever cap, (this was a seconds model, but the idea as i understand it is only cosmetic issues are passed)
Fourth, the custom 5 1/2 jack I bought had a mouth opening limit screw that didnt actually stop the mouth plate at all. screw too short? not seating correctly? I dont know. just it didnt work
And then this Fifth plane today, where the lever cap is so tight the blade cannot be sufficiently retracted.

I understand a few things, one, I have a lot of Veritas products and the vast majority work amazingly well as expected. And two, all companies have these issues, but what separates Veritas from many of the others is their stellar customer service.

Never the less, these are expensive products. Sometimes returning something might mean its unavailable again for some time, or not available at all if a blem model. Or simply having to wait for the returns process to kick in. Minor grievances I know. But my god do I feel unlucky.