Potentially not too late if you paid via credit card, they are actually one of the few business entities on side of the customer because it's their money ultimately on the line. I've had a few instances that a vendor / manufacturer wouldn't address something I considered defective post-sale return window, but suddenly when MasterCard staff get involved they're more than happy to fully refund the purchase with a product return.
For the other topic going on in this thread; social media for every hobby has largely devolved into most of the "popular" figures being product hucksters. To what degree they are typically depends on the exposure level they've obtained, but it's quite universal. We have quite a few in this hobby and it's pretty easy to spot if you've been in for a period of time, but the newer hobbyist tend to be too trusting and end up buying over priced junk because XYZ, who got it for free, is using it for three months before the next thing comes along on their channel to replace it.
Hopefully you guys having these issues can find some way to get things made right.
