That seems quite strange to me, and is a bit odd that it took more than a few days to notice. I find some inconsistencies in the reporting you are doing vs. the product I got. Hopefully this information helps and others can chime in to clarify.
(1) the plate that was originally on the Montage when it shipped was aluminum in my case.
(2) the brass plate I got has a horizontal brush pattern to it. Yours appears sanded in all directions (by sandpaper or similar).
(3) the kinds of dents and marks would hardly pass any form of QC, specifically the ones above the nav cluster.
Is this damage from shipping? If that were the case, then you should also document the Linworks Montage black box with the foam, packaging paper, as well as the box that contained it all, as well.
1) Yes, it originally came with the alu plate, and as Kevin pointed out, I did swap the plates. But I don't see how I could have caused that much damage and still maintained the anodizing.
2) As others have pointed out, their plates also came like this. I don't care about the plate finish, it was fine to me.
3) Agreed, so I am surprised that it has somehow passed "QC" but there has consistently been issues and inconsistencies.
There was no noticeable/visible damage on the box, it shipped fine.
Hello. Okay you posted here.
Yes it was my mistake that I did not have any WK navy available atm and asked you if you can change color and you accepted it.
I sent you a free pcb for that compensation. So I think that will not be any issue since we both agreed.
And the damage part, it is hardly believable that I have sent these kinds of damaged parts. There was no mention of damage, but the plate was swapped (as it originally had alu on). You posted pictures of damaged parts with the brass plate on, which means you have opened the housing at least once, and those damages are easy to be seen.
We could have missed something small on the QC, but both Lin and I certainly did not see any boards with that much scratching and damage when we did the QC.
And as long as I know, you have talked with Lin and agreed to have partial refund for this.
I find it strange that you are posting this to Geekhack.
Sending Silver WK wouldn't be an issue if it didn't have all these defects. But I mention it in the post as it starts from there, and it points out that mistakes have been made with orders before.
I'm talking about it on GH because the "resolution" was a partial refund of $35, thanks.
1. Housing QC issues
Below is the picture I got when you reported this issue to me.
When you have that kind of noticeable mark, as soon as you open the box, you should have not done any further actions but report the issues first. (I haven't got any other reports like yours yet.)
But you proceeded to open the case, and swapped the original aluminum plate to the brass one. Are you 100% sure the mark was there from the first time you opened the box? Because both Lin and I are sure that we did not have and did not even see that kind of big mark on any boards, which should have been very easy to notice. Are you sure there weren't any issues when you opened the case and swapped plates? You said that the anodizing is not damaged. But I have seen other cases that have been dented but without marks of damaged anodizing.
2. Partial Refund
It seems you are not happy with the $35 partial refund offer. I checked your conversation with Lin, and with him, you both agreed to that amount, and you accepted it.
You were asking for $50 the first time, and our counter offer was $35, which is 10% of the GB price.
I know it is not a big amount, but if you would consider the total amount, it is still not a small amount on our side.
I refunded you USD $40 for the PCB (a full refund as per your request), and also provided a free PCB to swap. And I personally helped you with a DHL shipping upgrade, since EMS was not available to AU.
This was in summary what was offered to you: $350 (GB Price) - $40 (PCB full refund) - $40 (PCB compensation for color swap request) - $35 (case color swap compensation) = $235 (total)
Ultimately, I am sorry for all this trouble that you are experiencing. Hope that this issue can be closed in goodwill for both sides.