Not at all. I took your post to be a good, albeit, harsh critique of the builder, his product and his customer service. I have only been at this ecig thing for a little less than a year now and only found ECF about 7 months ago. Since finding ECF I've accumulated several mods in various sizes, shapes, materials etc and have been testing one against the others in an attempt to find which ones I like the best. I just need to get better at letting loose of the ones that I feel are less appropriate for me. As for this particular model, I just happened to meet the builder and thought I would support a local guy by trying his out. I have no other "clones" except for a couple clone attys (2). This builder claims he talked to the original builder and received the "ok" to build his brass clone since the original builder stated he wouldn't be building a full brass model anymore. I have no idea if the statement is true or not, nor do I care too much. I can't think of too many (any) items we have in modern life that are deemed "good ideas" that are not copied one way or another and I like the idea of another American builder stepping into the fray.
I really doubt that in the long run I'll keep many "brass" mods as I'm not too fond of the "patina" that shows up. In addition, constant cleaning of all the brass parts, including the brass threads, pins & etc. seems like something I won't like very much. In addition, while I do like the looks of an 18350 mod I don't care much for the bat life. I've pretty much found that my favorite bat size is the 18490.
Personally, I don't feel like I've "wasted" any money yet as I can most likely sell all of the mods in my collection for close to what I paid for them. I did, however, "waste" a TON of money while on the stinkies.
I was pretty harsh this morning (not a morning person at all!), but I stand by it. I hope I didn't come across the wrong way - my intent was not to disparage your purchase - I really do hope you have a good experience and get a great PV out of it!