Faulty reloading equipment returns. Twice I have unsuspectingly bought a piece of equipment that had been sold and found defective then returned to the vendor, who then put the returned POS back on the shelf for another unsuspecting buyer. The first was a set of Redding full length dies that had sizing die that wouldn't size the neck enough to hold a bullet. I could tell that the packaging had been opened but they looked okay and this was the only set in 300WSM so I bought them. Redding promptly replaced the die! Kudos to Redding. Then a while back I picked up an RCBS Universal hand priming tool at Cabela's in Sydney, NE. and brought it the 90 miles home and opened to box and found that it had been sold before because the packaging on the parts sack had been stapled shut. I tried it yesterday and it wouldn't work so I called RCBS this AM and several new parts are being sent. Again, kudos to RCBS. Why don't the first buyers fix this messed up stuff instead of passing it on, or if the store is notified that the product doesn't work properly why do they restock it??? In future I am going to open packages and check them before purchase. I don't expect you guys to know the answers. I am just venting. Thanks

I agree with you.
Retail employees are not rocket scientists and I doubt that many even in the gun business reload.
(You see non-reloaders on this site and it is almost like they are an entirely different breed.)

A further beef are firearms that get traded off when there is a problem.
When a manufacturer sells a rifle with something wrong they may be doomed to have that rifle circulate sometimes for decades. When that happens the companies reputation for producing junk gets smeared by the same old rifle over and over until it is repaired or junked.

I would not return a defective die to the retailer. I would send it back directly to the die manufacturer. I have had very few problems with dies such as RCBS, Lyman, Redding, and Hornady in 50 years of reloading; but, when I did, a call or an e-mail to the company would promptly take care of the problem. I have even had, on occasion, a new part sent out directly to me free w/ no questions asked and they didn't even want me to send the defective part back.
joe