Just for the record, I called after the hour the site said to call, and my exact words were "Good evening, I have a few questions about some of the pen kits you sell". That's it guys.
Second, I am sure glad some of you guys have time to check every part in every kit. If I started doing that I would have to charge more for every pen as I would be wasting a lot of time on this stuff. When i make something I grab the tubes out of a kit, make the blanks and then grab the rest of the bag for assembly. Like I said, if I had a problem with a missing part, I've never had a problem getting parts handed to me, no questions asked.
Third, I am glad that CS issues are brought out in the open. What good is sharing knowledge if nobody finds out who the sellers are that people may want to stay away from? this post reminded me of why I try to order from everyone else before I order through AS. A wise person elsewhere said "If a customer has a good buying experience they will tell one person, if they have a bad experience they will tell 10 people and in turn they will tell another 10". Had BB just sent out a part, the OP may have come here and said what a great experience he just had and I may have rethunk my position and it may have caused people who normally don't order there or who have never ordered there to spend some $$ with BB. It would have taken a few $ to make a happy customer, and potentially it may have generated many $ in return.
Mark, you mentioned the should have kept it private. I do believe he did until he got an answer that wasn't to his satisfaction. When I deal with a contractor at wwork, I give them a chance to make right until they choose to end our business relationship. At that point I make sure I let everyone know what type of contractor they could be dealing with if they go with that company.