I'm not sure what some of you expect from Stern. I remember seeing pics back in the ghosting meltdown thread where you could barely see ghosting yet owner was freaking out. Stern cannot replace every playfield or entire pins for every small cosmetic issue. I know home owners expect perfection but Stern is not going to promise that. Guys that were operators back in the day often say B/W pins often shipped with issues.
Stern is doing what every manufacturer does these days by covering their butts with warnings, policies, accept/decline agreements, etc. It sucks Stern is raising prices so much while offering less and less for it. Like everything else, you have to decide if what they are offering is worth it.