Well, it took a month and a half, but H&H Industrial Products (HHIP) made good.
As you recall, in mid December 2006 I bought a boring head set which included a small selection of boring bars. The head worked perfectly, but the boring bars not at all. The tips were mis-shapen, the final grind-to-shape step apparently having been omitted. Some of the bars had far too large a positive rake - the cutting face being far out of parallel with the flat on the shank.
Actually, the failure to grind the tip to shape probably saved my bacon. The bar I first used had such a positive rake it could well have gouged itself into the aluminum and broken off, doing much damage and making it harder to prove that the problem was not user error. It was dramatic enough as it was, as the heel dragged and bounced the table and knee around.
Anyway, after I sent my complaint to HHIP's customer service, they responded saying that they were looking into it. A few weeks later I pinged them, and they responded that the factory in Taiwan had not answered, but all these boring head sets in stock had the same problem. Another few weeks go by, and I ping them. The response this time is that the factory still hasn't answered, but they HHIP will resolve the problem by replacing the bars, and asked if I want a 3/8 shank set, or
3/4 shank. I answer 3/4. Another few weeks pass, and I ping them, and they respond with an apology (for having been distracted by a trade show), and promise to send the set the next day. In due time, the set arrives, and the bars all look fine.I don't think there are very many people at HHIP, and they are probably quite busy, so non-squeaking wheels soon slid out of view.
So, it did end well, but did require some polite persistence.
Joe Gwinn