FHI HEAT Styling Tourmaline Hair Straightener

The brand is not the problem, in this case. I've been using FHI styling tools for years, and have never come across such a situation as this. Unfortunately, I suppose I can only place blame on myself for not having fully read into the seller (I online shop a lot, and tend to skim reviews, unless buying from a website I've never been a customer w previously). I hate to only give one star, but this was my experience: I am an Amazon Prime member, and shop on Amazon a few times a month for various items. Regretfully, I simply looked at how many stars it had received and used the 1-click buy option. I received it less than 48 hours later, and couldn't wait to use it! Shortly after plugging it on, however, did I notice the actual plates were taking a long time to warm up. Minutes went by (which, to the best of my memory wouldn't have been the case w any FHI products; if I recall correctly they were all ready to use within 60 seconds or so), and I inspected: the plates rocked back and forth, the manufacturing "stam" (for lack of a better term) appeared to have been air brushed on (I could literally wipe it away w my finger), and after several minutes of waiting, and hoping, and wishing, and dreaming, it failed to give the mere illusion it would ever be capable of styling anything. After all of this, I immediately pulled up the seller's profile and was struck w numerous complaints of customers having experienced something along the lines of what happened to me. The worst part is FHI wouldn't honor their warranty, seeing as the product wasn't sold by an authorized seller. Needless to say, I think the lesson here is, no matter how experienced of an online shopper you may deem yourself, always do your homework. In hindsight, I made every mistake an online shopping novice would. I read reviews like this all of the time, but never thought it'd actually happen to me, Oh, well. You live and you learn.