Well I hope the OP does get a full postage refund, it wasn't his fault that poor quality job was sent to him. I would have felt quite sick unpacking that and discovering those experiences with the build. I accept mistakes happen but being told this doesn't match the quality of other peoples experiences doesn't help the customer with the problem they have in front of them. If they have such a low returns rate then they shouldn't mind reimbursing the customer instead of whinging about it. It will be a lesson well learned to QC things higher in future, especially on this custom side of things. Whatever the cost, it's small in terms of advertising costs and I think the OP should receive some sort of gift for the grief and time it has taken.
Good to hear the replacement is looking good, hope it is everything you wanted when it arrives and look forward to seeing the pics / video comparisons.