A beautiful object, but what a pain!

I was seduced by the rather unique design of this turntable. I chose it in striking lacquered red. I knew about Thorens quality reputation, but would soon be a bit disillusioned. Already at unpacking, the metal counterweight (placed left on the turntable) was missing. And, in addition, the fragile aluminium tonearm was slightly scratched. Probably during shipping as it didn't have any protection. There was just a cheap twisted iron wire which failed to keep it in position. Quite disappointing for an object of that price. At this point, my excitement had turned into annoyance. The store kindly offered to take the turntable back and order another one. Second try: the counterweight was still missing (!!) and the tonearm was also scratched... but just a little less. This time I decided to keep the turntable and asked the store to ask for the missing piece to Thorens. I wedged the turntable horizontally with a cork stopper (ahem) and connected it... Let me point out that the supplied cable was electric blue. The head of Thorens purchases must be color blind. But not only... as once connected (with a Thorens preamplifier) an awful buzzing sound could be heard. And it was not the mass, which was properly connected. Back to the store. They made multiple tests... Verdict: it was the supplied cable (!!). They gave me another one, properly shielded, and the problem disappeared. Eventually, Thorens sent the missing conterweight (but didn't apologise one bit for the trouble) and I now enjoy a beautiful turntable delivering a precise and well balanced sound. I also bought the (v expensive) plexiglass cover which is actually well worth it. I wrote to Thorens about my bad experience, but they didn't answer back). So if you still can't resist this eye-catching piece of hi-fi, I just hope you'll be luckier than me!