No lawyer. I did have to pay for shipping on the new #9. $432 from San Diego. I sent them pic's and they ponied up. They did not want to pay for shipping on the old one so I kept it. I had a set of S/S bands that broke in shipping the first time round and had them repaired after they replaced them. For now I am swapping grates around depending on witch one I use. I may stucco the first rather than tiling,I have yet to make up my mind. As for how long ago, it was just last month.