Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Update: This was initially posted to the InstantPot Community Facebook page but they (InstantPot & Mod) deleted my post and removed me from the group. Wonder what InstantPot is hiding that they couldn’t handle an honest review? Buyer beware! I bought my pot in Nov 2015 and instantly fell in love. Purchased 2 others as gifts (it became my default wedding/holiday/bday gift) and convinced 3 others to buy. When I first bought the pot the inner pot was slightly "dented" (see pic). I was so excited I didn't think much of it although I remember thinking it was weird. Did the water test and everything worked so happily used it. I will take the blame there. I should have immediately returned it when it wasn’t pristine but since the dent was so slight I figured I’d give it a shot. After the water test worked (it took forever because the manual says to fill to mark 3 on the pot which is incorrect) I tried a few other recipes and they all worked. Fast forward to about May and suddenly the lid/seal starts "popping" after reaching pressure and steam would come pouring out around the lid. No biggie I thought. I washed the float & valve a few times. Issue kept happening. So I determined it must be the ring (silicone rings do wear out). So I bought a new ring and put it in. Issue still keep occurring. Posted in FB Community and advice was to contact InstantPot support. Contacted them, they asked for pictures. Sent them pictures and they said as a one time offer they would send me a new ring. "No," I told them, "I've already purchased the ring and it's brand new, could it have anything to do with the dent at the top?" Made me take video. Sent them video where they saw the issue occurring only to determine that yes it was the dent (I have no idea why it just started versus working fine) and they said my purchase was too long ago for them to do anything about it and I would need to pay out of pocket to buy a new inner pot. Here’s my issue though, Support initially told me that it was the ring and offered to send me a new one for free. I declined because I had just purchased it and it was a brand new ring. Now they’re saying it’s the inner pot. But who’s to say I won’t buy another pot only to have this issue continue to happen? Then what, I’m SOL? I thought there was a 1 year warranty (and mind you I bought this on 12/28/16 and I first emailed support in June so I was about 6 months in - well within the 1 year warranty)? Well there is, and it reads (from Support): The warranty is for 1 year. However, this warranty does not cover normal wear of parts or damage resulting from negligent use or misuse of the appliance, use contrary to the operating instructions, failure to provide reasonable and necessary maintenance, or disassembly, repair or alteration by anyone unless directed by an Instant Pot Representative. So basically if you read the fine print at no point does InstantPot ever have to honor their "warranty" since no matter what they could claim it was from normal wear or damage. I mean the pot is stainless steel? How would I have ever made the dent if it was me? Nevermind the fact that I babied it like it was another child. Long story short - InstantPot lost a brand advocate at this point. I literally sung the praises of this pot, encouraged friends to buy, gave them away as gifts but the 1st times there's an issue (again I've owned it for 7 months now that it's July so still well within the 1 year "warranty") there's nothing they can do. I will give this as props to Support, they were always prompt in returning my emails so that's the one highlight of my interaction with them. They've lost me as a customer (and yes, I totally understand that to a big company list InstantPot that basically means nothing) and I'm disappointed I encouraged so many others to buy them. It's really not even the fact of paying $35 for a new inner pot which realistically, isn't a crazy budget buster, it's the fact that they didn't honor their own warranty. Needless to say, I'll be switching brands and I'm glad I hadn't purchased the 8 qt yet (that was my next buy). So learn from my mistake and I guess document everything? Because the company doesn’t stand behind their product and won't honor their "warranty".