Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought these poles and used them to successfully climb Mt. Kilimanjaro 2/17. Why one star? These are the first trekking poles I have ever owned and the first review I have ever written after many years and many thousands of dollars with Amazon. They don't appear to be any better than others I observed training for and climbing Kilimanjaro, but customer service is an oxymoron. Shortly before travelling to Tanzania one of the poles suddenly wouldn't retract all the way after a hike. I took them knowing I could rent poles from the outfitter. The guide didn't think it would be a problem, so I used them for the climb. When I returned, I contacted Montem asking if I should force the pole in so I could pack them in a smaller bag in the future or what? I was advised that I could pull the lower shaft out and look into the pole. It appeared as though something blue, the color of the poles, was up in the handle area of the problem pole and advised them. They asked for a better description. I shined a light into the pole and my wife and I observed a blue disk with small spikes radiating out lodged way up in the convex handle area. (for those familiar with injection molding,I would guess they were the stems of the runners on a round part either assembled by mistake or that came loose). I reported back. No response. I remembered to followup and asked what they were going to do since the warranty would soon expire. They finally said that they thought the poles were misused and the warranty only covered manufacturing defects. They said I could send pictures to prove that it wasn't misuse (my insurance doesn't cover endoscopic photos of trekking poles). After responding that it could not be photographed, nothing. I am 68 years old with bad feet. In a foot race, I would bet on the tortoise. Misused, that describes me: wasting my time with emails to the point of being upset enough to write my first Amazon review. My original correspondence was not about the warranty, it was about what I should do to fully retract the pole. Why do you suppose they tout a one year warranty in the actual product description? Yeah, me too.