Honestly, is that such a weird thing? GameCube stuff is old enough now that people are digging it out of storage to sell. It's not like finding a stack of those is some crazy event. Probably just a few folks cleaning their attics at the same time. The Pokemon game guy might have bought a collection online and is flipping it. Were the prices even any good, or were they all marked up?

Your fix proves the system was ready, it just wasn't set up right. Calibration isn't a flaw, it's the whole job. Those pressure settings are supposed to be adjusted for each task. Tech support should have told you that first thing. The hype is for the potential, but you still need a person who knows how to tune it. I trust the systems when they're run by someone who gets that.