I am going to say this, and it not meant to be contrary in any way. I respect what you are trying to do here. As I mentioned earlier, it's almost a no-win situation for a manufacturer's rep to be an active participant in a forum. Even when things are perfect you'll find blowhards who want nothing more than to run you or your product down. Then when things don't go perfect, you'll have a big bullseye placed squarely on your forehead.

Your product has a reputation here. You know what it is. It is not going to change unless YOU (meaning you and Tract) do something to change it. So Tract has a decision to make. Maintain the status quo or take a bold step to change forum perception. From a cost/benefit risk/gain standpoint, here's the way I see it. Find a way to get several scopes out to the folks the forum trusts the most. You know who they are. Let them run them through the paces. If the scopes perform the way they should then you have made great strides in restoring or building credibility. If they fail under heavy testing, then your reputation remains as it is. But you can get those scopes back and figure out what went wrong and how you can fix it. You would really like to know wouldn't you? Your actual cost in getting out 4-6 scopes would be nominal in the grand scheme of marketing costs, and frankly, I don't see that you have a whole lot to lose. Oh, and it is unlikely you are going to get the previous scopes back, so I'd abandon that hope.

So that's my sideline evaluation of the situation. I really would like to see Tract succeed. I appreciate any company that has the balls to step into a forum and participate.