From their website.

VERY IMPORTANT - FIREARM RETURNS !! Please take your time to inspect all firearms thoroughly BEFORE proceeding with the transfer. Once a new firearm is transferred to you it is considered used, even if unfired. Consequently, we cannot provide a full refund for new firearms once they have been transferred into your possession. Also, we DO NOT reimburse FFL transfer fees on returned items. We do understand that some manufacturer defects may not be identifiable upon initial inspection. However, upon discovering a defect AFTER the transfer, the firearm MUST be returned directly to the manufacturer for replacement or repair(in accordance with manufacturers warranty policy). By sending a defective firearm directly to the manufacturer, you can avoid the unnecessary transfer fees of returning the firearm to us through your local FFL dealer. If we do receive a defective firearm that has already been transferred, we will simply forward the firearm to the manufacturer on your behalf. Manufacturer repaired firearms can be returned directly to the customer without additional FFL transfer or associated fees. However, if the manufacturer chooses to replace the firearm, the replacement firearm must transfer through your local FFL dealer to document the replacement firearm serial number.

I'm not sure if one post on one hunting forum constitutes as “put on blast all over social media”. Plus I told the whole story and admitted both party’s (buds and myself) made mistakes in this transaction. I have already located another stock and am no longer trying to get Buds to compensate me in any way. This post was just an informative post to educate everyone on the importance of making 110% sure you get exactly what you want before signing the dotted line. With that being said… Yes, I was still pretty disappointed to find out such a large and well known company was unwilling to work with me on making my purchasing experience with them more pleasant.