I recently bought a new Lakland Darryl Jones Natural 5 string from Guitarguitar.
When it was delivered I took it out of the box all exited like, as you do.
The body was it turns out made of 2 pieces, the book matching was awful. For a £1200 bass it was shocking.
Never even plugged it in, sent a mail to Guitarguitar and got a phone call within 5 minutes of sending the mail. They were brilliant, took the Lakland back and I’ve had a new Fender Jazz ultra bass American 5 string which is awesome.
God knows who’s in charge of Lakland quality, it’s shocking.