When I called customer service the first time they told me that they would ship the part out asap. Well I waited 2 weeks and then called back. The second conversation with customer service I found out that the parts were intentionally left out due to being inferior. It isn't a safety issue though. I asked why I wasn't told this during my first conversation and they said that sometimes the regular office people have to help out on the phones due to customer service being overloaded and that they weren't informed of the issue with the parts. I asked why they didn't change the Box label or atleast enclose a short letter in the treestand box explaining the situation? He had no answer.But said he would now inform all office personnel.I felt that this was sneaky on their part and was no reason to not include a short note to the customers. Well the last time I spoke to customer service I was told the updated parts would be in around December 7 and turn around time to get the stuff out to customers would be quick. Well still nothing. This is a very large and well know manufacturer. The iten in question isn't significant to some people, but to me was part of the reason I chose this particular stand, otherwise I could have purchased another stand from another manufacturer.