Don't know if this point was brought up or not, but was the stand bought from an actual store or mail order? If the stand was bought from an actual store, was the box open when you bought it? I never buy something from a store if the box was opened and appeared like it was taped back together. That's a problem just waiting to bite you when you get home!!
As far as the Summit brand goes, and from all I heard, they are a stand up company that stand behind their products. I currently own their Viper Goliath model, without any issues.