Well another FML moment

Never expect a perfect restored grille for $300. In my opinion, your best bet is to buy used as cheap as possible, then send it to someone who restores grilles. That way the job gets done right, and if you're not happy with the restoration, have them correct any flaws you see before payment.
You are correct, but the seller could have stated it as an amateur attempt also......oh well water under the bridge now. I will send a couple grilles and bezel sets out and get them professionally restored as that is the quality that I want for my cars, I just went through this same thing again a couple days ago with a restored steering wheel that was supposedly done by an expert that only does wheels.......it too is a POS and I will have to send that out to an actual professional and not someone who views themselves as such.