Absolutely don't let this turn you off from audio products. I won't say my tenure here has been long (just a few years), but TAE is the only time I've had such a terrible experience. Sad considering in their first year or so, they were just as good, if not better, than many of the other audio companies. I've dealt with several other audio companies that are fantastic. I've never had a bad experience with the likes of MEEAudio, JH Audio, Campfire Audio, Sennheiser, Fostex, Empire Ears, or even Chinese companies like VSonic (which is admittedly one of the best Chinese companies I've come across). Heck, I was once looking to get a standard 2-pin cable from Empire Ears, but I didn't want the memory wire and their leader Jack Vang (who's pretty active here) told me they could do it and I gave them my Paypal for them to give me an invoice. They sent out the cable to me 3 separate times because the postal service was crap at my old apartment and the first two went into the ether. I felt so bad that they had to waste two good cables on me, I gave them my parent's address to send to instead because it was a residential home and there was a much better chance they wouldn't waste another cable lost in the post. All service with the most gracious of attitudes.
So don't let this experience discourage you. You may have been incredibly unlucky this time, but TAE's bumbling is certainly not the norm. Lots of good companies out there that truly deserve the praise they get.