Pinhole blew? What torque value were you actually running?

Ha, same here man! I ran a reman in my old Tacoma for like 90k before I sold it and it was still going strong. The 90s rebuilds really did scare a whole generation of us off, but the newer ones seem to hold up way better.

Read a thing once from a guy who worked at a call center and he said faking agreement just delays the problem and makes it bigger later. What you ran into is exactly that, the customer thinks the old item is still there so now he's mad on top of confused and the whole line pays for it. Short and clear early on usually stings for two seconds and then everyone moves on. Your mileage may vary by customer though, some folks really do just want to be heard.