After getting a 14 inch one - from the Amazon 3rd-party vendor (Vetmed) the issue was quickly resolved and they sent me another one - this time 16 inch. Both tools were pretty well made - perhaps not surgical quality - but the jaws align very well, they grip securely and the ratcheting lock grabs as it should. I've bought several other inexpensive forceps - some not very useful - but these actually work as intended.