I would have to disagree about getting what I paid for. When someone pays the advertised price for any consumer product, they have a reasonable expectation that the product will function properly and will be free from defects. The legal term in Texas is the Implied Warranty of Merchantability, but it is codified legal doctrine in virtually all states under several other names. The general public has slowly stopped insisting that the products they buy actually work, and have just accepted that many products will simply arrive broken.
While you may think of $500 as a cheap gun, I have purchased dozens of other firearms for significantly less money that have functioned fine (I don't think I have ever paid more than $500 for any Ruger product). Someone who pays $150 for a Hi-Point still has a right to expect that the gun will perform in the usual and customary manner. Everyone knows that a $12,000 Kia will not be as nice as a $100,000 Mercedes, but Kia owners still have a reasonable expectation that their engines will run for a reasonable amount of time (hence why almost all states have "Lemon Laws").
If we accept "you get what you pay for" as a defense, then it becomes nearly impossible to draw a concrete line for expected levels of service. My $700 SA-35 had a faulty extractor, like several others. Should sellers and manufacturers be able to say, "The FN version of the Hi-Power costs $1300, so you get what you pay for"? If we allow this excuse, then no one would ever have a justifiable complaint about any product so long as there was a more expensive version of a similar product on the market.
I have no problem accepting the word of people who have had positive experiences with S&W, or those who just think its a run of bad luck. I could also handle expecting problems if I had bought the gun out of some guy's truck for $100. That being said, I believe that when someone pays the advertised price for a good that has travelled through the normal routes of commerce (i.e. reputable manufacturer to reputable warehouses to licensed dealers) they have a right to expect that the item will be functional and free from defects.