Sometimes manufacturers shoot themselves in the foot .

[hjoseph7]

A long time ago, I'm guessing 2007-2008 I purchased a pretty expensive Ball-Head from Slik. I favored this company because I alread had 2 tripods and another Ball-head(which I still use). This new  Ball Head (SBH-320) could handle more weight than my orginal SBH280 BH. Unfortunatelly, I let it sit for nearly a year before I started using it and the Manufacture's Warranty had expired when I did start using it.

Later on, I was invited to an Event where I needed to use some pretty long and heavy lenses, so I brought along my new Ball Head the SBH-320. Unfortunatelly the Quick Release clip on the adpter that is made from plastic(see picures below),  broke off in the middle of the shoot !  This meant I could not remove the mounting plate from the underside of the camera. I wanted to switch cameras so I could shoot Wide angle with one camera  and Tele with the other, but since I could not remove the mounting plate I was stuck with just one camera.

No Biggie, I  thought, maybe I could fix it when I got home.  What I found out when I got home was the only way to remove the mounting plate from the Quick Release adapter was to use a butter knife and push the little red button down so the Lever could be moved forward enough to release the mounting plate from the adapter.  THERE IS NO WAY TO FIX THIS THING SINCE ALL THE PARTS ARE BOLTED ON.  Oh no, I said to myself, now I would have to carry a butter knife with me everytime I used this Ball Head ! I called Slik, but at the time their only option for me was to buy another expensive SBH-320 Ball Head with Quick Release Adaper(pLastic clip and all) with Mounting plate. 

They must have got a lot of complaints for that plastic clip because a few years later they came out with an adapter with a Metal clip(see pictures below). Unfortunately, it is no longer available at B&H or anywhere(as far as I know). B&H still sells an adapter with metal clip for $29.99(please see picture below), but it has a diffent thread and won't fit the SBH-320 BH. It will fit the SBH-280 !?   I since move on to other Ball Heads, but I still have the SBH-320 which is now an expensive paper-weight. 

Edited December 24, 2023 by hjoseph7

[AJG]

Yes, there is a lot of bad design/choice of materials out there, even from otherwise good manufacturers.  Sometimes I think that accountants get more involved with these kinds of decisions than they should...

[hjoseph7]

Fixed !! I had to use Ghetto Mechanics to finally solve this problem. I used a simple tack-nail to bore into the remaining plastic clip. First I had to heat the tack-nail with a cigarette lighter to make it easier for it to bore through the hard plastic. After it dried, I was able to move the clip up and down just as if the plasic arm of the clip had not been broken off.  It seems pretty stabe ? There was an SBH-320 selling on eBay with metal clip for $99,  but I was hesitant being that this is an older model ball-head... 

Edited January 19 by hjoseph7

[AJG]

Congratulations!  I hope it holds up for you.