Bill,
I think your buddy made a very hasty decision based only on your one incident.
Your incident wasn't the best example to use, probably the worst example
imaginable.
Hopefully, your buddy will be happy with Lowrance.
There are many folks on this forum that are extremely happy with Humminbird's
customer service. I am one of them. They are extremely reasonable.
I can guarantee you that Lowrance WOULD NOT replace/repair your damaged
screen for nothing.
Your unit was one year out of warranty and YOU damaged it.
Did you tell your buddy that it came like that or that you actually
caused the damage?
If your buddy has a problem with Lowrance, will you and he be buying Garmin
in the future?
If there's a problem there, maybe Furuno next.