I bought an HK MR556 from a reasonably big online dealer last month. Was on various waiting lists and this one got them in stock. When I picked it up from the FFL I noticed one of the velcro straps in the case was ripped away from the lining. Might have happened in shipping, hard to say. Not a huge deal. I asked the retailer what they can do about it and they said they would contact the HK rep and I should hear something in a week. I sent a reminder after not hearing back and today the HK rep for that region called me and apologized for the delay, took my address down and send they would send me a new case. He said they don't ask too many questions and just do what they can to satisfy the customer. We joked about the HK "because you suck and we hate you" reputation, but they are selling a premium product and they do seem to be treating it as such with respect to service, at least on the U.S. side.

I asked him about SP5K PDW availability and he said the scarcity is because only 10% of SP5's imported are SP5K PDW's. They really are "limited production". Not sure why, they can certainly sell a lot more here, but German export laws are complicated. He can't do anything about the supply, but he confirmed that HK's wholesale price only went up a few percent this year and all the high prices are dealers pricing to market. So if they dealer says they can't come down on price, they can, they just don't want to. But I don't call this gouging because this is a luxury product - a want not a need. Supply and Demand are what they are and you choose the price you are willing to pay.