Amazon KDP author’s copies quality

Got another batch of books - side seems dirty, some pages have black lines towards the bottom. Some time back I recieved one with messed up pages - I opened a ticket, spoke to a rep and they said quality control for authors copies is not as rigorous (I guess ie nonexistent). I hate returning things - all the time and material wasted, but it speaks to the Amazon’s attitude towards authors. When I send a book for review, as a prize, gift etc I use normal purchase.

Regular purchase: $20 (full price) - $4 (royalty) = $16 and I get quality Authors copy: $8 (to print) + $2 (shipping, no prime) = $10 and potential embarrassment

So I choose to pay $6 extra for my peace of mind.

Any similar experiences?