2- BFL was located in US. I figured worse case scenario I be dealing with a company in US than China or Europe.
Obviously you don't know the US laws very good because you are better off with a company from China or Europe than the ones from US which at this moment have a very "good" record of 100% failed companies out of all bitcoin hardware manufacturers. The US laws clearly protect the lying and scamming businesses, NOT the customers.
I think what this forum or similar could do to help is a recommended manufacture link and rated by trusted senior members like your selves. I am sure such link probably exist but perhaps buried or crowded with many posts. I guess clean list of scam alerts for member and or manufacture, that is easy to locate would be very helpful and could reduce number of people falling in this trap.
Welcome to the BitcoinTalk forum where it's a Free For All land. While there is logic in what you say it's not Admins/Moderators job to warn you about scams and you should make your own research (which you did). Add Reddit too next time, but a simple look over the Hardware forum and you could've saw the BFL threads. At least it was a lesson learned and next time you will do it better.
Here you can find a guide:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=456691.0I am also twitting some of my findings to reporters who apparently interviewing BFL and using appropriate # hashtag to help expose these jackasses whenever I get a chance. As you would see in Josh twitter. However I am doing it based on facts also copying FBI and KC police, in case they actually read the tweets.
ArsTechnica had a good article
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/digging-for-answers-the-strong-smell-of-fraud-from-one-bitcoin-miner-maker/Twitting to reporters is okish. Better go and tell your story to Sonny's officer who is likely to put him back to jail and maybe Josh Zerlan too for deceiving their customers.