Leather Unwrapped, Leather Re-Wrapped

Last night I opened the leather that arrived Wednesday. Then we wrapped it back up to ship back. This morning I called the supplier and got a return authorization number.

Before I ordered it I'd asked a couple questions about it, and either I didn't ask the right questions, or the person answering gave me incorrect information - the leather has a "haircell" finish, meaning that's been embossed with a grain pattern. This makes the surface much harder, and looks IMO, more like vinyl than leather.

This is the second time I've ordered not-too-expensive black leather that turned out to have that finish. The first time I didn't think about returning it until too late, and have been grumbling my way through it (almost gone - yay!). Both are "imported", I'm wondering if this is a new trend for hiding flaws, something specific to a particular tannery, or just bad luck on my part.

I'm beginning to think that I shouldn't try to order less expensive black leather, I should suck it up and stick to the better stuff.