Hi Terran
Sorry to hear (read) of the difficulties with the new scope. I hope you get it sorted! In the expectation/reality debate I've found the astronomical sketches give a fairly good impression of what you can expect to see - f'rinstance this link
http://www.skyrover.net/ds/ds_detail.php?id=183 (with invert button pressed) shows the Orion nebula pretty much as I see it from a light-polluted back yard through a 200mm dob.