Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this for my youngest dog, Lux (an English Springer Spaniel), who is absolutely obsessed with fetching balls. I had really high hopes after reading reviews (and considering the high cost). Lux is highly intelligent, but also (like many other her breed) has moderate anxiety. Considering how quickly she learns, I knew she would understand how to use it almost immediately, but may be anxious about it, so I wanted to introduce it slowly and carefully. I watched videos, read all the instructions and introduced it to both my dogs in phases, as recommended. Bay (my older spaniel) doesn't care for fetch, so she was disinterested (as expected). Lux loves that it launches balls for her, but absolutely HATES the noises it makes. She knows she needs to drop the balls in the top, but she wants me to do it, because she doesn't like the sounds. She actually runs off momentarily, then comes back to watch it launch. She retrieves the ball and brings it to me, wanting me to drop it in. I read other reviews, so I knew it made noise, but I honestly never considered it would be as noisy as it is. It's not just the loud POP when it's launching -- the thing does a series of other beeps, boops and whistles when you drop the balls into it. It's over-the-top if you ask me. I think (HOPE) she can get past it with regular use, but we'll just have to see. The 15-minute timer with no override is so frustrating when you're trying to train your dog to use it. I read the reviews, so I knew there was no override and that it frustrated some, but I did not think it would be too much of an issue. That is, until I spent a good chunk of the day training my dog to use the machine, only to witness that the *ONE* time she worked up the courage to drop the ball in by herself, the thing was on a damn break, so it didn't even work! I had to go over and unplug it, then turn it back on -- thus, solidifying in her mind that I needed to load it for it to work ... needless to say, I was very frustrated with it. Lastly, the launcher that supposedly throws between "8-30 feet; has 9 distance settings and 6 angle settings" does NOT work AT ALL! It's completely random; I experimented with all settings outside and found virtually no difference in performance. It's inconsistent with angle (but not by a huge margin, luckily) and I have yet to see it launch more than 15 feet (sometimes launching as little as only 5 feet). I am going to keep at it this next week with more training and familiarity exercises, and if my dog can get past the noise and decide she likes it, I may decide to keep it. But, I really just want to return it. I am just so disappointed and don't feel it's worth even close to what I paid. After seeing it in action, I'd consider a more reasonable cost being around $50.