Reviews in magazines are occasionally a little useful but only when combined with other sources, like here. I suppose it does take more work to research scuba gear than some other stuff, c'est la vie.
I've seen attack dog responses from some people attached to certain brands (or places), but never anything but reasonable responses from Scott Zeagle and certainly nothing I'd describe as "nuclear". (and I'm no Zeagle defender, the couple Zeagle products I've tried I didn't like.)
As far as complete OEM control of pricing, that is true of some brands but not all. Some people avoid the brands that have those policies.
Looks like you posted on this a couple years ago -
Equipment advice wanted!
but don't see anything from yesterday. There are hiccups sometimes, I wouldn't assume something dark and devious is going on if that's what you're thinking. If you write a longish post, there's something to be said for copying it before you hit Post in case the computer gets hungry...