I re emailed Gutermann again and I had a phone call about an hour ago full of apology saying that there was another similar case and my emailed had slipped under the radar. That was an interesting statement in itself.......not just my imagination.
Upshot is - they are going to replace the spool and I am to spend back the faulty one for inspection. I did ask that they let me know the result of why when they inspect the returned spool.
I will keep you posted.