Keith, I'm sorry to hear you had a less than satisfactory experience with our product. Because these heads are hand hammered (not machine stamped), we allow for slight variations in exact size. It is nearly impossible to give exact sizes on hand hammered products such as our lags because one hammer hit can change the measurements slightly. We are transparent about this on our website, you can find this notice at the top of the "Square Head Lag Screws" landing page. Typically the sizes you ordered would fit with 9/16" 8 point and 3/4" 8 point sockets, I'm sorry this was not your experience. For the finish, you can touch up with a Flat Black spray paint, we like Rust-oleum. If there is anything else we can help you with, please don't hesitate to call or email.