Agreed.

Just because the OP has been using it since "2018", doesn't means it was safe nor ever safe. Just because my house never burned down, doesn't mean I don't need fire insurance.

To the rest that are looking for a bike carrier:

-2" hitch on vehicle.
-carrier must mount DEEP into the hitch with a THRU bolt.

The problem with 1-1/4" carriers is that they still sway and bounce a whole lot more than the 2" ones. Any movement during transport is applied towards wear and fatigue.

I'm flabbergasted that the store even decided to pay attention to a 5 year old purchase. The vendor wasn't even the installer, and potential lawsuits are always directed to manufacturers. The store franchise is big enough to have a legal department to deal with these things. Maybe it was their commercial insurance policy that dealt with this.