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Thats actually pretty common, to have to use a heat gun to get aftermarket steel to fit. I see it more with the Tuuk LS Edge holder than other brands but overall it's pretty common.

It's very easy to replace the extendon guards (unscrew and then screw in two bolts - it takes less than 5 minutes), but it would be hard to find new ones since the skates have been discontinued for years now. If you needed to replace them, you could look for a cheap used pair where the guards are in good shape and use those as a donor/parts skate. With that said, I've used a few pairs of Makos (for inline, ice and to officiate) for the past 4 years or so and have never had to replace the tendon guards. I did take a pair of tendon guards off the one pair of roller conversions I retired just so I have the spare parts if needed, but haven't needed to use them.

Your shop should have called Rob 10..mins after you realized the difference in fit. Rob would have had a return label made and a new pair in production asap. You could have sent back tracings etc at that point and solved this dispute ages ago.

Makos fit a half size larger than old Synergy skates. So if you want a snug fit in the Makos go with a size 9. If you want more space you could go with a 9.5. Personally, I would go with a 9 since they're designed based on a zero negative space concept and are VERY responsive to heat.