You ordered a brass bolstered model, they sent you a nickel plated one (possibly stainless) This would annoy me immensely, I don't much care for brass myself (too much smell and verdigris..) but you should get what you want because you'll never be happy with it (I think we've all got horrors in our knife drawers, accusing us!)
Yes the spring is often touched by the blade, so the advice about gentle closing is very important.
Laguiole is a generic term for a type of French knife with curving handle etc.
As to quality, how long is a piece of string? However, the Fontenille-Pataud knives I have FAR exceed any other production knives of a Traditional type I've come across, so far. This includes the oft praised CASE Collaboration knives. F-P offer a massive choice of handles, various sizes and steels including Dam. They cost more but they're still well under the Custom bar. Certainly GEC and others put out a very fine knife, but they are of course in a different style.
If I were the OP I'd call for a refund, save a little and go for F-P.
Regards, W
