It is hard to believe that Grado would ship a non-working cartridge. Their website says:Can't believe they're still shipping these defective cartridges. They've had since late last year to fix the problem.
HAND-BUILT IN USA WITH 100% QUALITY CONTROL
Each individual cartridge manufactured by Grado is hand assembled and tested for frequency response, channel output, channel balance, phase linearity, inductance and resistance.
I have to believe that they are somehow being damaged in the shipment and handling they go through as they arrive at a retailer and then are moved on to a customer. There have certainly been enough videos on the internet showing that not all carriers handle packages with care.