E-M5 tripod socket damage

Ha ha obviously. It's hard to attach a tripod or a QR plate if there is only a gaping hole.

That's seeming more and more the answer. However, I can say that is only the end of the process. The tripod bushing had a bulge long before it finally failed, in fact I had even had it in my mind that it was supposed to be bulged out by design, guess I should have done some research into that, or at least what the camera was supposed to look like. So if it didn't arrive like that, then I damaged it immediately upon receiving it.

I think if I had light that would have been the case. All I knew was that my camera was turning loose on the locked tripod head, so I tried tying it to the tripod with the strap. Some time while I was tying it, it suddenly came off entirely.