Sorry you had a difficult experience clm, but I will say that Frank has tons of experience and that what may be easy for him, and routine to moderately challenging for those with experience, may end up being very difficult for a beginner. Sounds to me like you don't have much experience rooting cuttings. I myself rooted over 500 cuttings last year with moderate success, and I'm still refining my technique and figuring out what I like.
I have personally bought cuttings and trees from Frank, and they were all healthy and in great condition (some freshly cut in front of my eyes). Frank is very knowledgeable, perhaps one of the most knowledgeable members on the forum. His expertise in tropical and subtropical plants is unparalleled. If he says the cuttings were viable, then I would listen to him. Perhaps you got in a little over your head thinking it was easy? It's certainly possible. In this field, success is never guaranteed, and lots of things can go wrong. Rooting can be easy with the right technique, but the more you fidget with a cutting the higher your chances of failure, and sounds like you messed with those cuttings quite a bit. I agree with the poster above that it would be best to start off with a smaller number of cuttings or practice for a few months and consider your costs the price of learning. I failed multiple times grafting and rooting and airlayering and have had to learn the hard way. My success rate is not perfect, but it's much better than before, and that's after spending lots of money on supplies, cuttings, etc.
I'm assuming you are new because I only see 2 posts from you. Several other experienced members have already posted that they've had great results with the cuttings being sold. My advice is to troubleshoot your failures and try again. Some things are easier to root than others. Try the figpop method - look it up and see if you can modify it to suit your needs. Try with something easy and common first, then shoot for the exotic and rare that someone like Frank offers and don't expect 100% success. Failures can and will happen.
On a side note, this forum is welcoming to all but tends to have a higher number of more experienced growers and those looking for a challenge or to push boundaries. I have joined and then quit many plant Facebook groups simply because there wasn't enough expert opinion -- too many simple basic questions and I just wasn't learning much. This forum - again while welcoming to beginners - is not as easy access as Facebook and this tends to attract those who really want to dig into the knowledge and experience of other committed growers. I recommend reading some older posts, developing a solid fund of knowledge, then posting pictures and explanations of your setup and your findings. You may get some members to help you out and give some useful pointers.
In short, Frank sells some high quality hard to find/one of a kind stuff. If he's got something you want, pay for it but do your homework and make sure your technique and setup are legit, and even then there are no guarantees when dealing with live plant material
K