Reply to Technics 1200 MKII Problems/Need Advice

Hey everyone, so i recently picked up a pair of technics from a guitar center for $360 shipped.

I got them and they're nice, really enjoying them but 2 days in I couldn't get my records to stop skipping for timecode :/. Finagled everything and finally came the realization that it's the tone arm. And not just the arm itself but the entire base.

The anti skate doesn't do anything to the arm, and it looks like I can't adjust height on either of them. My guess is that the lack of balance in the arm causes the record to jump up and then make contact with the platter again rhythmically.

I have looked online and found that tonearms cost about $100 to replace. You believe it's worth it to just take these to a shop and get them serviced and tuned up? Really starting to believe it's more of a hassle than anything to find a nice solid pair of technics!

Or should I return them, cut my losses and look for a new pair?

Thoughts?

Thanks!