Sorry to hear about your SE nightmare. Any chance you would try it with a different blade, or is it an absolute at this point? Just for the record, I have only tried one SE (1912 EverReady), but I like it a lot.
SE's work very, very well for some of us, and not so well for others. All you can do now is move on and forget about them.
I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune, Mark! For some the mileage may vary some more than for others I fear... Perhaps you held the head at too big an angle?
I didn't like the Gem type SE's either. Even after trying a few of a couple different kinds of blades, they just seemed to tug and pull uncomfortably. But there's plenty of other stuff I do like so I PIF'ed the SE's to people who like 'em.
You should give a gem g-bar or a 1912 a try before you rule out all SE razors. I think these models with the standard gem blades found it rite-aid and such give a great shave. I believe that are just carbon steel not stainless, so in essence they will rust if you leave them in the razor after use. Also don't use as much pressure with these when shaving.
For me it took a good week of shaves to be comfortable with SE technique. It was really tuggy and terrible at first. Now I use SEs as often, if not more often, than my DEs. Gem Junior, Ever Ready 1914 and MMBT, quite different from each other but I love all three.
The first time the SE was just OK. The second shave made my face glow for the rest of the day - the worst razor burn ever. The SE razors look cool, but they are definitely not everybody's cup of tea.
I have very limited experience with an SE. The shaves I got were good ones. The main reason I never really pursued more SE razors—and they are a great bargain when compared to comparable quality vintage DEs—was I began to get into straight razors at that time I was just starting with the SEs, and so they fell by the wayside.
