If I had to guess, I would say that your angle was a bit wide. I did the same thing when I started not that long ago. bring the back of the blade closer and go really slow to start. I would get frustrated that it wasn't giving me a great shave and that is how I cut myself. It is going to take some time to get used to this kind of shaving.

Stropping is another beast completely. This took me even longer to figure out. The key is doing it over and over. I got a butter knife and practiced with that just to get the motion down. If your technique is off it can cause bad shaves. Once again just take your time, the more time you spend now the faster you will be down the road.

I haven't been doing this very long compared to a lot of people on here but I had similar problems. I bought my first razor from the same people and blamed it on them at first, but realized that it was all my fault. With that said everyone has an off day, and they might have made a mistake on your razor. With the limited experience I had with them they seemed to be very helpful. If you send them pics and ask questions I am sure they will help you out.