Broke a new A string while putting it on

I recently purchased a new set of strings, Heliocore. I have never before broken a string while I was replacing it although I’m not a professional cello player. These were moderately expensive for me and I’m irritated because I have geared pegs and it’s next to impossible IMHO to snap a string. Has anyone returned a new string for that reason or should I just chalk it up to lesson learned?