X pole help!!

Hello! I just joined this site because I really need help figuring out my xpole and this seems to be the only place to get answers after searching google extensively. I recently got an xpert xpole, after assembling it I tried raising it up (my ceilings are 8 feet and 11 inches) and it wont raise? The bottom part will raise and twist the full five inches but the actual top dome and pole are not raising. I emailed xpole but have not received a response. I cant figure out if I did something wrong or how to fix this issue? help?