Yes Julie we did the same with our first awning from Automotive Leisure on our first attempt...............we provided lots of entertainment until I snapped and threw it back into its bag. There was a bloke watching us in his chair, smiling with a can of beer.
The site had a bar and as we nipped in for a well-earned beer he wandered over and said with a smile that I think you had it wrong way round................he was right and we got it up next day after a lot of messing about.
It was a heavy metal poled porch awning and we gave up on it after more fun getting it erected on the Edinburgh Club site in the drizzle. It was more trouble than it was worth and we switched to an air beam awning
MikeT