UPS mangled my DV-72!!!

[jazzmang]

haha I'd like to point something interesting out..


I just received my guitar from Epiphone in Nashville via FedEx... the box was in MINT condition (looked untouched) and everything arrived here safely and quickly... hmmmm.

 

[geoguy]

Sorry for the OP's heartache . . . I've had three guitars delivered to me by UPS, all in fine shape.

We ship a lot of earth science instruments via FedEx, most of which also arrive ok, with the expected wear & tear on shipping boxes & cases.

FedEx did mangle a relatively inexpensive instrument's case once (the device inside was fine), & even though it would cost only about $75 to replace the case we decided to file a claim since the instrument's value was declared on the airbill (roughly $2,500 or so), just as a litmus test of how well they might take care of their goof. After spending several hours haggling with FedEx over the course of about a month, we got a grand total of $40 reimbursed for the damaged case, even though we'd paid for $2,500 worth of insurance.

Oh, and the damaged case had a tire tread mark on it, so there wasn't much doubt re: what went wrong.

Based on that experience, I would agree that third-party insurance might be a good idea with any of these shippers, though I'm not sure how you would obtain it for a one-time shipping event.

- Mark

 

[jgmaute]

We ship a lot of earth science instruments via FedEx, most of which also arrive ok, with the expected wear & tear on shipping boxes & cases.
- Mark

Hey Mark...earth science...geoguy...here's a link to my most popular earth science song (yes, I've written more than one...)

Cool It Magma!
and yes, way back in the mix you'll hear my D55. joan

 

[geoguy]

That was GREAT!!!

Send more . . . 8)

- Mark

 

[jgmaute]

That was GREAT!!!
Send more . . . 8)
- Mark

Mark, you have excellent taste! (always love those rock songs) I'm an old folkie from the 60s. When I went into the classroom in 1970 my guitar went with me. In 1981 when I was doing research for my masters I wrote songs to teach. (The Alternative Energy Suite the good news is that it is still being bought via MP3 download...the bad news is that it is still being bought...folks besides kids should have listened back then!) But I digress... It opened up another path of my career. My target audience was middle school since that was what I taught but my songs have been used from pre-school through grad school. Cool It Magma was a turning point for me; I figured someone who could write a song about igneous rocks could write about anything. (by the way, I worked with friends who knew earth science, I taught social studies and media). Here's a link to some of the others.
Ed Songs Demo
If you check out the resources link at the top then scroll down to and click on the link that has MASSIVE in it you'll find thousands of science songs. Email or PM me if you want any of the songs listed on my website, I'll be glad to send them your way. Rock on! jm

 

[Ross]

Hi Joan:

Thanks very much for this. I love science-based songs with a humourous touch.

And more thanks for the link to MASSIVE. I'd never heard of it, but I'll be listening now!

cheers
R

 

[jazzmang]

Update:

UPS determined they had damaged the guitar (not a shock to us). They are shipping the guitar back to the seller and he is going to forward it to Guild/Fender Custom Shop for me.

Bad news? More than likely, the repair will take several months. Good news? Some of the best guys will be working on it.

I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks!

 

[taabru45]

Yaaaay..........http://www.nhlcyberfamily.org/special/happydance.htm
:lol: 8) Steffan

 

[jazzmang]

A question for you all:

If you paid... lets say $2000 for a guitar that was in used, but excellent condition. This guitar gets damaged in shipping and then the seller repairs it. Would you ask for some money back? Isn't the guitar worth much less once it's been repaired?

Why would you ultimately pay $2000 for a used, unrepaired guitar and get a repaired one and not say anything?

I suppose this is assuming the repair is seamless. If its an ugly repair, thats a whole different story.

Just posing a question...

 

[West R Lee]

A question for you all:

If you paid... lets say $2000 for a guitar that was in used, but excellent condition. This guitar gets damaged in shipping and then the seller repairs it. Would you ask for some money back? Isn't the guitar worth much less once it's been repaired?

Why would you ultimately pay $2000 for a used, unrepaired guitar and get a repaired one and not say anything?

I suppose this is assuming the repair is seamless. If its an ugly repair, thats a whole different story.

Just posing a question...

All opinion mind you, but I'd say it would depend on the type of repair as well as the quality of repair. By that I mean that if you had a loose brace and it was repaired, it wouldn't effect the value, but if you had a crack that was repaired, it would.......as well as any refinishing. A neck reset would definately diminish the value in my mind as well as something like a bridge replacement if no done perfectly. In other words, I think anything that effected the guitar's appearance would diminish value, anything that didn't probably wouldn't.

West

 

[capnjuan]

Why would you ultimately pay $2000 for a used, unrepaired guitar and get a repaired one and not say anything?

The thing you're talking about is diminution of value; yes, it's back together but if the repair is detectable by a knowledgeable buyer, luthier, or appraiser, then your reputation would be worth disclosing it. Doing so, more likely than not, will knock the selling price down to less than what you paid before the repair - assuming you didn't overpay for the guitar. If you're talking about going back to the seller for the difference;

If you said 'fix it' and nothing more and they did, that would be the end of it.
If you said 'fix it and I'm going to want another bite of the apple' ... chances are, they wouldn't have fixed it in the first place.

If you go back now, not having said you were going to be asking for more money, their likely reply would be 'I wish you'd said something before ... otherwise I might have acted differently'. Alternatively, if a carrier paid for the repairs, very good luck trying to squeeze them for more money.

I had a car flood-damaged in the mid-90s; insurance carrier elected to repair instead of 'Total' it. When they got done messing with it, I - like you - was stuck with damaged goods and a duty to disclose material facts about the car if/when I went to sell ... flood damage pretty much qualifying as a material fact. Anyway, I went back to the carrier, reminded them that they - not I - chose not to Total it and would they please pay me the diminished value .... whereupon they bought the car outright and sold it to offset their loss.

Good luck with your guitar! CJ

 

[West R Lee]

The other issue here is whether you want the guitar as an investment or to play? I know, we'd all like them both, but in all likelihood, there's something there worth restoring. No way to get around your getting screwed I know.....but man that sure is a nice guitar. I feel your pain brother....I'd be PO'ed too. Why not get some estimates for the heck of it, then at least you'll know what your dealing with, and if you decide to pursue the Custom Shop, you'll know what you might be prepared for.

Our member Hoboken sent the Custom Shop a DV72 with a seriously warped neck and it was returned to him as good as new. Just saying, if you've got to suck it up and could find the right guy.

West

 

[marcellis]

FED-EX/DHL

Never go postal. And never ship UPS.

 

[jazzmang]

Well, I paid to have them do a neck reset (was nearly $450) with the specific disclaimer that if I was unhappy with the damage repair work or the reset itself, I could return the guitar fully.

She's finally coming home on Tuesday.


Lets hope for the best!

 

[Graham]

Lets hope for the best!

 

[fungusyoung]

Well, I paid to have them do a neck reset (was nearly $450) with the specific disclaimer that if I was unhappy with the damage repair work or the reset itself, I could return the guitar fully.

She's finally coming home on Tuesday.


Lets hope for the best!

Jazzmang, all I can do is hope the very, very, very best for you. If anyone deserves it, it's you!

 

[jazzmang]

The saga continues.

Let me recap whats happened so far.

1) UPS busts the DV-72 up at the end pin. The package was not insured with UPS.
2) The seller tells me that he has 3rd party insurance that will cover the repairs.
3) We talk for a bit about who I want to fix the guitar, but finally I trust the seller enough to allow his guy to do the repairs.

This is the new stuff:

4) I get the guitar in after its been fixed and had the neck reset. See pics below:
Hump where the neck meets the body:

Poor finish job on center seam:

Shoddy repair work to the end pin crack:

As you can see, he reset the neck (for a whopping $450) but the neck angle change was so severe that it created a massive hump in the fretboard where it meets the body. He never called or told me that the guitar would have this hump issue due to the severe angle of the reset. Essentially, I paid $450 more for my guitar to have high action (like it did before), b/c he never told me that he recommended a re-plane/re-fret.
The finish job was horrible and there was actually extra damage to the guitar's finish. There was a 2 inch diameter circle on the back where the finish was missing!
Finally, the repair work to the end pin crack was awful. There is no shine to the finish, there are flakes of something in there as well.

5) All that taken in, I called the seller and his luthier and I was fairly angry. I kept a cool head and basically told him that this was a pretty shoddy repair job and that if it was not fixed to my satisfaction, I wanted a full refund for the guitar, extra work, and shipping.

6) The luthier agreed to pay for the repair work to make it right. I sent the guitar to Guild in Nashville a few weeks ago.

7) They finally sent me and the luthier an invoice today.

-Guild Nashville Repair Invoice-

- Repair top seam, and rim cracks. Check/reglue bracing -> $160
- Repair/Reglue binding -> $40
- Re-fret and replace nut -> $280
- Complete Guitar refinish -> $480
- Reglue bridge/reassemble/set up to specs -> $160
- Return shipping/freight -> $35

Total: $1155.00

Ouch! I just sent the invoice to the luthier and the owner of the store I bought it from.

This should be exciting.

Had he just sent it to Guild before his luthier messed it up, it would have been less than half of this cost.

The saga continues...

 

[stclrob]

You need to drink something. Now. Tequila usually warms things up.

 

[john_kidder]

What a never-ending tale of woe, so far.

I hope (and trust) that the luthier will be as good as his word and repay you for the work done at Guild, and I'm sure, based on all previous reports we've had about the quality of that work, that you will finally have the guitar you thought you were going to get in the first instance.

 

[jazzmang]

What a never-ending tale of woe, so far.

I hope (and trust) that the luthier will be as good as his word and repay you for the work done at Guild, and I'm sure, based on all previous reports we've had about the quality of that work, that you will finally have the guitar you thought you were going to get in the first instance.

I hope so too. To avoid that chance, I told the luthier that Guild is going to be taking his payment directly.

I'm staying out of this one! :wink: