Starting to Think I'm Snakebit...

twocorgis

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So, a while back I ordered a black M85 bass when it was the MF Stupid Deal of the day for $699, and anxiously awaited its arrival, which took a bit longer than expected because for some odd reason it took MF a couple of days to actually ship it, which resulted in it sitting in a UPS warehouse over a weekend, which I never prefer. After opening the box, I found out that the bass had been sloshing back and forth in the case so much that it did this to the side of the coffin case:

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Poor packing is one of my real pet peeves, and while the bass seemed fine, the case certainly wasn't, and I also wasn't sure if there was any hidden damage to the volute area on the neck that couldn't be detected. So I called MF, bitched at them about the poor packing job (mostly just to make myself feel better) and arranged for a replacement. They were nice and covered the return shipping, but being that I paid by PayPal, I had to wait until they processed the refund, order another one at full price, and then have them refund the $500 discount through PayPal. It seemed a bit convoluted, but I liked the first one, so that's what I did.

The replacement arrived yesterday unscathed, although the bass was still sloshing back and forth inside the case. First thing I notice is that proudly displayed inspection tags:

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These would be great, and would put my mind at ease, the only problem is that the strings are literally laying on the fretboard. OK, so I get out the included wrenches, and raise the bridge up some. the problem is that by the time I get the bridge up enough to get rid of the buzzing on the lower frets, the action is a mile high! Oh well, I guess there's no relief in the neck, time to use the other wrench to tighten up the truss rod some and dial a bit of relief in. Of course this is when I notice five really bad finish flaws on the side of the fretboard, and this photo doesn't really do them justice:

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How on earth they manage to spray a black bass with an absolutely flawless finish, while totally screwing up the finish on the side of the fretboard is beyond me, but stuff happens I guess. Now I'm not exactly sure what to do though. I'm inclined to return it (again), but then I though maybe I should call and ask for an additional discount. I could live with the finish flaw I suppose, but not at full boat price, even on a Stupid Deal of the Day. I guess it's time to make the call. Wish me luck!
 

davismanLV

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How infuriating! It's hard to not feel persecuted when stuff like this happens over and over. You'd think they would be more careful on the second go, but....
 

twocorgis

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How infuriating! It's hard to not feel persecuted when stuff like this happens over and over. You'd think they would be more careful on the second go, but....

...then you'd be wrong, right Tom. Go figure
icon_rolleyes.gif
 

txbumper57

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Hey Sandy, Your experience is almost Identical to the one I had with Musicians Friend about a year and a half ago which was the last time I ever dealt with them. I ordered a special edition Gretsch G-6122-TV-TCG guitar which was a factory double cutaway dual mute Cadillac Green/Gold Hardware TV Jones equipped Country Gent with a gretsch branded bigsby and a zero fret. Lots of letters in that description! LOL. I paid $2100 on sale for it from MF and spoke with some one in their "Private Reserve" department which is meant for the high end guitars I guess. Over the phone we went over every detail of the guitar with the guitar in his hands, No issues. 3 days later it showed up at my front door and had apparently taken a pretty bad knock to the neck as the Nut was loose and the fret board was starting to separate from the neck itself. I called them up and they said they had one other that was still new and they would honor the sale price on it and send a truck for the other to ship it back. Only issue was that if I wanted the other one shipped out same day I had to charge it separate on my credit card and they would reimburse me for the other one going back, No problem. Now my $2100 purchase has turned into a $4200 purchase until they get the other back in shipping. 3 days later the 2nd Gretsch showed up but I still had not received a return slip for the old one. Needless to say upon opening the new one it looked like someone has taken a Brillo pad to the top of the guitar and all the hardware. Needless to say I called them back and told them they could pick them both up at the same time. Still took another week for them to have the guitars picked up and then another week to refund the $4200 to my credit card. Last time I ever did business with them and the last time I ever will.

Sorry for the rant but just wanted you to know that someone else Feels your pain!

TX
 

twocorgis

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Hey Sandy, Your experience is almost Identical to the one I had with Musicians Friend about a year and a half ago which was the last time I ever dealt with them. I ordered a special edition Gretsch G-6122-TV-TCG guitar which was a factory double cutaway dual mute Cadillac Green/Gold Hardware TV Jones equipped Country Gent with a gretsch branded bigsby and a zero fret. Lots of letters in that description! LOL. I paid $2100 on sale for it from MF and spoke with some one in their "Private Reserve" department which is meant for the high end guitars I guess. Over the phone we went over every detail of the guitar with the guitar in his hands, No issues. 3 days later it showed up at my front door and had apparently taken a pretty bad knock to the neck as the Nut was loose and the fret board was starting to separate from the neck itself. I called them up and they said they had one other that was still new and they would honor the sale price on it and send a truck for the other to ship it back. Only issue was that if I wanted the other one shipped out same day I had to charge it separate on my credit card and they would reimburse me for the other one going back, No problem. Now my $2100 purchase has turned into a $4200 purchase until they get the other back in shipping. 3 days later the 2nd Gretsch showed up but I still had not received a return slip for the old one. Needless to say upon opening the new one it looked like someone has taken a Brillo pad to the top of the guitar and all the hardware. Needless to say I called them back and told them they could pick them both up at the same time. Still took another week for them to have the guitars picked up and then another week to refund the $4200 to my credit card. Last time I ever did business with them and the last time I ever will.

Sorry for the rant but just wanted you to know that someone else Feels your pain!

TX

Honestly TX, I've never had any problem with Musician's Friend's customer service, and every time I've had to return something they've even covered the return shipping even when it was me that just didn't like what I bought. So I don't really have a problem with MF, but how this guitar made it through Guild's QC department is beyond me. Like Charlie says, shame on Guild! I'm a bit reluctant to order another at this point, but will have a week or so to think about it while they're sorting out the refund.
 

mellowgerman

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I once ordered an Epi Jack Casady hardshell case from them. It arrived with some scratches and small tears in the tolex. Pretty much minimal and I knew those would get there in a short while anyway, just from use... however, on principle, if i pay $120 for a new hardshell case (of already questionable build quality) I'd like it to show up without cosmetic imperfections. So I sent an email with photos of the damage and MF was actually cool about refunding me something like 15% for the blemishes.
So yeah, I would definitely send them some photos of the finish issues. I assume they'd be accommodating and give you a blem-discount. Unless of course their remaining stock of Guild M85 basses all had little issues like that and maybe that's why it was made the stupid deal of the day item in the first place?
 

twocorgis

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I once ordered an Epi Jack Casady hardshell case from them. It arrived with some scratches and small tears in the tolex. Pretty much minimal and I knew those would get there in a short while anyway, just from use... however, on principle, if i pay $120 for a new hardshell case (of already questionable build quality) I'd like it to show up without cosmetic imperfections. So I sent an email with photos of the damage and MF was actually cool about refunding me something like 15% for the blemishes.
So yeah, I would definitely send them some photos of the finish issues. I assume they'd be accommodating and give you a blem-discount. Unless of course their remaining stock of Guild M85 basses all had little issues like that and maybe that's why it was made the stupid deal of the day item in the first place?

I was told by the customer service rep that I spoke to that they're not allowed to further discount a SDotD, so I'm guessing that's why that didn't happen Ingo. You also have to wonder how well these basses are selling if the one I bought was well over a year old, too.
 

mavuser

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I was going to say the same thing as Mello, there may be a reason they are so deeply discounted. On the first one, the case may have been damaged before it was even shipped. and on the second one...how did the action/truss rod adjusting turn out? if it speaks to you as is id keep it and live w the blem. but if u have any reservations, return it and wait for a different M-85, maybe even a vintage or GSR for a good deal if you're lucky. u can always buy a lightly used Newark Street M-85 for about what the SDOTD price was, or even less. id honestly consider returning it and looking for a hot deal on used Newark Street Stafire bass too, if this is just a care free stunt double for the 68 Greenie, and it was mostly the price that attracted you. You like playing the M-85 with that super deep body, as much as the starfire?
 

dapmdave

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Similar experience here. Got a "stupid Deal" goldtop M-75 Aristocrat from them. The tailpiece was crooked. I chose to fix the issue and flipped the guitar for a small profit. (Got lucky there) I suspect that this "stupid deal of the day" thing may be an outlet for factory seconds, but it's just conjecture on my part.
 

chazmo

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If that's true, Dave, and I feel like it is, then it's unfortunate that they don't just say that... which would be fine, by the way! Indeed, you get what you pay for, right?

Whether that's a "stupid deal" or not is in the eye of the buyer. That said, other "stupid deals" have been perfectly fine new equipment. It affects people's perception and their expectations. If MF is reselling new, but rejected or factory second material as a "stupid deal" they should just say so. It can't be worth it to them to have all this back and forth shipping with people who expect a perfect item. Or, can it?
 

davismanLV

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It's s shame when the perception changes from "They're stupid to sell it to me at this price!" to "I'm stupid to buy defective stuff from them!". But if they start using this to unload seconds and damaged goods, that's exactly what will happen. Seconds, blems, damaged merchandise are all perfectly okay. Let's just call it what it is rather than us trying to guess who the "stupid" one is....... :stupid: Especially if it ends up being US!!

Sandy, did you ever get this bass set up to your satisfaction?
 

twocorgis

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I was going to say the same thing as Mello, there may be a reason they are so deeply discounted. On the first one, the case may have been damaged before it was even shipped. and on the second one...how did the action/truss rod adjusting turn out? if it speaks to you as is id keep it and live w the blem. but if u have any reservations, return it and wait for a different M-85, maybe even a vintage or GSR for a good deal if you're lucky. u can always buy a lightly used Newark Street M-85 for about what the SDOTD price was, or even less. id honestly consider returning it and looking for a hot deal on used Newark Street Stafire bass too, if this is just a care free stunt double for the 68 Greenie, and it was mostly the price that attracted you. You like playing the M-85 with that super deep body, as much as the starfire?

This is just a stunt double for Greenie I suppose, but potential hidden damage on the first one, and the obvious damage on the second one were enough to make me send both back. I could have lived with the finish flaws on the second one if they were on the treble side where I wouldn't have seen them, but they weren't, and that would have been a constant annoyance. I'll probably see if I can get another one, and if something's wrong with this one as well, then that will prove Ingo's theory true. I really do like the way the bass plays, well at least the first one anyway, and they're different enough from the Starfire to make them unique in their own way. I was getting ready to do a truss rod adjustment on the second one when I noticed the finish damage, so I never even made it as far as getting the TRC off. Maybe the third time will be the charm! I've got exactly zero invested up to this point, so I really don't have anything to lose.

As I always say, next!
 

twocorgis

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It's s shame when the perception changes from "They're stupid to sell it to me at this price!" to "I'm stupid to buy defective stuff from them!". But if they start using this to unload seconds and damaged goods, that's exactly what will happen. Seconds, blems, damaged merchandise are all perfectly okay. Let's just call it what it is rather than us trying to guess who the "stupid" one is....... :stupid: Especially if it ends up being US!!

Sandy, did you ever get this bass set up to your satisfaction?

Never made it that far Tom (see my other post). I was getting ready to dial some relief into the neck when I noticed the finish damage on the side of the fretboard. When I saw that I thought about it for a bit, and never continued with the setup. I also agree with Charlie that it can't be worth it for MF to have all this back and forth shipping with people who expect a perfect item (like me). As you (and others) have said, if it's a factory second, discount it even more, and sell it as such!

You never know! Next one could be perfect, right?

What I'm hoping is that they're so sick of hearing from me that they'll make sure to send me one I won't return this time round!
 
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davismanLV

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Yeah, sorry amigo, there was a little delay in my posting and reading..... I got it now!! I sure hope it works out for you!! :encouragement:
 

twocorgis

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Yeah, sorry amigo, there was a little delay in my posting and reading..... I got it now!! I sure hope it works out for you!! :encouragement:

We shall see! As I said, I've got exactly zero invested so far, so there's really nothing to lose.
 

fronobulax

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For what it's worth, my Newark Street Starfire I has similar artifacts along the fingerboard. I convinced myself that they were the result of variations in the wood and not finish flaws. I might be wrong but I am happy in my delusion.
 
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