M-20 issue and how Guild Treated Me

jmascis

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Just a head's up on the new factory and my dealing with them.

About a month ago, I purchased an M-20 sunburst new from an authorized dealer. When he went to ship it, he noticed all these scuffs on the guitar (brand new):
http://imgur.com/a/inPNn

So, he told me he wasn't comfortable selling it. Which was cool. He placed a new order, and they said it would be 3 months!

I wrote Guild and asked them if they could do anything for the troubles. I asked if they could offer a rebate on the next Guild I buy, a free factory tour, etc. Just anything since it was turning out to be a very bad experience. They told me they would ship me a free t-shirt...then they said they would ship the guitar directly to me instead of the shop. In theory that's cool (because I had two guitars recently cracked by UPS), but in doing so I lost out on the free setup that the shop was going to perform on it. When I asked Guild to just set it up for me, they declined.

I don't know if I'm being picky, but it felt like a crappy experience.

Anyway, it turns out the guitar didn't take 3 months to build. They have one ready today and ship it out, so it was 3 or 4 weeks. But that is still a long wait for a new purchase. That part doesn't bother me as much as how little they were willing to throw me some type of comp, even if it were on a future purchase or a rebate, etc. I was open to anything, and the best they came up with was a free t-shirt. I asked for a specific t-shirt that I liked, and they wouldn't even do that. They gave me whatever they decided on.

Am I wrong to be upset? Is this good customer service in the guitar industry? I've only had to deal with customer service on a guitar once before, and it was with a Gretsch electric guitar, and they were AWESOME. I went from "I'm never buying a Gretsch again" attitude to a full supporter just because of how they handled the issue (two guitars, including the replacement, with warped necks -- they had Joe Carducci hand inspect and setup the 3rd one to get it right, even doing a $200 bridge pinning free of charge...just amazing).

Anyway, I was really unimpressed with this Guild transaction. I hope the guitar is killer and makes up for all this at least, but it leaves a very sour taste, and I am not sure I'd buy another new Guild because of this.
 
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refret

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Sad. It seems to be the way these days, customer service in many instances suck. The worst guitar related example I have ever heard came from a local music store, now closed, that I did work for a long while ago. A customer bought a brand new Les Paul that had somewhat sharp fret ends develop. The store returned it to Gibson who in turn returned it with a box of Bandaids in the case pocket......they cancelled their dealer ship and returned all of their stock.
 

walrus

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A customer bought a brand new Les Paul that had somewhat sharp fret ends develop. The store returned it to Gibson who in turn returned it with a box of Bandaids in the case pocket...

I totally agree that is terrible customer service, but I laughed out loud at that! HAD to be joke by an employee...

walrus
 

Westerly Wood

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free tshirt, LOL. I hope you really like the M20, looking forward to pics. a setup would have been nice, they must just have no time right now trying to keep up with production. i don't fault them any saying No to that request. but getting a new m20 to your shop who does the setup quicker, that sounds totally reasonable.
 

davismanLV

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This is kind of an issue between the dealer and Guild. They shipped damaged goods to the dealer. At that point you could have negotiated a lower price due to the defect or decided to wait for another new one with no damage. Your jump to the manufacturer bypassing the dealer is odd. Let him fight that battle for you. Guild has not been making guitars for long in this new location so I doubt they have lots of stock sitting around, so you may have to wait. No one wants to wait. I probably would have negotiated a lower price on the scuffed guitar, but that's just me. Let the dealer handle it. It's sad, but stuff like this happens. Since it's gonna be shipped to you anyway, can you find one online, in stock, from another dealer and have it shipped out to you? Just wondering is all......
 

silverfox103

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This is kind of an issue between the dealer and Guild. They shipped damaged goods to the dealer. At that point you could have negotiated a lower price due to the defect or decided to wait for another new one with no damage. Your jump to the manufacturer bypassing the dealer is odd. Let him fight that battle for you. Guild has not been making guitars for long in this new location so I doubt they have lots of stock sitting around, so you may have to wait. No one wants to wait. I probably would have negotiated a lower price on the scuffed guitar, but that's just me. Let the dealer handle it. It's sad, but stuff like this happens. Since it's gonna be shipped to you anyway, can you find one online, in stock, from another dealer and have it shipped out to you? Just wondering is all......

I agree with Tom, I don't think you should have jumped around the dealer, who was getting the issue fixed with a new guitar. In my book the dealer was top notch and you trying to squeeze something from Guild, in all honesty, that's pretty cheezy. Three weeks later you got a new guitar, what's wrong with that. If anything the dealer is the one that you negotiated the price with, not Guild. You need to stop sniveling, wipe your tears and go play your guitar!

Tom
 

Default

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I agree with Tom, I don't think you should have jumped around the dealer, who was getting the issue fixed with a new guitar. In my book the dealer was top notch and you trying to squeeze something from Guild, in all honesty, that's pretty cheezy. Three weeks later you got a new guitar, what's wrong with that. If anything the dealer is the one that you negotiated the price with, not Guild. You need to stop sniveling, wipe your tears and go play your guitar!

Tom

Keep it respectful, Tom. :-/ Otherwise I have to put on my mod hat, and I just got my hair cut.

That is a strange one. Why would they skip the dealer? Whoa, that's ugly. That's not even a second.

XNpLepn.jpg
 
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jmascis

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Sorry, I didn't skip the dealer. I wrote the dealer and Guild both. All three of us talked and Guild kept the dealer in the loop.
The dealer only offered $50 off the purchase price. At that point, I asked Guild if they could do anything, and above is what they came back with.
 

Westerly Wood

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Sorry, I didn't skip the dealer. I wrote the dealer and Guild both. All three of us talked and Guild kept the dealer in the loop.
The dealer only offered $50 off the purchase price. At that point, I asked Guild if they could do anything, and above is what they came back with.

sounds fair and thorough approach to me...that pic does look like the binding is starting to split away from body. gaps in there.
 

jmascis

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sounds fair and thorough approach to me...

Alright, maybe the problem is me. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of customer service. Like I said, the only time I have had to deal with this is with a problematic Gretsch, and they went above and beyond to correct that sitaution. This felt like the bare minimum. I know I left the Gretsch situation feeling like a valued customer. I don't feel like a valued Guild customer. It's like they just wanted to keep the sale and do the bare minimum to do so. Oh well. Luckily I can vote with my wallet, I just likely won't buy another.

I wasn't sure if I was being unreasonable or not which is why I asked.
 

Westerly Wood

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Alright, maybe the problem is me. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of customer service. Like I said, the only time I have had to deal with this is with a problematic Gretsch, and they went above and beyond to correct that sitaution. This felt like the bare minimum. I know I left the Gretsch situation feeling like a valued customer. I don't feel like a valued Guild customer. It's like they just wanted to keep the sale and do the bare minimum to do so. Oh well. Luckily I can vote with my wallet, I just likely won't buy another.

I wasn't sure if I was being unreasonable or not which is why I asked.

I do not think you were being unreasonable at all. that is a noticeable issue. $50 is not respectful.
Again, hope the new one turns out top notch and this will all be in the rear view...

I am an objective party re the purchase or new Guilds, as I only focus on those made in Westerly RI.

Still, I think you have done your due diligence and the purchase would not sat well with you over the long run had you just taken the tshirt offer. I mean, that is pretty lame offer from Guild.
 

davismanLV

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Is that the actual damage of said guitar? That's more than a "little scuff" but you're getting a new one anyway so, this one (as Woody says) is in the rear view. In three weeks you'll have a super nice guitar.
 

Walter Broes

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Respectfully, JMascis, I don't think it's that big a deal. It's odd the first guitar made it to any kind of dealer whatsoever, but apart from that, they seem to be trying their best to get a good one to you ASAP - which is what I would expect, no more, no less.
 

jmascis

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Respectfully, JMascis, I don't think it's that big a deal. It's odd the first guitar made it to any kind of dealer whatsoever, but apart from that, they seem to be trying their best to get a good one to you ASAP - which is what I would expect, no more, no less.

Yes, I can understand that. But I had to do some recordings and wanted to use this guitar. So the 3 month initial wait was alarming, and even the 3-4 week is a lot when you need the instrument.

Guild wrote me back and said they're going to try to send two t-shirts instead of one, and also set me up with a factory tour once they're setup for them (they explained since it's new they're not yet setup for tours). Now, that is cool. They're right down the road so I'd love to tour it, and it's a nice gesture without any real cost to them. We'll see what they actually do. If they follow through with these gestures I'll definitely feel better about them than I do now.

Yes, they looked over the instrument, have it in hand, and ship it today. They say it's a great example of the M-20, so I hope that's the case as well. One perk of this is that the guitar might have gotten some extra examination and attention.
 

Cougar

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I don't know if I'm being picky....

Well, a little. They agreed to get you a new guitar. Then they agreed to get it to you right away instead of in 3-4 months. (Still, I don't know why "right away" would take 3 or 4 weeks.) If you were going to keep the damaged guitar, then yes, you should be due a rebate or something significant. But if they're replacing the damaged guitar with a brand new one, I think they're doing right by you. An extra wait of a few weeks kind of goes along with replacing the damaged guitar with a new one.

True, they shouldn't have sent out a damaged guitar, but maybe the damage happened after it left Guild. I don't think your experience was all that terrible, assuming the new M-20 on its way to you is in perfect condition!
 

fronobulax

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I think the dealer made a mistake in letting you talk to Guild. I think you are making a bigger deal out of this than it really needs to be because you have a deadline and wanted it ASAP to record. In other product areas if the dealer cannot get me the product at the appointed time they offer me the chance to wait or a full refund. They might try and find a substitute at another dealer but they don't make me the factory's problem. So I give Guild credit for trying to ease the pain rather than accuse them of lousy service, compared to the rest of the world. Your Gretsch experience would be extraordinary in my experience. Since you wanted calibration for your expectations I think your expectations could have been a touch unreasonable but it sounds like you are going to be happy enough eventually so...
 
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