Conference napalm::guitar

    
    	You have every right to be pissed.  I'd call (or write) the
    	manufacturer and tell 'em like it is.  Your note (.0) would be
    	a great basis for a letter too.
    
    	good luck,
    	-pat

    Charlie,
    
    I think the UZI idea was the best !! Give it a shot ...
    
    /Bill

Demand a new guitar.  What you have is not what you paid for.

Jim

    
    
    
    Second that!  New guitar, for sure!  You paid for it, and you'll pay
    for that repair jerk's f***-up, eventually, when you have to get the
    guitar re-fretted.  If the jerk doesn't own the store, go talk to the
    store owner.  If he does own the store, copy him on the letters you
    mail to the manufacturer.  The factory and the repair shop own
    liability on this disaster.
    
    Lean on the dealer, first.  Give 'im enough grief and he'll take it
    back (resell it to some unsuspecting bystander) and give you a new
    one.  If you need backing, call your local TV station's consumer
    affairs desk; they love this stuff.
    
    

    I have to agree with the other replies..
    
    All of this screw up was the dealers fault,, one way or another,
    they certainly can pin this one on the customer.  at the tune
    of 800 dollars, I'd be quite irate myself...
    
    	once apon a time..
    
    My wife, at my request, went to pick up a delay for me,, there
    was none left instock, so they yerk at (I wont name the store) sold
    her something completly off the wall for $225.00..  she shows
    up, had done her best, but with something that clearly wasn't
    a delay.. matter of fact, it wasn't even working right.. none of 
    it was her fault, the salesmen said 'this is it, do it all.'  (uh-uh..)
    
    I call the next morning, they say to bring it in, when I get there
    I ask for a VISA CREDIT (didn't use cash) the owner said, pointing
    to a sign "NO CASH REFUNDS"  I said,, "look, you got a choice;
    
    A: Give me a Visa Credit
    
    or 
    
    B: I cause one of the most ludicrous scenes in this store, you'll ever
       see...  
    
    had the visa credit in my hand 10 minutes later...
    Was told, 'have a nice day, come back soon' on my way out,,
    replied back,, 'ya, be back when hell freezes over..'
    
    		out the door I go...  never-ever went back. 
    
    Go get em, and make it known (warn them) if they're not gonna cooperate, 
    that everyone in the store will know what happened to you..  Chaces are
    you'll be all set...

	I had a similar experience with a brand new Guild guitar I bought 
many years ago. When I demoed the guitar, I commented that the action was
too high. The salesman had their repair guy lower it some. When I bought 
the guitar they told me to play it for a few days, and if the action was 
still too high, they would lower it some more. 

	After a few days, I decided I wanted it lower. I brought the
guitar back to the store and asked them to lower the action a bit more.
The repair tech told me that the saddle was taken down about as much as
it could be. In order to lower it the right way, they would have to send
it back to Guild. They offered to give me another guitar to use while
mine was being sent back to Guild. They placed the loner guitar in my
Guild case. I was a little uneasy about leaving my brand new Guild guitar
with them without a case, but they said not to worry because my guitar
would be boxed up and sent back to Guild in a shipping carton. I was 
expecting at least a 4 week wait. After about a week, I got a call from
the store and they said my guitar was ready. When I went to pick it up,
they told me that they had decided not to send it back to Guild, and
had their repair tech remove the bridge, and sand some wood off the 
bottom, which is the same thing Guild would have done. I had no complaints
about the action, and credited the tech with doing a good job on it. However,
I noticed lots of little dings and scratches on the body and headstock of 
my guitar. It seems they left it sitting around the repair shop for a whole
week with no case. The guitar got bumped several times and subsequently 
got beaten up. I complained about the cosmetic damage they did to my guitar
and they were quite taken back with my complaints. I told them I would give
them an opportunity to fix the scratches, but if it was not fixed to my
satisfaction, I either wanted a new guitar or my money back. They got a
pretty good laugh when I said this. They weren't laughing when I filed
a small claims court suit against them. They called me at home, and told
me to come into the store and take my pick of any new Guild (of equal
value) in stock.

If I were you, I would go back to the store and confront the person that
you dealt with (and the store owner/manager if it's a differant person)
and make it clear to them that you are not satisfied with this instrument.
If they do not agree to resolve this to your satisfaction, tell them you'll
see em in court. Filing a small claim is very inexpensive, and it's a far
greater hassle for the store than it is for the individual. Most businessmen
will want to settle the issue out of court. Their time is far too valuable
to waste it in court. If you do end up in court, tell the judge you want
your money back, so you won't have to deal with this store again.

			Money talks and B.S. walks.

		       The customer is ALWAYS right.

     Sometimes store owners/salemen lose site of these two FACTS of life.
     It's our job to remind them. Good luck !
    
    
	Mark

	I took it back. I told him I wanted a new guitar or a factory
	refret. He said he'd send it back to the manufacturer. Great.

	I know it's not the manufacturer's fault but I want the makers
	of this thing to get a look at his work. I called the company
	and told them all about it. They told me that there wasn't
	anything they were going to be able to do about it.

	I called my credit card company and froze the charge. I'll
	be more than willing to drag this feller's butt into court.

	Thanks for all the support guys....

    Freezing the credit card payment is probably yer best leverage....hit
    'em where it really HURTZ!!
    
    Best of luck....
    
    Steve

any thing new to report on this ?

us caring folk in GEETAR notes be wonderin how yer making out.

	It's at the factory being refretted... I expect to be seeing it
	by the end of the month. I'll post another update when I see the
	guitar and all of the shipping documentation....

	The dealer was disappointed that I didn't like his work but
	quite agreeable about getting it refretted.

	ccb

thx.

good luck.  hope the wait is worth it.

	It came back from the factory with a beautiful fret job.
	The rattle that was bugging me the first month was also
	back. I gave it a very close once over. Since being sent
	off there was a new crack in the finish and a crack was
	forming in the wood near the bridge. The case had been
	knocked silly and would no longer seal properly. I took a
	fit. The store wrote me a tag and promised to go over it
	with the company rep.

	I got a call last night. Full warranty replacement is on
	order. They checked with my preference of colors to make
	sure I wanted another one just like the other one. They're
	back-ordered. I'm trying to think of what I can have them
	do to make the new guitar *special*. Any suggestions?

Re:-1 " I'm trying to think of what I can have them
	do to make the new guitar *special*. Any suggestions?"

With all of the problems you have had I would not want them to do ANYTHING.
I wouldn't even want them to open the box from the factory.

Jim

    Any possibility you could mention the name of the manufacturer without
    violating Digital policy (since you have not defamed them in any way)?
    \Gary

    
    
    Will having them make your guitar "special" put it on the deep
    back-order list?
    
    Kevin
      

    sounds like if they just manged to deliver the thing in working
    condition that that alone would be special...
    
    If-n-ya don't mind,,, I'd like to know thw manufacturer as well,..
    via e-mail is fine
    
    							/Bill
    

	I'll take it as it comes and hope to hell it's right.

	ccb

	I got a phone call Tuesday saying "come and get it". I went and
	picked it up yesterday. Before leaving the shop I carefully
	inspected the guitar, tuned it to pitch, played every note on
	the fretboard listening to rattles and buzzes. I went over the
	case with a fine tooth comb. This time the guitar came with a
	"Damp-It" soundhole humidifier.

	I was given a new receipt reflecting yesterday as the new
	warranty start date. The dealer was very congenial.

	I'm impressed. Since the other guitar was built they've softened
	the lines on the cutaway, gone to rubber coated knobs on the
	pre-amp controls and gone to a narrower fret wire. The overall
	workmanship of the piece is very nice, surpassing the original.
	With any luck it will stand the test of time. I'll be taking
	it to my own favorite luthier for any work.