Returning a new guitar back to shop - happy ending !

Fortheloveofguitar

What are my rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations?

• Your right to cancel an order for goods made at a distance starts from the moment you place your order and ends 14 days from the day you receive your goods
• Your right to cancel a service made at a distance starts the moment you enter into the contract and lasts 14 day

Your right to a refund

You should get a refund within 14 days of either the trader getting the goods back, or you providing evidence of having returned the goods (for example, a proof of postage receipt from the post office), whichever is the sooner. 

*****A deduction can be made if the value of the goods has been reduced as a result of you handling the goods more than was necessary*****

The extent to which you can handle the goods is the same as it would be if you were assessing them in a shop.

What they are quoting as a 20% re-stocking fee is way over the top and you can bet that the guitar will be back up on the site within 24hrs at exactly the same money as you paid for it

Philtre

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TINMAN82

Got an excellent Martin acoustic from Peach so I rate them highly as a company.

Have just sent them back a Faith acoustic as it was very much in used condition despite being sold as new. Multiple (albeit fairly minor) dings and scratches. Think they took their eye off the ball on final check tbf.

But I checked it out and emailed them immediately...that’s the key. Full refund processed.

Bridgehouse

[Modmin hat on]

Just fair warning here - we would kindly ask that you don’t shoot from the hip when criticising businesses based on the evidence presented in any original posts. 

Jumping in gung ho isn’t helpful at all. The OP has admitted that they didn’t check it straight away and should have done. There’s no reason to start saying you’ll never buy from this shop etc. 

It’s harsh for the OP - and a lesson learned, but we do ask that you stick by the rules and think carefully about what you post when it comes to any business anywhere (legitimate, of course - scammers get all they deserve).

jellybelly

It’s a shame but given that it’s Peach (who I’ll add I’ve had a good distance-buying experience with) I would give them the benefit of the doubt - presumably they’d check a £2k guitar before sending it for the very reason that this thread exists, and even if it did turn up with marks it was on you to check and photograph at that point if there was even a chance you’d be sending it back. We all make daft mistakes that we learn the hard way from time to time, easy to do!!

Edit - keep it!! I almost sent my AV65 Jaguar back when I got it. It’s now my No. 1....

Philly_Q

dean111music said:

I haven't brought a new shiny/NOS brand new guitar for years. I have only owned Customshop Fenders for the past 8 years. 

So i guess when i buy a new guitar it already has lots of marks on it. Didn't really think to look at the finer details. To be honest if it had some small hairline marks i don't think it would bother me. I understand its been in a shop and people have picked the guitar up.

So big question... Would it bother anyone else?

Everything I've bought the last few years has been - like your Fenders - a relic, or simply used.  But first thing I do, still, is look it over, check the state of the frets, see if anything is cracked or dented which shouldn't be.

If it's been sold as "near mint" or "good condition" then I'll see if those descriptions seem to fit.  A few blemishes aren't a problem but a cracked neck joint or repaired headstock break is.

If it's brand new and shiny, then I'd expect no issues at all.  If I find a flaw I may decide to live with it, but if there's anything which makes me think I may be going to return it, that's when to get in touch with the shop, or at least take a picture.

dean111music said:
When you get the guitar and you inspect it who's to say you did the damage even though you just opened the box? 

Of course there's a degree of trust involved, but nobody buys a guitar in order to return it.  The best they're going to get is all their money back so there's nothing to gain. 

You've bought it, it's reasonable to assume you actually wanted it.  If the first thing you do when it turns up is call the shop to say you want to return it, it'll be because something's already wrong or you simply don't like it.  It's very unlikely you'll instantly damage something yourself then try to blame the shop.

(Unless you forgot you were wearing your Rob Halford jacket and Kerry King wristbands when you took it out of the case.  D'oh.  But then you probably ought to keep it...)

Again though, it's all about checking it when you get it.  If you wait a week or two and then return it covered in marks - which may or may not have been there in the first place - I have some sympathy with the dealer.

dindude

jellybelly said:

Edit - keep it!! I almost sent my AV65 Jaguar back when I got it. It’s now my No. 1....

Yeah - I bought my Custom Shop Strat online from Guitar Guitar last year. Liked it but wasn’t entirely sure to start with so had kinda made up my mind I’d send it back rather than take the risk. Next day picked it up and put a decent sized ding in the headstock finish by clocking it on my glass top desk, ouch! Kept it as a result and a year later wouldn’t be without it.

Moe_Zambeek

See my post here:

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/141624/peach-returns#latest

Peach have invalid ts and cs on their their web page, restocking fees are not allowed. However, they are allowed to take a chunk off a refund if the item has been damaged or excessively inspected. 

I take the view that any shop that knowingly has incorrect terms on their website is liable to have a go now and then at using those unfair terms and so it’s an instant no-buy from them if I spot it. You make yourself a hostage to fortune if you go down that route. 

Plenty of other shops out there!

on the other hand - I do think it’s fair that a shop can make a claim off a refund if an item is genuinely damaged by the buyer while assessing it. 

bodhi

Fuengi said:

I'd just like to say that I bought a guitar from Peach earlier this year. They checked the guitar over first and emailed me to say it has some swirl marks (which they photographed) on it and would offer me a discount if I still wanted it. When it arrived I could barely see the swirls.

However, the nut was so poorly cut that the low e kept slipping off the board. I informed them straight away and they agreed to either have the guitar returned or pay for a new nut. 

I couldn't have asked for better service and I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again. 

However, I would always thoroughly check over any guitar on delivery. 

Similar experience here.  A few years ago I ordered an R8 from their web site.  John Priest emailed me pics of a tiny little ding they discovered on the back, and offered me a discount.  I was well impressed.  So I rate Peach very highly and hope to buy one of those new Juniors from them soon.

rossi

Dont peach have photos of the  new nguitars they are selling .

chrisj1602

To me, it’s now a used guitar so I don’t blame them.

If I paid Peach the best part of £2,000 for a guitar it would be a massive purchase and I would not expect to receive a guitar that’s been on trial at a previous customer’s house for a week.

The distance selling rules need to be clarified because the 14 days were surely not intended to be a free trial period.

Fuengi

Just an additional thought, when I ordered my guitar they confirmed that the guitar on their website was the actual guitar I would receive. They have a photographer who shoots each instrument.

I'm sure they would forward any photos they had of your particular guitar so you can check the condition? 

roberty

I reckon keep it too. It won't be shiny and new forever

dean111music

This might be fate. I’ll get the guitar back and with write a hit song with this as my inspiration. I’ll make loads of money and things won’t be so bad. 

All honestly I don’t have a bad word to say about Peach they have handled it in the only way they could. I was really pee’d off before but I have time to process it all and from what has been said on here. It’s my fault for not checking. Marks could of been made from storage in transit from me or someone else. There is no way of proving anything. 

Im glad I’m not going to end up with a dog of a guitar. It’s an exceptionally guitar. After playing it for a bit I raised the bar and am really wanting a customer Gretsch Duo Jet with the nitro and a mixture of features this has. The main thing is the new look. 

Thanks for all your info and putting me in a place where I can see that I was wrong.

I’ll be more careful in future.

Please anyone reading this looking at some comments, Peach guitars are a great company. I have been a regular customer. I still wouldn’t hesitate to buy from them again. 

Willhubbs

Hi Fretboarders, Will from Peach here.

Dean has decided to mention us by name and already we have someone saying that they'll not buy from us again, so I feel we have to chip in here since this is now a matter of reputation as well as a bad transaction to address.

Those of you out there who know us and know what we do will know we are absolutely sticklers for quality control, every single guitar we send out gets checked over and setup, and it's very rare indeed for us to dispatch a guitar with flaws on it, in the occasion where we find a problem with a guitar on the way out, we usually notify a customer and offer money off or a refund for the smallest of marks as the reputation of our stock is super important to us.

This guitar Dean has sent back to us is used at this point, simple as that, and although it makes us incredibly uncomfortable to have to take a stance on this, I think a lot of the fretboard forum users would be the first people to cry foul if we dispatched the guitar in question out a second time as new, it's marked on both the front and back multiple times, and we know that there is simply no chance it left us in that condition.

Our legal responsibility on taking back goods that are not as new when returned are straight forward, it would be enough for us to simply refuse to accept the guitar back and wish Dean best of luck selling it as used, we'd even cover the shipping to get it back to him, but as we sometimes do, we've offered to refund him the majority of his money and sell the guitar as ex-demo making no additional profit from the situation. This is an extra option we're offering and are not obliged to do so, he's very welcome to keep the guitar if he feels what we think we can sell the guitar for now is unreasonable or unfair, it's just the price gap between a new example and a used one.

If dean approves it I'd be happy to post the pictures we've taken on today for you all to decide if we're being unfair, fairly clearly showing multiple scratches on the both the front and back of the guitar, but I feel that would come across as confrontational when that's not my intention. It's clear to us the marks are news to Dean prior to us telling him about them earlier and 100% believe he’s surprised to hear what we’re telling him.

I need to state that we practically never quibble on returns, and when we do it's simply as we can't sell a new guitar, and then accept back a used one, this is in line with both our terms and conditions and the law as it stands.

To Dean specifically, very sorry about this situation, sincerely. We really try to walk the line between looking after our customers and looking after our stock, and the two don't always line up the way we'd like them to.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

Will @ Peach Guitars.

FreddieVanHalen

Fortheloveofguitar said:

What they are quoting as a 20% re-stocking fee is way over the top and you can bet that the guitar will be back up on the site within 24hrs at exactly the same money as you paid for it

What discount would you expect from a dealer to purchase a shop soiled/marked guitar?

mbe

TINMAN82 said:

Have just sent them back a Faith acoustic as it was very much in used condition despite being sold as new. Multiple (albeit fairly minor) dings and scratches. Think they took their eye off the ball on final check tbf.

That doesn't inspire confidence.

monquixote

Superb post @Willhubbs an absolute credit to you and your company

I have bought from you in the past and will happily do so again.

FreddieVanHalen

mbe said:

TINMAN82 said:

Have just sent them back a Faith acoustic as it was very much in used condition despite being sold as new. Multiple (albeit fairly minor) dings and scratches. Think they took their eye off the ball on final check tbf.

That doesn't inspire confidence.

I guess every firm makes a mistake from time to time.

My experience is of buying around 20 guitars from Peach and none of them have had problems

Willhubbs

mbe said:

TINMAN82 said:

Have just sent them back a Faith acoustic as it was very much in used condition despite being sold as new. Multiple (albeit fairly minor) dings and scratches. Think they took their eye off the ball on final check tbf.

That doesn't inspire confidence.

Yeah, one more response before I go grab a beer, that one really did slip the net on our side, and that required a profuse apology on our behalf, we got the guitar collected and refunded the next day, and as a result of that one, we added an extra pair of eyes to our process as a double check.