Is this acceptable on a £1545 guitar?

ICBM

skunkwerx said:

Tbh, I may be paranoid, I just have a feeling I'm on their watch list as a serial returner haha.. 

If so you would have thought they would go out of their way to make sure that whatever they sent you was flawless...

skunkwerx

Woodenhead said:

If that's what they class as A stock these days then I wont be buying any guitars from them in the near future. I remember a few years back they were selling B-stock Variaxs with minor imperfections, pinhead size blemishes in the finish, hardly noticeable and they were reduced by 100's.

That gouge near the fretboard on the LTD is enough for me to class it as B-stock, nevermind the swirl marks.

I know right! 

I can't even figure out how its happened.. 

I'm guessing it was tape, when they do the frets or something, thats pulled away the top later or something..
But I'm not sure mass manufacturers would tape a finished guitar to file the frets.. 

Figured it was all done more industrial like. 

beed84

That's a B-stock item every day of the week. If and when they get it back and they list it as A-stock, then they want their heads and eyes testing. Normally I'd let the £15 charge go, but in this case I don't see why you should fork out money for what is essentially a shop-soiled or sub-standard finished guitar. It's a bit insulting to be charged for their incompetence.

beed84

Ironically, it appears they put more care and attention into their second hand goods:

skunkwerx

beed84 said:

Ironically, it appears they put more care and attention into their second hand goods:

Oh yeah, try part exchanging something and they eyeball it enough to notice every detail. 

Its really weird. 

I have an urge to try part exchanging something fucked but taking Mr mans emails along with me incase they deem it 'used'.. 

They must have seen the chip on the previous one I returned, if not then they really arent looking much.. but either way, chips and damage appear to be classed as A grade non faults anyway going by their email. 

Im pretty pissy this week. 

I bought a car last weekend and thats leaking what appears to be diesel all over the drive... 
Mondays battle with Renault to come.. haha. 

They tout a 102 point safety check and a 12 month warranty as standard.. 

These quality assurances evidently mean absolutely nothing. 

Surely if they advertise these QC checks yet clearly in this case with the Ouija just pass anything off, some form of authority must be able to slap their wrists?

It's surely enticing people to choose them over other retailers to win the business.. 

Sync

There are various other dealers with these in stock, two of which should give you a c7-12% discount if you call them to order and when pushed a bit. 

I won't name but they are main ones.

Sarge

To be honest I'd be more concerned with the hideous fretboard inlays

On a more serious note, the gouge alongside the fretboard looks exactly the same as one of my early attempts at filing flat the fret ends with the 35/90 degree file.

Before you send it back, jot down the link to this thread on a small piece of paper, roll it up and pop it in the control cavity so the next buyer can see what they've bought  
I do hope you get a satisfactory result with this. 

skunkwerx

Sarge said:

To be honest I'd be more concerned with the hideous fretboard inlays

On a more serious note, the gouge alongside the fretboard looks exactly the same as one of my early attempts at filing flat the fret ends with the 35/90 degree file.

Before you send it back, jot down the link to this thread on a small piece of paper, roll it up and pop it in the control cavity so the next buyer can see what they've bought  
I do hope you get a satisfactory result with this. 

Thats a good point haha.. 

Theres an envelope in the case with the COA inside.. could tuck it in there. 

I'll certainly never buy any of their B stock though.. can you imagine what kind of condition they'd be in!

skunkwerx

Though to be honest guys.. 

Based on their attitude toward things here, clearly you could buy a guitar, gig it for a fortnight and sent it back as unwanted with little worry if you've fucked it up.. 

All for the sum of £15. 

terada

Maybe contact again and ask a different person?

I’ve found Andertons customer service to be mixed depending on the person you get through to. 

But then I’ve also heard from managers that have left that say the culture isn’t as rosy these days as their videos would like you to believe. 

Either way having initially bought a lot of gear from them, I now tend to buy from either guitar guitar or local independants who have offered me superb service. 

mbe

Retailer too spineless to confront the manufacturer, so not afraid to piss off a punter as there are plenty more fish in the sea. That my friends is the takeaway here. To stop this malpractice, they should be reported to their local Trading Standards Office. 

skullfunkerry

How disappointing... I know how long you’ve been waiting for that guitar

That finish really is poor: my SL3X is better than that, and it was £399.

Personally, I’m pretty surprised both at Anderton’s attitude and that it came from ESP like that, as others have said.

DefaultM

From his multiple "I've asked a colleague and he says..." he's obviously a little weasel that's unable to take responsibility for his own job. So just ask for the details to make a CEO complaint, at the same time make a social media complaint wherever the most customers will be able to see. 
Both of those get pushed straight to the top of the queue at my place.

DefaultM

At mine I've to quality check how people deal with customers, except it's phone calls so I get to hear the colleague referral.

There's no such thing as a colleague referral system. 9 times out of 10 they put the phone on mute and then you can hear them turning to their mate sat at their side who's very busy doing exactly the same fucking job as them.

"John... John..."

"Fuck sake... what?"

"Oh err this customer asks so and so. I've already made a decision and I don't want to admit I'm wrong so here's half the story and I've heavily weighted it towards me being right. Am I right? I just want to hear that I'm right"

"Sounds like it"

"Great... Hello again customer I've asked a colleague and they agree. There's nothing I can do".

Or the other classic 'make a decision then go round the office asking if it was right. Don't stop asking people until you find one that agrees with you. Trick them in to putting it in an email and then if anything comes of it shows the email and blame it all on them'.

clarkefan

mbe said:

Retailer too spineless to confront the manufacturer, so not afraid to piss off a punter as there are plenty more fish in the sea. That my friends is the takeaway here. To stop this malpractice, they should be reported to their local Trading Standards Office. 

Thank you, these people sound interesting, I'll be looking at this myself, appreciate it.

I freely admit I don't fully understand my rights, I've never heard of these people.

Could it be that tosser companies rely on punters' ignorance of how the law works?

skunkwerx

clarkefan said:

mbe said:

Retailer too spineless to confront the manufacturer, so not afraid to piss off a punter as there are plenty more fish in the sea. That my friends is the takeaway here. To stop this malpractice, they should be reported to their local Trading Standards Office. 

Thank you, these people sound interesting, I'll be looking at this myself, appreciate it.

I freely admit I don't fully understand my rights, I've never heard of these people.

Could it be that tosser companies rely on punters' ignorance of how the law works?

Aye there are bodies. I'm not sure trading standards do much for this kind of thing, but consumer rights people look at it? Not sure, its been a while!

Musicman20

I've had similar issues with Andertons. Their 'QC' stage is odd; I sent back a Johnny Marr Sherwood Green Jaguar which had some terrible finish marks (including the finish reacting with the case lining to leave marks in the whole back of the guitar) and they said it 'passed their QC'. Not inspiring. 

I have bought some items from them that had clearly never been opened or checked and they were fine. 

I hate to say it, but they are just shifting stock. They aren't doing anything else.

Rather than try tell us why we need yet another purple guitar related item, they should be looking after you on this and dealing with ESP directly and keeping you in the loop. I would allow them one more chance then put it on their social media channels. I imagine a few hundred have already seen this thread. EDIT: 3.1k hahahaha

WezV

Have you contacted ESP to get their view on whether its up to standard?   I would consider doing it publicly if you get no response   

skunkwerx

WezV said:

Have you contacted ESP to get their view on whether its up to standard?   I would consider doing it publicly if you get no response   

Not yet, I'll do it this eve though. The couriers collecting this one tomorrow, figured I'd get that sorted with andertons first then link the captain/andertons media pages and contact esp about it. 

DefaultM

Fart in the box just as you seal it.