help please

[Hotzenplotz]

Yep!

[dave001]

I agree, the instrument is used if it as been played on the shop floor
And this is the 2nd one ive had from them
surely this bass is not fit for purpose and i will be due a refund,
i just do not have faith in the company anymore.
guitar guitar is a uk shop i am in the uk

Hi David. Sorry to hear about your issues.

Guitarguitar are definitely UK authorised dealers, so if the guitar was sold to you "as new" and with a full standard UK warranty then any manufacturing defects should be covered for repair under that warranty. However, I'm not sure where you'd stand in terms of a full/partial refund. If the dealer is resisting your request for a refund, I guess you'd have to clearly show they sold you a guitar which was not fit for purpose under UK legislation (especially the Sale of Goods Act). See this website for more details on your rights under that law.

http://www.oft.gov.uk/business-advice/t ... aataglance

If you're unhappy with the way guitarguitar are dealing with it, I'd first write to Rosetti (the UK distributor which supplies all the authorised UK dealers with their official Rickenbacker stock) outlining all the facts and see what they say as you may find they can help you resolve things to your satisfaction without the need for any legalistic recourse. I'd send them either a snailmail letter by recorded delivery, or an email (so you have proof of despatch/receipt). Rosetti's contact details are here:

http://www.rosetti.co.uk/Contact

If you're still not happy with how Rosetti respond, I'd then have a chat with your local Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) as they'll be able to give you the full nine yards on your legal rights under the Sale of Goods Act etc. You can find your local CAB here:

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice.htm

Anyhow...good luck with getting your problems sorted (hopefully quickly)!

thank you so much
i will try all the mentioned options

[dave001]

thank you everyone

[redamber]

Commiserations David - it sounds as if you have had a pretty bad experience with this purchase.

I would have thought that this thread is doing nothing to enhance the reputation of either Rickenbacker or Guitar Guitar in the UK and so, for that reason alone, it would be to their advantage to resolve the problem promptly before there is any further adverse publicity. I can never understand why any company would spend large amounts on marketing, only to see it undermined by negative feedback from one disgruntled customer. Put otherwise, it can take years and a great deal of money to build up a reputation for quality, service and value for money, but this can be lost in an instant.

Despite all the hype from the Ric Corporation, Guitar Guitar does still seem to have plentiful stocks of the ' strictly limited edition ' Walnutburst 330, 360 & 4003 models - I wonder why?

[johnhall]

Despite all the hype from the Ric Corporation . . .

What hype would that be? The customer requested something, we supplied it, end of story.

[Grey]

Apologies to the OP.

I would have thought that this thread is doing nothing to enhance the reputation of either Rickenbacker or Guitar Guitar in the UK and so, for that reason alone, it would be to their advantage to resolve the problem promptly before there is any further adverse publicity. I can never understand why any company would spend large amounts on marketing, only to see it undermined by negative feedback from one disgruntled customer. Put otherwise, it can take years and a great deal of money to build up a reputation for quality, service and value for money, but this can be lost in an instant.

Despite all the hype from the Ric Corporation, Guitar Guitar does still seem to have plentiful stocks of the ' strictly limited edition ' Walnutburst 330, 360 & 4003 models - I wonder why?

I've been seeing your posts for some time now and can't help but draw the conclusion that you have an axe to grind. You seem neither fond of the forum nor the company and consistently try to stir up trouble. He bought a floor model, I don't know if you've been to a Guitar Center store but floor models are basically the abused puppies nobody wants to take home. Rickenbacker is not a megacorporation with a gigantic production volume and as a result has a much tighter control on quality issues, it would not have left the factory in this state.

What are you even doing here?

[redamber]

Firstly, my comments about potential damage to corporate reputation were directed solely to Guitar Guitar in the UK and not the Rickenbacker Corporation, who I accept is an innocent party in this particular case.

In relation to the Walnutbursts, my point is simply that customers do not appear to be queuing up to buy these 'strictly limited edition' models (25 each of 330, 360 & 4003 guitars), which were produced for Guitar Guitar in the UK. This sits somewhat at variance with JH's views in a previous post where he said: 'The concept that the customer is always right is and always have been a fairy tale. What is true is that a manufacturer's remit is to make what a customer will buy and that's something we do very well, especially as compared to many of our competitors'. I have no doubt that the Walnutbursts will all sell eventually, but I am still of the view that this will be largely at the expense of other Ric colours - ie, displacement of demand, rather than generation of additional sales.

As for the interjection by Grey, you could not be further from the truth. I have no axe to grind and, if I was not totally committed to the Rickenbacker brand, I would not be participating in the Forum and neither would I have spent the last two years accumulating one of the largest collections of Rickenbackers in Europe. Five of my Rics are shown on the recent RRF topic ‘Ric 650 Models’. In this context, the remark 'What are you even doing here?' is deeply offensive.

[Grey]

Firstly, my comments about potential damage to corporate reputation were directed solely to Guitar Guitar in the UK and not the Rickenbacker Corporation, who I accept is an innocent party in this particular case.

This dosen't match with your previous statement of;

I would have thought that this thread is doing nothing to enhance the reputation of either Rickenbacker or Guitar Guitar

Secondly,

As for the interjection by Grey, you could not be further from the truth. I have no axe to grind and, if I was not totally committed to the Rickenbacker brand, I would not be participating in the Forum and neither would I have spent the last two years accumulating one of the largest collections of Rickenbackers in Europe. Five of my Rics are shown on the recent RRF topic ‘Ric 650 Models’. In this context, the remark 'What are you even doing here?' is deeply offensive.

Well, you've got 75 posts in a little over two years, and a suprising number of them feature the words "i'm sorry if I offended people".

Many of them involve stirring up criticism of the Rickenbacker corporation in threads where it is otherwise not warranted. Active criticism is all well and good, but there is a place for it. I doubt the OP cares for your opinion of Walnutbursts and RIC's confidence in their commerical appeal in his thread about a sour purchase.

[k43rover]

I think it would be fair to point out that all products sometimes go wrong or suffer from quality related issues....regardless of how expensive/well made they are. That's life and the key thing from a customer service perspective is how retailers/distributors/manufacturers deal with those inevitable problems when they do arise.

I cannot speak for guitarguitar as I've never dealt with them. Nor do I have a directly comparable experience of the type of problem that David described in his OP. But I have dealt directly with both Sound Affects and Rosetti on a variety of other transactions. I'd like to simply note that both of those companies were efficient, professional, courteous and responsive whenever I needed something from them. My other observation would be that if I were going to buy another new Rickenbacker here in the UK, I wouldn't be looking any further than Sound Affects...

[dave001]

James is correct ,I dont think it is an issue with rickenbacker but customer service at GUITAR GUITAR .
most of there instruments are ex display and played by anybody who walks off the street , i understand you need to try an instrument but surely they should have display models and new models and they also put there exchanges and 2nd hand instruments up with the so called "new" instruments .
They still have not responed to my emails , or calls .The head office are quite sympatheic but they tell me to call the store direct ,When i call the store the maneger askes my to come down the store
I cannot get into the store because of work, so my wife went in ,she was told " your husband maybe playing it wrong" and " rickenbackers sound like that,that is why people like them" so GUITAR GUITAR seem to think rickenbackers are ment to sound like an electic banD strung over a fence post.
I Am not a rich man and i saved a while to get this bass guitar and although the staff are pleasent they are terrible when it comes to customer service.

[Lefty4001]

Apologies to the OP. You DO want this and it sounds like you work hard. Not a collector, but a player who finally could do something for himself. There is some great advice on getting restitution and I hope it works out for you. When it comes back to you set up right, you'll know it was worth it. Let us know how it finally sounds.

Firstly, my comments about potential damage to corporate reputation were directed solely to Guitar Guitar in the UK and not the Rickenbacker Corporation, who I accept is an innocent party in this particular case.

In relation to the Walnutbursts, my point is simply that customers do not appear to be queuing up to buy these 'strictly limited edition' models (25 each of 330, 360 & 4003 guitars), which were produced for Guitar Guitar in the UK. This sits somewhat at variance with JH's views in a previous post where he said: 'The concept that the customer is always right is and always have been a fairy tale. What is true is that a manufacturer's remit is to make what a customer will buy and that's something we do very well, especially as compared to many of our competitors'. I have no doubt that the Walnutbursts will all sell eventually, but I am still of the view that this will be largely at the expense of other Ric colours - ie, displacement of demand, rather than generation of additional sales.

As for the interjection by Grey, you could not be further from the truth. I have no axe to grind and, if I was not totally committed to the Rickenbacker brand, I would not be participating in the Forum and neither would I have spent the last two years accumulating one of the largest collections of Rickenbackers in Europe. Five of my Rics are shown on the recent RRF topic ‘Ric 650 Models’. In this context, the remark 'What are you even doing here?' is deeply offensive.

Sorry, you missed something. Here ya go:

The "customer" from RICs point of view was Guitar Guitar (maybe Rosetti?). As JH pointed out, the customer ordered something and his company fulfilled the order. End of his story and in no way varies from the quoted, bolded statement. In fact, if the walnutglos are not flying out the door, as you say, then the quoted, bolded statement is exactly correct. Guitar Guitar cannot move their special order ('concept that the customer (still GG) is always right is and always have been a fairy tale'). And the second half of the statement is a given in these parts. GG got it wrong. This is the recurring theme from the post.

Congratulations on your collection, but I don't think Grey is far off. You may want to balance your postings. Maybe tell the world the sonic merits of each and every instrument tucked away in your vaults.

[Wiker]

Yes, the shop obviously has a responsibility, warranty an all that.
But it might still be a good idea to check out the bass more thoroughly yourself, trying to find what is actually the problem, before confronting the shop. Is there actually something structurally wrong with the bass, or just a bad setup and a rattling saddle?

Rattling saddles shouldn’t be so hard to fix/replace. Easy to check by pressing a finger on top of saddle while playing to see if buzzing disappear.

Any buzzing a the nut? Press a finger on top of string on the nut while playing to see if buzzing disappear.

Is the fretboard close to flat, or back-bowing/front-bowing?

Remove the TRC and check if the truss rods are tight or loose. If the rods are loose they will rattle in the neck when playing.
Is the steel spacer at the top of the truss rods perpendicular to the neck, or have sunk in to the wood more on one side than the other?
Do the rods look equal in length at the top of the neck? If not it might be a sign of . . .

If it was me I would do a complete re-setup myself to make sure the neck is as flat as I want it with about equal tension on both truss rods.

[dave001]

the shop tech tried twice to set it up
he managed to stop the rattling but he could not stop the nasty vibrating noise
First time he filled down the frets and adjusted the neck
second time he done the same ( as far as i know )
i didnt want to mess about with setting up myself, i have read so many places that you should get it done by a tech
and now i read that maybe i should of got it down by someone who understands rickenbackers
Guitar guitars tech should be fine to carry out the work , but he clearly is not

[dave001]

i spent most of the the day trying to get through to guitar guitar in epsom and the phone is on answer phone constantly
ive been in there on a saturday and they have quite a few staff ,and and never that busy ,
it is so unfair how these big companies make there own rules
gonna try again today

[admin]

David, I can certainly imagine how these circumstances could be frustrating. I would ask, however, that you focus on how to fix the instrument here. That is what we do best. It is not our place to get involved in customer service issues. These threads often times take on a life of their own which we wish to avoid. The RRF is making no critical comment about the service of this dealer or any other.