Ordered a vintage re-issue case from Long & McQuade

[crawlspacestefan]

Hey, guys:

I ordered a vintage re-issue case from Long and McQuade almost a month ago along with a set of strings.

The strings came in a while ago, and when I went to pick them up today I asked after the case. The sales guy told me it was back-ordered, and then gave me the usual "Rickenbacker is notorious for being really slow with their stuff. Especially with the guitars, and who knows with the cases."

This was obviously not super helpful.

Have any of you guys any experience with ordering the cases? I assume Ric has a fair amount of cases available to ship out, and they're not backlogged with orders like the instruments, right?

I thought I'd save money skipping shipping if I went with L&M instead of online, but now I'm worried it'll be forever.

Cheers,

-s.

[aceonbass]

Stefan......These cases are not hard to come by. In fact there's a nice used one on Ebay right now for $195.00 shipped http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rickenbacker-94 ... 2ec78c948f . Musician's friend also has them, as well as Pick Of the Ricks among others. The fact the store talked smack about RIC is enough reason to get your money back and go elsewhere.

[jdogric12]

What he quoted them as saying doesn't sound like smack to me. I mean that's true, isn't it?

[aceonbass]

I don't think it's true to say RIC is hard to deal with. For a retailer to speak badly, even when it's true of a supplier, is just not smart. Every Guitar Center I've ever been in has put down RIC, so does that mean they end up selling more of them? I think not.

[jdogric12]

Who said they were hard to deal with?

[rickenbrother]

I ordered a vintage re-issue case from Long and McQuade almost a month ago along with a set of strings.

The strings came in a while ago, and when I went to pick them up today I asked after the case. The sales guy told me it was back-ordered, and then gave me the usual "Rickenbacker is notorious for being really slow with their stuff. Especially with the guitars, and who knows with the cases."

This was obviously not super helpful.

Sounds to me like the sales guy was not exactly super helpful. Probably couldn't be bothered making the order for just a case.

I thought I'd save money skipping shipping if I went with L&M instead of online, but now I'm worried it'll be forever.

Let's see...
Save money, skipping shipping, going with L&M instead of online. <-------------> Buy from RIC or authorized dealer with cases in stock, pay for shipping, but avoid the wait and frustration.

I'll opt for avoid the frustration.

[deaconblues]

I'm with Jason. I didn't think there was any question over whether or not Rickenbacker has a long wait time...

But yeah, if you can get it somewhere else without waiting, why not?

[badeggs]

Rick has stated repeatedly that they're set with the way they do things. Which by all accounts means very fine instruments that take a very long time to move out the door...

Rick is a great manufacturer but they're not perfect. And people - even retailers - have every right to point that out.

[johnhall]

Instruments take forever to get, no question about it. There's a reason for that, of course, but no point in reiterating them here.

Cases, on the other hand, are always in stock for immediate shipment. Certain music stores, on the other hand, have rather cumbersome or unmotivated centralized purchasing departments.

Sounds to me like the salesman simply didn't want to be bothered with a small sale and/or deal with his purchasing people.

[crawlspacestefan]

Thanks to everyone for their info.

And, John, thanks for your authoritative answer. I'll be calling the store today to investigate a little further, and armed with this information I think I may well be able to push things through a little bit. Or, at least get my money back and take my business elsewhere.

Thanks again,

-s.

[crawlspacestefan]

Seems like I've been dealing with the most competent and knowledgeable staff - despite being "backordered" by the "notoriously slow Rickenbacker," the case has arrived today!

[johnhall]

I was interested to see what went on here and pulled the paperwork. L & M prepared their purchase order of 3/27 and sent it by email on 3/28. We then shipped it out to them on 4/4. Given the intervening weekend, we shipped it on the 5th business day after receipt.

Your call as to whether that's fast or slow.

[johnallg]

I was interested to see what went on here and pulled the paperwork. L & M prepared their purchase order of 3/27 and sent it by email on 3/28. We then shipped it out to them on 4/4. Given the intervening weekend, we shipped it on the 5th business day after receipt.

Your call as to whether that's fast or slow.

Stefan, you need to print this out and hand it to the employee. Time for a reality check for him.

[ram]

brilliant John!

[pag]

If ever you needed to show someone what a hands on guitar company CEO John Hall is..show them this!

Carlsberg dont make guitars but if they did.......

Great customer service Mr.Hall I tip my hat to you.