SLOPPY WORK NEW 4003

[jps]

]BTW- My favorite swimming pool is in my brother's backyard.

He doesn't happen to live in Greece, does he?

[gibsonlp]

George.
Everybody who knows me knows that I am always advocating for freedom of speech, even if it annoys someone.
I hope that you would take my response as a friendly one as I really have no gripe with anyone.

I have read the entire thread and to be honest - I am not really sure what would you expect.
When I was kid my mom told me: "Be wise, not right" (Not sure how well it translates).

If your expectation from this thread was to antagonize Rickenbacker - you have done a fantastic job and I am pretty sure that they would not help you even if they could.
If your expectation from this thread was to try and get some help you have simply done it wrong.

In the corporate world - employees are instructed to put their feelings aside if possible or to transfer a customer to another employee if they must.
Rickenbacker is a small company with actual people working there, people have feelings and ego. When you want someone's help or wishes to express your dissatisfaction from something - you should remember that somewhere, along the line, there is a human being you are talking to.

In my short life I have discovered that if I ask someone for help - he gets to be the bigger person and the larger his ego is - the higher chances I'll get the help.
If I push the same person to a corner - he would consider himself a sucker to help me. Same people, same kind of help - different approaches with vastly different results.

In the past - I got excellent customer service from Rickenbacker, including (and not limited) to sending me special parts for a vintage instrument I have FOR NO FEE. This was BEFORE I knew John Hall personally.

I agree that it's a shame that you got this piece of wood stuck there, I agree that this shouldn't happen in such an instrument.
I am simply not sure what did you expect from this thread, because to me, as an outsider it simply looks like an axe grinding thread.

[geofio]

Gil, Cheers for the reply, I understand all you have said and i understand it perfectly, suppose the point i am trying to make is i wish Rickenbacker would up their game in the quality control dept, i am a senior Anaesthetic training Technician , i train Doctors how to use anaesthetic machines etc, and if i didn't do my job correctly there would be lives at stake, i have high standards and i take my job seriously, i want the guys at Rickenbacker to do the same that is all. I am sick of paying good money for sub standard work on these expensive guitars, remember we pay far more here in the Uk for our Rickenbacker's, and i know John Hall knows about it, he was the one that removed my post. cheers Geo

[gibsonlp]

Thank you George.
Removed your post from where?
And just to put things in perspective - I flew all the way to the UK to get my FL 4003. At least you have someone that sells Ricks in the UK

[geofio]

I posted on the Rickenbacker forum, i suppose when John Hall deleted my post i got angry, and sure i wanted to vent off, i don't like the way he dealt with that and i wanted to share that with Ric owners, i love these basses i have played them all my adult life, i know mistakes do happen and i have had other issues with new 4003's in the past, to me it just happens too often, i want the factory to know about their mistakes that way they might take note and do something about it, who knows !!! cheers

[Grey]

If your expectation from this thread was to try and get some help you have simply done it wrong.

In the corporate world - employees are instructed to put their feelings aside if possible or to transfer a customer to another employee if they must.
Rickenbacker is a small company with actual people working there, people have feelings and ego. When you want someone's help or wishes to express your dissatisfaction from something - you should remember that somewhere, along the line, there is a human being you are talking to.

In my short life I have discovered that if I ask someone for help - he gets to be the bigger person and the larger his ego is - the higher chances I'll get the help.
If I push the same person to a corner - he would consider himself a sucker to help me. Same people, same kind of help - different approaches with vastly different results.

I'm sorry, I know George has said all he has to say about this issue but this reasoning sounds absurd to me. In what world is it acceptable for the customer to be required to schmooze over customer service personnel just to get help with a product they purchased? I work in web design, i'm one man and I deal with customers directly on a regular basis. I would never make someone suck up to my ego regardless of how rude or unreasonable the person may seem, because I have a professional obligation to ensure they are satisfied with the quality of my work and I care what they think about my business because those impressions reflect upon me. I'm sure that I must have misunderstood your post.

I apologize if my reply seems antagonistic but I cannot get my head around this defense of poor customer service. It's times like this that i'm grateful the forum admins allow us more freedom to speak about these things here.

Also, since when are people not allowed to just be mad?

[lordblackmore]

I am unfailingly polite when I have to talk to customer service. But if I encountered someone with a big ego, which almost always comes with an attitude, I'm not going to change the way I approach them. It is incumbent on the people providing the service to sublimate their ego, attitude and personal feelings to provide the customer with the best service possible.

I don't know what George posted over on the Rick site, but nothing he posted here is overly antagonistic, except to people who bristle at criticism of RIC.

Rickenbacker has spotty QC and there have been plenty of times when the customer has been blamed for what are clearly quality issues or where RIC has simply refused to address legitimate issues. Talking about these things is not bashing them. Being upset over QC issues in an instrument someone purchased is not bashing them.

[Kopfjaeger]

I don't have a dog in this race. I don't know George, other than his posts here and on the various Facebook Rickenbacker pages. This forum is not RIC controlled, and that is a good thing. Issues can be posted here and discussed here without them being deleted. More importantly, fixes for those issues can be offered here, as was done in this thread and many others. We have a very talented group here that knows these instruments as well, if not better than the employees at RIC. George had a problem, he pinpointed the cause, and he fixed it. For many here that own multiples of these instruments, you know the importance of being able to do your own work to them. Heck, we encourage this and provide the know how here in an attempt to teach owners to be comfortable adjusting and fixing things on our instruments.

I don't know what was contained in the post that George posted over at the RIC site, and I really don't care. If his post was terse and was deleted then I understand since it is RIC's sandbox and JH can do as he pleases. If it was pointing out a missed step in the QC of his instruments and was then deleted then RIC and JH is missing the point. Before my current line of work I was a tradesman in many different fields. One of which was in the auto industry as a mechanic. The owner of the dealership had a huge sign put up in the work bay that said, "Service builds sales". The owner took this seriously and great stress was placed on the mechanics to live up to this mantra. Just as service builds sales, bad service destroys sales. JH would be wise to remember this. Many of us have had issues with RIC customer service. I know enough about customer service to say that a little bit of understanding and respect goes a long way in soothing any type of issue. It's the job of customer service to bend over backwards to satisfy the customer. Unfortunately too many of us here have walked way from RIC customer service with bad experiences.

Just my two cents.

Sepp

[Lefty4003S8]

I don't have any investment within this case but would like to say that I agree 100% with some things said here.

I NEVER took any of George's posts as antagonistic, or bashing of Rickenbacker's instruments.
He simply pointed out an issue having to do with QC at RIC, and, he let us in on how HE fixed it. It IS a shame that he received no response from RIC. though.
( In my case, the only time I ever had to contact them, I called, Kenny Howes answered and was VERY helpful )

I LOVE this forum!!!! Great people with a TON of knowledge and willingness to help. It would be a VERY sad day if freedom of speech was squelched here.
I think members SHOULD be able to point out issues if and when they occur. There is a BIG difference between identifying a problem, and outright bashing.
George was NOT bashing---In My Opinion.

As long as we excersize civility, there is NO reason why we can't discuss matters such as the one George brought up.
Just my thoughts.

[geofio]

Thank you guys.

[aceonbass]

I never saw George's post over at the RIC corporate forum, but I can tell you this about RIC. If you have a warranty concern, they want you to go through the usual channels, and call them or whomever the selling dealer is FIRST about your issue. If you go public after that because you didn't get good service, fair enough. But if you go public on their forum BEFORE you call the company, you'll get nowhere.

[geofio]

I did contact them first Dane sent them photos of the issue. there was no further contact after that.

Hi George,

I am very sorry to hear about this, You can send pics to
service@rickenbacker.com. The only thing we would be able to assist you with
is pursuing warranty work on the instrument after the new year.

Take care,

Rickenbacker Customer Service
3895 S. Main St.
Santa Ana, CA 92707
714-545-5574
Fax: 714-754-1055
service2@rickenbacker.com
www.rickenbacker.com

[Kiddwad57]

He doesn't happen to live in Greece, does he? [/quote]

Ah, no.

geofio- is that 2016, coming right up? If so, it seems like they are/were willing to help you deal with it. I've never dealt with RIC as I've only bought used instruments by them.

I do know that they take forever and that's how I got my previous, really beautiful 4003; from a guy who couldn't handle the delays. It had a split in one of the fret markers.

The 4003fl I have now needs to have the fingerboard planed, which on the one hand is a QC issue, but also probably the reason I was able to get the bass in the first place, so I'm not complaining. It's still a fabulous bass and I look forward to the day I get the issue addressed, which will be determined by how itchy I am to spend the few hundred dollars to have it done right. Getting close, but then I decided to get a new speaker cab, literally due any minute!

Anyway, good luck once again.

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

I never saw George's post over at the RIC corporate forum, but I can tell you this about RIC. If you have a warranty concern, they want you to go through the usual channels, and call them or whomever the selling dealer is FIRST about your issue. If you go public after that because you didn't get good service, fair enough. But if you go public on their forum BEFORE you call the company, you'll get nowhere.

This makes sense to me too.

It says very clearly over at the RIC forum NOT to use it as a way to contact Customer Service. You ignore that request at your peril.

Posting stuff on RICS website about how awful they are at treating customers is a fast way to get your account deleted.

RIC does not deal with UK quality control - period. Rosetti does - it is part of their agreement with RIC I believe. If there is an issue Rosetti deals with it - end of story.. Attempting to do an end around - via Facebook or any other forum only leads to getting ignored.

And even if I accept that there is a genuine issue with the bass. Becoming someone with an axe to grind - and I have seen dozens over the years here and at the RIC forum - gets you nowhere.

[Kopfjaeger]

And even if I accept that there is a genuine issue with the bass. Becoming someone with an axe to grind - and I have seen dozens over the years here and at the RIC forum - gets you nowhere.

Brian, yup you get put on the "naughty list" ask me how I know.

Sepp