SLOPPY WORK NEW 4003

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

i fix my own problems, i only wanted to make folks aware of what is going on.

Ok you have done that now.

So question? Why should we care?

My experience with 10 plus RICS has been nothing but positive.

So why is your negative experience more important in the scheme of things then my positive one?

Did you try the bass out before you bought it?

Were you able to do an exchange with the retailer for another bass after you discovered the problem. If the retailer does not offer this option then don't buy from them!

All of this is basic when buying any instrument - not just a high end one.

Sepp is a nice guy BTW. And he still loves his RICS.

Even the title of this tread is a tad inflammatory... Why not have gone with "What a bunch of jerks!"

I don't tend to weigh in on these kinds of threads normally. Must be Christmas soon or something.

[gibsonlp]

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?

All I said was that we should avoid antagonizing the other side. I gave an absurd example from real life to make a point.

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
http://www.rickenbacker.com

George.
I am not sure what else would you expect from them, they apologized for the problem, asked for more information and said that they could fix it within warranty after the new year.
Sounds like a good customer service to me unless I missed something.


Everyone:
Freedom of speech is very tricky. It is okay to criticize, it is not okay to call RIC's QC "a joke" because this is nothing other than an inflammatory remark that would yield no good outcome.
I am not the one calling the shots here but when I am in the loop I always vote for freedom of speech almost at all costs.
We should just remember that there is a person at the other end. We tend to forget this.

[manta]

"George.
I am not sure what else would you expect from them, they apologized for the problem, asked for more information and said that they could fix it within warranty after the new year.
Sounds like a good customer service to me unless I missed something."

I believe he said he did send the photos and they did not respond after that. I suspect he expected them to look at the pictures and set up the new year fix.

I suspect I would too.

I have never had a communication problem with RIC, although I have had to follow up once when a CS person did not get back to me after initial contact. But with many communications with RIC I have had only that one lapse, so I guess if I were Geo I would have written back and asked if they got the pics or should I send them again. But hard for me to relate as RIC, including the CEO, has been responsive to me over quite a few years now.

S..t happens I guess.

[collin]

Just skimmed through this entire thread. Never seen such a bunch of complainers in my whole life.






This is nothing, really. I've seen guitars from ALL manufacturers (incl. Fender/Gibson/Gretsch/Rickenbacker and more) that had much bigger issues than the jack plate route...such as twisted necks and other things that render the guitar unplayable and cannot be fixed. Such is the nature of hand built instruments made of unstable materials like wood.

[Badanovski]

Wow!!! Interesting to see this whole thing develop. I suppose the man did post to vent a bit. Still I looked at the pictures. It was sloppy work. Title of the post was accurate. Maybe I misunderstood, but he was aware that the distributor is responsible & didn't want to wait. I got that he contacted Ric to point out problems are slipping through. It was others who kept the post going & the poster was simply responding to them. I realize not every bass can be perfect. Problems will slip through. Still, if it had been mine, I'd be ****** when I looked in that cavity. Is it time to mellow out yet?

[geofio]

Rock you make nothing but sense, and you are spot on, if some folks don't understand my post that is ok, i detect a lot of anger towards me, for what ? because i moaned about a bass not being made correctly !!!! someone mentioned i did not check the bass when i purchased it? no as it was purchased on line and most times we don't check in the electronics bay in a shop, well i never have, i expect the manufacturer to get it right, after all that is what we pay for right ?? !!!!
to me it is about time Rickenbacker get the finger out and start paying attention to what they are putting out to the public or maybe they just don't give a dam, Hall tends to think he is safe due to back orders well one day the back orders will run out.I have purchased many of these instruments and most have errors that did not need to be there, this particular bass was down to laziness in my view it would have taken all of 10 seconds for someone to remove those wood burrs, but that was just too much for the person concerned, until that attitude changes at Rickenbacker there will always be disappointed customers .

[aceonbass]

Perhaps I missed it, but did you try to sort it out with your dealer, which is per RIC's policy? If so, then fair enough on your complaint. But if you didn't, then starting a thread with a title like this, then fixing the problem was not the way to have done it. At least you didn't have peeling chrome on your tailpiece, or flaking paint... Two major complaints that RIC hasn't always handled well. I bought two new MD finished Ricks with paint issues, and was told that one was out of the finish warranty by the time I bought it, and the other problem only appeared after modding the instrument. I paid $450 out of pocket to have the second bass refinished!

[CatHead]

I had an issue with the paint coming off on my brand new 4003 JG... Started occurring only 2 months after purchase. Took it back to the local UK dealer i purchased it from, they then dealt with Rosetti. Got my money back and havent bought a new one since... Although im tempted by the 4003s.

[geofio]

Brian, as i have said i have been playing these basses nearly 40 years , so i wouldn't say i was a newbie to Rickenbacker's, i have repaired many of them myself for other players, i think the post has dragged on long enough, so time for it to rest!!!
my final words would be to new Rickenbacker owners or potential owners is it may well be worth going to the trouble of inspecting inside the electronics bay before you pay your money , a lot of faults were of the obvious kind, bad paint work, bad chrome, etc etc, the issues now are hidden from view so i would inspect a new 4003 inside and out. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts although i don't agree with a few. I appreciate the feedback. cheers George

[Happyface]

I've been astonished by this whole thread. Hello!! We are talking about a commercial product made by a for-profit company.

We are not talking about a religious order, a charitable organization or our families. Products made by the best-intentioned firms can vary now and then. In fact, if I was an owner at Rickenbacker I'd APPRECIATE being tipped off if one of the robots or humans was sending out a defective product.

If I was an exec at Rickenbacker, I'd send the OP a thank you note.

But I am not. I'm only someone who had bought, enjoyed and used two Blackstars, two 360-12s, a 1968 4005 (my first Rick), a Tuxedo, a 3000, a 4003cs, a v63 Alembrick and my current 4001. I may have forgotten one.

[geofio]

Derek you have nailed it , that is the point here, my post has offended according to some folks on here, i was merely pointing out a flaw.

[Maccaguy]

I work for a division of a large furniture manufacturer that probably most everyone on this forum would recognize. The president of my division takes customer correspondence, be it positive or negative -very- seriously. In fact, over the years we have changed thousands of things across our product line based on customer's input. We as the manufacturer cannot anticipate every issue a customer might have with any piece of furniture we sell, therefore the customers have ideas, suggestions, complaints, compliments, or just advice that we might never have thought of on our own.

Needless to say, some companies don't operate this way.

[geofio]

Very True Brian.

[jdawe]

... and it sounds like he fixed the problem with a Dremel himself;

... as an outsider it simply looks like an axe grinding thread.

Literally, not figuratively.

[DevilsHandsAreAnIdolWorkshop]

George, 100% behind you. Issue, attitude, actions taken, etc. And those who've come to your defense with solid reasoning, which there's no need to repeat. This may have some special interest for me.

Why should we care?

Because, after seeing this thread, I have reasonable suspicion that this or something similar is behind the aberrant behavior on my 4003's mono jack. I get occasional noise, crackle and pops. But, more interestingly, sometimes it spits the cable out. Not when it's tucked in the strap, but if I just pick it up and start playing frequently the cable tip will be ejected. Only some cables (notably the higher quality ones), and it is the only instrument I've ever had which has done this. I'm forced to use one of my crappiest old cables because it's the only one that reliably stays in. I had even attributed most of the noise artifact to the cable...

Back story: I took this instrument in a couple of years back for neck adjustment and a suspected bad jack because I was getting zero output from the mono jack. When I picked it up, the guy had made this thing finally play like it should have from the factory (ahem), totally eliminating the dead E and bringing the action way down. But, he says, "nothing wrong with the jack." Plugs it in, hands it to me, and it plays/sounds great. I am embarrassed, because... well, you gotta believe me, this damn thing wasn't working at all two days before.

I get it home and sure enough, it's fine. But I don't play it whole lot. Maybe a month later, I notice a cable pop out. Then again some time later. It's progressed, obviously.

I'm going to open this thing up tonight and see for myself.

My experience with 10 plus RICS has been nothing but positive.

Excellent.

So why is your negative experience more important in the scheme of things then my positive one?

It's not. It just counts and also deserves to be heard. I was upset when I got my first and only Ric after lusting for decades, only to find a very dull E and lackluster tone overall. Yes, it was mail order; it was a surprise birthday gift (my money, though). So, no, I didn't play it first, but how could I complain? I did not want to return it for warranty service since the factory already had their shot at it, put the QC stamp of approval and sent it out the door. It was not fine. It was a brand new instrument with a sick neck. Not true of the other three instruments I bought mail order, none as expensive as the Ric.

It sounds unbelievably good now. Exactly what I always wanted out of a bass. When the cord stays in! Maybe my problem is something else, since it hasn't been the same over time, but maybe it is the same thing.