My (Bad) experience with GFS aka guitarfetish

Got a faulty pickup.
It's the first time (and last) that I've ordered from guitar fetish, so I can't say it Overwhelmingly, but in my case GFS' CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCK BIG TIME!
More than a dozen correspondences and they always seemed to ignore my main problem and opt out of responsibility, and it seemed that they couldn't care less about my problem. They refused to refund me, told me that to get a refund I should have contacted them earlier (which I did) but got stuck at a wall of incompetence and of lacking Costumer Service orientation. I'll live without my refund but, sadly, Such bad consumer service is shattering the foundations of trust on which online marketing is all about.. BEWARE if you're making an international order from GFS like I did. If things go wrong you can't expect much from them.

Got a faulty pickup.
It's the first time (and last) that I've ordered from guitar fetish, so I can't say it Overwhelmingly, but in my case GFS' CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCK BIG TIME!
More than a dozen correspondences and they always seemed to ignore my main problem and opt out of responsibility, and it seemed that they couldn't care less about my problem. They refused to refund me, told me that to get a refund I should have contacted them earlier (which I did) but got stuck at a wall of incompetence and of lacking Costumer Service orientation. I'll live without my refund but, sadly, Such bad consumer service is shattering the foundations of trust on which online marketing is all about.. BEWARE if you're making an international order from GFS like I did. If things go wrong you can't expect much from them.

This was EXACTLY my experience too.

I was staggered by the abuse (yes, abuse), staggering disregard and disrespect by this company.

If you're outside the USA, for goodness sake, stay way from this company.

:neutral: Peter

guitarfetish sucks!

I have never, and will never buy anything from Jay. I've heard to many horror stories of horrible customer service and let's face it... Read the way the guy talks in descriptions, Let alone the disrepect I've been shown in Emails when trying to get specs (that he obviously didn't know). Plus any business that won't deal with you on the telephone AT ALL, doesn't deserve you're business. If they don't have time to take my money I sure ain't gonna give it to them. And also he is making a killing of these products, to be rude and disrepectful and not much else. I mean this guy talked awful to me and I was about to hand him $300 in parts...How does that make a lick of sense?

On a more positive note since you're stuck with it try re-flowing the solder connections, might get it unbroked.

Guitarfetish kille mah kittah

a negative experience from their customer "service" as well. done with them.

throw me on the woodpile as well.
I gave them 2 chances to make a couple bad bodies right.
When you order their " first quality" bodies, you shouldn't lose shipping fees if there is a problem.
I emailed photos as soon as I opened the boxes.
Both had terrible finish flaws.
They even admitted the bodies should not have been shipped but told me I'd have to pay return shipping.
They suck.

Gee, I've had several great experiences, including one last week. Maybe I better hop off the ship before it sinks.

Wow. Sad to know that so many people had such bad experiences too.

This thread is a rehash of a thread from a month ago.
http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pickups/324168-grounding-problem-please-help.html

Not Really. Entirely different topic. Back than I was looking for help. Now I Posted so people will know and beware.

I've never ordered from them for the simple reason that I hold to the beliefs that-

A) You get what you pay for.

B) When something seems too good to be true (like the prices on their supposedly comparable products), it usually is.

I'm glad I never drank the kool-aid, because all I'm hearing lately is people disappointed in either their products, their service, or both. I may pay a little (or a lot) more for my stuff, but I get good stuff, and good service, so it's worth it.

I recently had a good experience with gfs customer service.

Bye now!

I've had nothing but excellent quality products and have actually spent a small (to me) fortune with them over the last few years. Never had a problem so can't comment on their after-sales.

They even admitted the bodies should not have been shipped but told me I'd have to pay return shipping.

Add me to this list, exact same experience. Body was unusable (how do you rout a neck pocket in the wrong place?) Ended up in the trash, they stonewalled my return until I gave up. I shouldn't have given up, but I have a life and job and there's simply not enough time in my day to deal with dishonest purveyors of crap like this. I could go on. There are a lot of other folks out there who sell equal or better quality parts for the same price or less. Buy from them.

Sorry to hear it, guys.

I've had nothing but great buying experiences from them.

Sorry about your bad experience.

About a year ago they sent me a bad pick-up. I e-mailed them and they sent a new one the next day. I offered to return the bad one but that e-mail went unanswered.

I havent dealt with them for awhile - but everything had been top notch - the mini fat mini HB I bought off them a couple of years ago is a ripper imo . But the product is fairly cheap - and the shipping to OZ isnt cheap at all when compared to some other online sellers - so I'd vote with my feet if it wasnt good service - and look around - GFS are big (which is probably the root cause of the problem) but there are many other online dealers out there.

I've never ordered from them for the simple reason that I hold to the beliefs that-

A) You get what you pay for.

B) When something seems too good to be true (like the prices on their supposedly comparable products), it usually is.

I'm glad I never drank the kool-aid, because all I'm hearing lately is people disappointed in either their products, their service, or both. I may pay a little (or a lot) more for my stuff, but I get good stuff, and good service, so it's worth it.
You say weird things like suggesting that those who like GFS products are kool-aid drinkers but then admit that "all you hear lately" is disappointment in their products and service.

Clearly there are not only thousands of satisfied customers but also many who are currently satisfied and express it in the here and now - i.e. lately. Maybe you have drunk a different kind of kool-aid?

Okay, I admit that's a bit of a jab but, really, there are plenty of great GFS products, especially their pickups where you do get what you pay for because, in the end, there just ain't that much material in a pickup, and after designing one to your liking, mass-producing them is easy to do.

And, I once contacted them about a pickup breaking during the warranty period. They said, sure send it back. Then, I realized I had broken a wire during one of my many install/modification episodes and told them never mind . .. they said return it anyway. I didn't (fixed it myself). And, I'm not a suck-up or major customer of theirs.

So, I think the OP went astray somewhere during the communication (not necessarily his fault) and I do know that feeling of wanting to reach through the internet and strangle somebody. Since I like GuitarFetish, I am glad he posted his complaint here so they stay good.

Greg

GFS, absolute trash, as far as I'm concerned. I've had three bad experiences, but the one that takes the cake was when they sent me a set of Strat pickups that came with two of the coils dented. I emailed him, asking for replacements and his response was if it worked, he wouldn't replace it. So.I got them in a guitar and the neck pickup was dead. So when I notified him of this, he sent me a PayPal invoice for $35 for a replacement pickup on a $70 set. He got a super nasty response and lost a customer.

Then, I realized I had broken a wire during one of my many install/modification episodes

I think this is what a lot of this stuff is.

I have bought numerous GFS PUs in the last few years; every one was excellently assembled & sounds great.

Also, a tele pickguard that is excellent; fits like a glove on my Highway One.

One PU I didn't like; sent it back for store credit. Easy.

I admit I came of age in the days when NYC 48th St. stores had instruments chained up; to try one out you had to convince the salesman that you had $$ and were serious; and returning one you didn't like after purchase, like trying it on a gig & hating it, meant a 15%-20% "restocking" fee. So getting beat out of $5 or so postage on a return doesn't seem like a big deal to me, for a product that was soldered by me into an axe.

If all GFS stuff is cheapo crap, how come I haven't noticed? I'm no newbie; been playing electric guitar 40+ years.

i've bought a ***LOT*** of gfs stuff for many, many years, mostly p-wood tele and strat bodies by the dozens. i've ordered out and used some of their pickup offerings and while some didn't ring my bells, all were well built and worked just fine. i've had to make a few returns only due to incorrect shipped items, and gfs covered the cost. can't find fault with them at all. ymmv.

Nothing but bad experiences..... No phone number to call & they take 2 days to answer emails.....total crap!

Never had a problem here, either. AAMOF, I just had a successful exchange experience: they sent the wrong model X-Trem, but covered S/H for the exchange. Then, I had to exchange that for another model, because I miscalculated the dimensions for the guitar. I had to pay S/H for that, because it was my fault. The rep was very respectful, helpful and prompt throughout the process. I hear these horror stories where one person has repeated problems. It makes you wonder what's going on. Perhaps there is an issue with foreign orders?

My only real critique of GFS is with some of the product descriptions. They can be a bit over the top, defying logic at times. If you read this Jay, one product doesn't have to be all things to everyone. That's why there are choices. Focus on individual strengths. I'm not saying it's intentional, but sometimes it sounds a bit disingenuous. I'm probably not the only one who finds that disconcerting.

I wish they'd try more variations on the P-wood bodies, like ~5mm solid Ash, or Maple tops and/or backs, or even cores. Something bright and springy to add highs and hold screws better.

Sorry to hear it, guys.

I've had nothing but great buying experiences from them.

Me too.

Just because their stuff is inexpensive doesn't mean it's all junk. I've bought a few pickups from them that I've been very happy with and I've bought lots of great hardware.

Good value for the money IMO.

Add me to this list, exact same experience. Body was unusable (how do you rout a neck pocket in the wrong place?) Ended up in the trash, they stonewalled my return until I gave up. I shouldn't have given up, but I have a life and job and there's simply not enough time in my day to deal with dishonest purveyors of crap like this. I could go on. There are a lot of other folks out there who sell equal or better quality parts for the same price or less. Buy from them.

What are some of these resources?

My issues were this:
Bought a gotoh style floyd they have..it said it was a 32 mm bblock & it turned out to be 29
Bought a blem strat body that they said only had paint issues...the neck holes didnt line up at all & there was a nice hole under the pup route looking out the trem cavity (1.2 inch) Not to mention the body was not standard 1 3/4
Bought a vtrem that was supposed to fit in a overseas body that did not fit & the string spacing was way too wide like an american trem
bought the EVH style humcker pup that sounds nothing like eddies & if anything was very weak & thin!!!
so with all that said I dont buy from them anymore!!!
GF is crap for a builder looking to save money!
just get an account with stype brothers or WD or allparts.....

I have a set of GFS Lil' Puncher Modern Vintage rail pickups in a semi hollow Parts-Tele and couldn't be happier with my tone... I've gotten compliments from a few others as well.

I also have a GFS PAF style humbucker in the neck slot of another Parts-Tele with a Fretteck Cavalier Lion bridge pup. The GFS bucker sounds good and matches up very well with the Cav Lion.

I've bought some hardware from them as well. Any experience I've had with GFS has been very good.

I've had great experiences with GFS, but it's been a couple of years. Once I got a bad pickup. I called and they sent a replacement immediately - and told me to keep the bad one instead of sending it back.

I've had great experiences with GFS, but it's been a couple of years. Once I got a bad pickup. I called and they sent a replacement immediately - and told me to keep the bad one instead of sending it back.

Sounds like a different company completely.

Sorry to hear your troubles :shock: I have purchased very solid parts from GFS..Pro Series Bridge pup and Steel saddels..all were excellent. I guess, those of us who have had a possitive experience, will keep going untill we get torched and those who have been burned, will move on :neutral:

Over the past five years I have bought a number of items from GFS without any problems. Guitar parts, pickups- humbuckers and single coils, and no negative issues. Just recently I returned a pickup that wasn't quite 'the sound' I was looking for. No fuss with an exchange.

they always seemed to ignore my main problem and opt out of responsibility, and it seemed that they couldn't care less about my problem.

That sums up my experience - I would never order from or do business with that company again. Too many other shops and individuals that make and sell top notch products and have the service to boot.

I've bought a few parts from them when I was building partscasters and tried some of their pickups. Always thought Jay was a good guy and got fine service.

Never cared for their pickups though, but that is a matter of taste, not service.

What's troublesome about threads like this is that you never hear the other side of the story...and there is always another side.

Recently a guy joined this forum just to slag Swart amps only to admit a week later that he had a bad speaker. But the damage had been done and there were wagon jumpers who were quick to diss Swart (though I doubt they had ever played through one). This is the dark side of discussion forums.

Well, I live in the UK, I have bought from GFS on about 5 occasions over the last, few years.
My 'international' experience with GFS has been 100% fine, and I have been more than happy with their products - for the money.
If I wanted to deal with a company that will talk to me for ages on the phone, and answer my emails in real time, I'd be expecting to pay more than I would at GFS.

I would not expect, nor tolerate rudeness though, poor customer service is not justifiable at any price. But , again, I didnt see any of that - in my own experience - GFS have been fine.

I take the website product description gushings with a grain of salt mind!
The pickups are mainly Artec's, to GFS's spec or .. whatever.
GFS are not alone in that. You can pay a lot more for pickups from the same factory with other names on them.
You can find out which the gems are in the GFS line by looking to other forumites collectively positive reviews.

Personally, I'm not put off, unless I am personally put off!

Whether you do business with a company or choose not to, two separate ranting threads on different sub-forums, started one minute apart, reeks of axe-grinding.

Wow,maybe things are changing....I've ordered maybe 3 times from GFS in the past (pickups,parts),and got the orders okay.Swapped a pickup once for a hotter model.Maybe I should be careful too.

Thanks for sharing your experience guys.

This was EXACTLY my experience too.

I was staggered by the abuse (yes, abuse), staggering disregard and disrespect by this company.

If you're outside the USA, for goodness sake, stay way from this company.

:neutral: Peter

Hello all,

I was searching to see if anyone else has had a bad experience with guitarfetish, and found this forum. Although I am a guitar player, I don't own a tele :oops: Hope you all will look past that, to my point: Guitarfetish should not be allowed to take peoples money, their time, or both for granted.

After reading some of the experiences shared by members of this forum, I am convinced they don't care how they get their money, or that their mistakes in QC or otherwise are wasting people's time and money.

This is sad because what they are offering, (in theory) I am behind 100%: Affordable, decent quality instruments.

Because of their shenanigans, I was inspired to make a modest web site documenting an HONEST account of my experience with them. I received a mildly threatening letter from Jay today, stating that if I don't remove said site by 07-16-12 he will sic his lawyer(s) on me.

People deserve to know what they could potentially be getting into.
I am open to all questions, comments, and concerns. Thanks. MW

http://www.simplesite/moneysworth.com

If your reading this Jay to sue one and all .Can you do some paulownia jaguar bodies please .oh and Telecaster Custom type .Tah

You could always buy from their ebay store. Shipping applies to only one item and you have ebay's buyer protection on your side. They only have 9 negs in the past 12 months.

http://www.simplesite/moneysworth.com

Bad link. I figured out how to get there.

Interesting site. GFS was far more helpful in those email exchanges than they ever were with me.

You come off like the customer from Satan. I felt bad for GFS after reading your site, and that's an emotion I'd never thought I'd experience.

I couldn't figure it out but I am intrigued...the plot thickens.

I agree. You're making yourself look far worse than them.


Bad link. I figured out how to get there.

Interesting site. GFS was far more helpful in those email exchanges than they ever were with me.

You come off like the customer from Satan. I felt bad for GFS after reading your site, and that's an emotion I'd never thought I'd experience.

Yup. I think if you go into it looking for a fight you can find it with a number of vendors or shops, and not just in the guitar world.

Why are you making repeat purchases seemingly with the intent to prove a point? Seems morally questionable to me. Just buy products from someone else.

Bad link. I figured out how to get there.

Interesting site. GFS was far more helpful in those email exchanges than they ever were with me.

You come off like the customer from Satan. I felt bad for GFS after reading your site, and that's an emotion I'd never thought I'd experience.

Bad link. I figured out how to get there.

Interesting site. GFS was far more helpful in those email exchanges than they ever were with me.

You come off like the customer from Satan. I felt bad for GFS after reading your site, and that's an emotion I'd never thought I'd experience.

Wow...Reality check for me, I guess. I really felt like I was in the right here...seems like most people don't agree. I kind of think that we have been conditioned to not challenge business owners, psychologically they are the ones "in control", maybe.

I saw your post, Arbiter and you mentioned that you "gave up" trying to get them to treat you fairly, because you are too busy with your life, or something to that effect.

To me, this is a part of life, a part of how we live with one another. I see a lot of people sharing a common experience with this company, namely a negative one. However, I see nothing indicating a real challenge to them, just complaining, or sharing in misery. Think about all the posts here indicating a negative experience, all that time and money lost. And these are just from this site, there are other forums with people having these same experiences...

To me this is merely an example of a larger power struggle that exists in our society. Think about how many times you have had to track down a business to get them to do business with you fairly, only to "give up", because you don't have time.....Phone service, utility, department stores.....on and on and on....

Is my demanding that "they" treat my time and money with respect so cruel?
I'm really asking here, because I genuinely don't understand how my taking action, action that is honest, is seen as "worse" than them?

P.S. to waparker4: I made more purchases with them to give them a chance to get things "right". I understand that there are challenges for any business, and that problems happen. And I wanted to believe in what I thought they stood for: Reasonable prices for decent products.

Always open to questions, comments or concerns. Thanks MW

If a person pays with Mastercard or Visa etc online and gets shafted it's the equivalent of a fraudulent transaction.

A phone call to your credit card customer service will open up a dispute file until settled one way or the other, they'll send you forms to fill out and sign. If you tell a credit card company that you've been frauded by one of their vendors they will take action in the matter.

The more times you forcefully mention "fraud" the faster they will react. They really don't like that word at all...

In other words - let them nail the vendor - get the transaction charge reversed.

Just received an order of pickups and parts yesterday. I have stated in similar threads that GFS has always been satisfactory with me. I order from them a little more than once a year. There are cheap parts and then there are good heap parts. GF usually sources quality stuff. If they would get a 4-way tele switch and a rotary switch, they would be super. Maybe tubes, too.

Anyway, they are fine to most people. I wonder if there is something in common with people who run aground during item-return negotiations?

I urge people to maybe develop a thicker skin for more situations. I work overseas a lot and we westerns can really appear to be soft whiners.

Greg

Just received an order of pickups and parts yesterday. I have stated in similar threads that GFS has always been satisfactory with me. I order from them a little more than once a year. There are cheap parts and then there are good heap parts. GF usually sources quality stuff. If they would get a 4-way tele switch and a rotary switch, they would be super. Maybe tubes, too.

Anyway, they are fine to most people. I wonder if there is something in common with people who run aground during item-return negotiations?

I urge people to maybe develop a thicker skin for more situations. I work overseas a lot and we westerns can really appear to be soft whiners.

Greg

Well, I guess this doesn't really pertain to you then, if you've had only good experiences with GF. But, to (IMHO) marginalize people's frustrations by submitting that "we westerns can really appear to be soft whiners", has no bearing on this, or similar situations.

We DO live in America, and I thank God for ALL our fallen, and living men and women who fought/fight and work just so we can try to make the way we experience our lives better. Even if it seems as inconsequential as being treated with respect in a $40 purchase gone bad.

Further more, throughout our history, the people who have made life better for us here, have been individuals who spoke up, and acted...right?

what do you think yer gonna accomplish with a website devoted to bashing gfs? making a public fuss about yer bad experience only makes you look at least somewhat suspect. not saying who's right or wrong, but as gandhi said - "an eye for an eye ends in making everybody blind". amen.

Well, I guess this doesn't really pertain to you then, if you've had only good experiences with GF. But, to (IMHO) marginalize people's frustrations by submitting that "we westerns can really appear to be soft whiners", has no bearing on this, or similar situations.

I don't think I can explain this but I'll try: if you could just begin to see us as being oversensitive to how we are handled by strangers in commerce situations and remember that it's not about how we feel after a transaction but whether we got what we needed or not, both our perceptions and experience would be different and not that of world class whiners, which is what we are. I would guess 95% of short-tempered, non-self-esteem raising merchants got that way by having to deal with the 5% of us who are inconsolable diva's. I'm not saying YOU are as I couldn't load the web page so I don't know your specifics.

We DO live in America, and I thank God for ALL our fallen, and living men and women who fought/fight and work just so we can try to make the way we experience our lives better. Even if it seems as inconsequential as being treated with respect in a $40 purchase gone bad. That's not why we fight wars.

Further more, throughout our history, the people who have made life better for us here, have been individuals who spoke up, and acted...right?I'm with you on this point. In fact, I'll use the word "activist": nothing will change anywhere without the efforts of activists. We should have a day honoring them.

Greg

Throw in my two cents also..... I've made three separate purchases. On the first one I was shorted a couple screws and such, one phone call and a package with the replacement parts arrived within a few days. Never had a bad experience to this point.

C.

To the website maker guy, I dont blame GFS for suing you.

I figured out how to load the site and I read the emails. The two comments I have are that there is no reason to expect an extra cable for your troubles. They replaced your bad cable free of charge, right? However, the fact that the tip came off leads me to believe that it could happen again. It could be a design, or materials flaw. Some (See Radio Shack) jack tips aren't rounded right. These things happen, especially if the jack is very tight.

The second issue is that there seems to be at least a misunderstanding about the size of the pickup brackets. The site does state they are the same size as a P90 soap bar. Maybe they fit in a soap bar rout, but your pick-guard is not cut right, or it's cut for surface mounts? Either way, I don't understand why the support person said they are for surface mounts. It could be a misunderstanding. Sometimes suspicion and accusation can actually cause another party to become irrational, and confused for whatever reason. I wouldn't necessarily assume he was being intentionally deceptive. No need to go all "Falling Down" (surprisingly good Joel Schumacher flick) about it. :razz: It never ends well when I go there.

It seems like an awful company from what I've seen and heard.

I've only done business with guitarfetish once, about two years ago and I was happy with the item and service.

That said, anyone who buys goods which turn out to be unfit for purpose, and is then subjected to unacceptably poor service when they act within their legal rights to get things put right, is perfectly entitled to share their experience as a warning to the rest of us IMO. Letting everyone know how the whole debacle made them feel is also fine, as long as it doesn't colour the facts.

It's nothing short of an insult to throw the whole thing back into the injured party's face and infer that they're whining (that's how it came across, regardless of the subsequent attempt to qualify the statement).

We shouldn't be putting people down for trying to reduce the chances of a similar thing happening to someone else, maybe even us.

If no one shouts up, nothing changes!

Always open to questions, comments or concerns. Thanks MW

Ok, well, your user name is "money's worth," the same as your website, and you've got 3 posts, which makes me think you started your TDPRI account so you could come on here and bash Guitar Fetish. Am I wrong? Because that really is the essence of lame.

.It's nothing short of an insult to throw the whole thing back into the injured party's face and infer that they're whining (that's how it came across, regardless of the subsequent attempt to qualify the statement).

We shouldn't be putting people down for trying to reduce the chances of a similar thing happening to someone else, maybe even us.

If no one shouts up, nothing changes!it is whining, whether I infer it or not. The poster registered and came to the pickup forum - not the vendor forum or the cafe or what ever it is called. The O.P. doesn't really believe that every customer of GF has a similar experience or even that it's a high probability: he just came to this forum because his feelings are hurt and wants to get us "on his side". He could go to the state attorney general for GF if he felt it was institutionalized fraud.

So, yeah, I'm putting him down for being a whiner. I trust that if GFS delivers poor service and products it will erode their potential for making money and they'll have to shut their doors. I don't need whiners who infiltrate a forum with their one-off experience. For every whining post about how someone didn't get their way in a GFS transaction, there are ten who counter it. What are we to make of that? And, we know that the negative Internet posting is overrepresented in such cases. Still, some over-sensitive trophy-for-participation types want us to ignore all the positives and join their hurt-feelings cause.

I had a GFS pickup fail during a warranty period and they said send it back and we'll ship another right out. I said thanks and when I went to remove the pickup I saw that. I had damaged the wire during the last installation. So, I wrote them back and said never mind, it's my fault. They (anonymous customer service person) said that's okay, we want to replace it anyway and I replied NO, I don't deserve something for nothing. I felt THAT was my contribution to the greater good, not raising their cost of doing business and taking responsibility.

So, we disagree. I don't mind that everything about a vendor is not like an Apple store or IKEA experience. That's how costs are kept reasonable. GFS specs good quality affordable stuff for guitar people. I don't buy from them for the "GFS experience" and look elsewhere for the important things in my life.

Greg

Let's all just calm down, okay? In fact, let me help: thread closed.

Tim