My first tele arrived damaged-- how bad is it?

[Midgetje94]

Absolutely send it back. With what they charge for Mexican guitars now, they should arrive in mint condition.

I definitely agree. If it was a used guitar on a wall, something like that I wouldn’t even look twice at. MAYBE try to haggle down a bit. But not a deal to me. However that changes a lot when it’s new. I rarely buy new. (I’d rather just build a Partscaster at that point) but IF I bought new. It BETTER arrive new

 

[Jakedog]

Amazon has a long history of either straight up giving me a refund and issuing a return, or in many cases, they send a replacement and don’t even want the old one back.

This has happened to me several times. I receive something in the wrong size or color, or damaged, I reach out, they replace it. When I try to return the wrong/damaged merchandise they tell me to just keep it. I guess it’s easier for them to write it off than it is to deal with return shipping and processing.

Its never been anything as big ticket as a guitar, but I’ve never ordered anything that expensive.

 

[Controller]

Play it first, really play it. It could be a once-in-a-lifetime awesome player.

 

[tweeet]

Partial refund negotiation here. That ding will be many fold on the front , sides and back after 12 months of heavy gigging....get some dollars knocked off !

 

[libraryguy]

Thanks to everyone for the advice! I called Amazon and they're shipping out a replacement for the sunburst player plus that got lost in transit, and we'll see if it arrives safely. However, they couldn't issue a replacement for the capri orange player (which I'd been lusting after for a while) and could only offer a refund with a return. Since I paid less than it's going for used, a refund still doesn't get me the guitar (and I don't see Fenders getting cheaper anytime soon). I explained this to the CSR, who was very nice, and after some haggling we agreed on a $175 partial refund.

I feel pretty good about it-- I got my dream(sicle) guitar for close to half-off the current msrp, and now I can actually play it and not worry about beating the hell out of it.

 

[ping-ping-clicka]

Hello! First time posting, and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice. I bought two telecasters from Amazon that were on sale-- a sunburst player plus and a capri orange player. The sunburst was apparently lost in transit, so it's a goner, and I just received the orange player which had a hole in the box and (of course) a deep knock on the back of the guitar. The crazy thing is that Amazon shipped the boxed Fender in a GIANT Amazon box that was untouched, which means the damage was already there when they shipped it.

I'm including pictures of the damage and wondering if it's bad enough to send back in the hopes that they send me a replacement that makes it here unscathed, or if I should just learn to live with it. I'm new to electric guitars and I'm not sure what this kind of damage will do to the body or finish over time. Thanks.

put your mind to rest call them up and send it back, expect get a full refund

 

[McGoldTopp]

did the packaging reflect the damage to the guitar?

if not, they shipped a used guitar.

I don't trust amazon to not send returns as new....

 

[1 21 gigawatts]

At $175 off an already discounted price, you came out great on that one.

I've never bought a new guitar, so dings don't bother me.

 

[markxus25]

Welcome. I would send it back. Hate it when a retailer expects me to be a quality control inspector.

 

[Controller]

You did good OP. Play and enjoy!

 

[Sax-son]

You scored! The sent you the "relic" model by mistake.

 

[TNTales]

Send it back pronto. Amazon should even have options under your recent orders for a return

 

[VintageSG]

Hi,
Welcome.
Send it back.

Play the heck out of it for a few hours though, as others have put, make certain you like it.

 

[57joonya]

The last delivery / handler at Amazon probably threw a huge box over it to cover his butt. After he saw the damage . I may be different than most here , but I would be pushing for a major discount. It’s gotta cost them 300 to deal with that . A bump on the backside of a guitar would never bother me . If I got money back…

 

[Monoprice99]

Something like that as a scratch & dent discount from Guitar Center was a discount of about $30. That was Summer of 2019, there was a Surf Green Squier Tele, most likely an Affinity FSR Tele if memory serves me well enough. They had marked it down to $ 169.99 from it's original price at the time $ 199.99. I was after more discount because the poly had a quarter sized chunk missing in the neck pocket area. I ended up with a worn cherry Epiphone LP Special I P90 instead that was on sale for $ 149.99, that I got a price match on a month later when it went on sale for $ 129.99.

I wouldn't expect a considerable discount because nobody knows for certain exactly who damaged this box. Was it Fender, was it the seller that sells thru Amazon too. The original Fender box was damaged. Did Amazon handle the delivery process & damage the original packaging & rebox with just the Amazon box & reprint labels ?

The 3TSB is lost ? The Capri Orange is returnable, that's the best way to get out from the whole mess that you're in & try again. Don't hesitate, get that process started. I take it that you cancelled the 3TSB Player Plus & refunded, so the only thing left is wash your hands of the Capri Orange Player.

The Monoprice Teles I bought in 2021 were similar. I kept the Buttercream blemished poly body. The 3TSB came worse than your's & sent that back. The replacement had a wonky neck pickup, but that was remedied with some surfboard wax and labor. Both those guitars were $ 80 & $ 75 respectively. The Buttercream I was able to get a $ 10 discount from $ 90. There just wasn't much in the price to get more discount. Both the Player & Player Plus are closer if not more than $ 1K MSRP. There might be more discount to be had on that. But now you have to figure out what it's worth to you & negotiate that. If you're happier with a new guitar, just send it back. If the seller has more than one, RMA the damaged one & have him cross ship the other when Amazon verifies it's taken ownership of the return.

What can you do if you want to deal with the seller. Take the photos of the boxes, take photos of the guitars. contact the seller and tell them what you seek as a remedy, get their agreement to those terms in any correspondence thru Amazon contact the Seller feature. It's a headache but if you know what you want done, head in that direction with the process. Either way the guitar is going back and you should be refunded when Amazon scans receipt. For returns they will send you a label, there will be a place like a Kohl's brick & mortar that you drop the return off at. They will print the label for you an at that point, it's being handled by Amazon & whatever the seller & you agree to. There are several remedies, you just have to elect the direction that you want to go with it.

 

[Burlington Dave]

Send it back! Send it back! Send it back!

 

[Wrighty]

Send it back pronto. Amazon should even have options under your recent orders for a return

Er, he probably did, maybe around October 22nd?

 

[Beachbum]

The money you paid was perfect and so should be the guitar you received. Accept nothing less.

 

[Alex_C]

Welcome! I'd send it back unless they offer $200 off.

 

[oldunc]

Personally I wouldn't consider it worth the trouble of shipping it back, but it's worth trying for a discount.