Sent a guitar back/store says damaged/250 restocking fee

[Gautfrid]

Reading all this, I'm thinking that if James is an employee of the shop, and he wrote his post without the owner of that shop's say-so, James may be looking at another career path...

 

[tedro]

yeah, the shop shouldn't have posted.
my reply to them is: valued customer (repeated purchases); you sell tons of guitars, so yes you should eat it.

 

[Canuckcaster]

Don't just consider the post count in this thread. Look at the number of readers as well. This is not a good thing for a company who relies on the internet for sales. This thread will haunt this company.

CC

 

[boris bubbanov]

Then you missed my first post. I very strongly dislike Willcutt Guitars and won't deal with them. I've had that opinion for at least 20 years now. I'd have to say I hate that place more than any other music store I can think of.

I'm sorry.

I screwed up.

 

[simonsp]

I'm sorry.

I screwed up.

Wouldn't it have been nice if Willcutt Guitars could have shown the same graciousness as Boris.

 

[tap4154]

Worst of all was the store whining over scratches on the PROTECTIVE PG plastic. WTF do you guys think it's for?

Second worst of all was the store assuming that Fred -- a longterm customer with no history of shady actions -- would send back a guitar he damaged without admitting it, then making him take the hit (rubbing his nose in it).

As James admitted, they are a MAIL ORDER business, so IMO should expect to take the hit on shipping damage now and then. Especially with a customer who has a history of purchasing higher-end guitars. and not a serial-returner.

Third worst is the 3 day delay. I'm not buying the explanation from the store anymore than they trusted Fred. If it were my store I would've felt ashamed coming back after that error, and trying to ding the customer for damage.

 

[Throttleneck]

Another person who won't be using them in the future.

 

[kingofdogs1950]

There are better MO dealers out there

I've never done business with Willcutt and based on this thread I never will.


Mark

 

[_dave_]

I almost pulled the trigger on a guitar from Willcutt earlier this year, but just couldn't do it. Don't know why , just didn't feel confident for some reason.
I didn't feel that way on some online dealers, others I got the same vibe.
I'm glad I have learned to trust my gut.

 

[Lowbassnotes]

Edit: It is just real strange the instrument arrived back with damage, I'm having a hard time figuring out how a guitars finish gets damaged within a hardshell case without any visable damage to the cardboard box.

 

[tbp0701]

So what do we do in this situation? As a business are we suppose to eat this and just sell it for whatever we can get and cut our losses? Even though we did nothing wrong. We didn't damage the guitar. Bob and I were both present at the time the case was opened for the first time. As you all can see this is no longer a new guitar. All of the instruments that go out of here as new, are NEW. We keep them in our temperature and humidity controlled warehouse, in the original case, and a lot of times in the original box depending on how it fared in route to us. We do have a retail store and those items are not for sale on the internet because we are not in the business of selling demos.

My take on what you should have done was see that the damage was most likely done during shipping, as it doesn't look to be playing wear, so it's probably from being jostled or possibly temperature changes. Then check and realize that this was from a good customer who has not shown this type of pattern before, then realize that while you're not at fault, he isn't, either. Then let him know what happened, but given the circumstances you'll refund his money, keep him happy, and lean into the shipping company for the handling of the merchandise.

In any case, I don't think you should have done what you did. In any event, you seem to have come to a resolution. I can say that, while I believe that I am very reasonable and tend to understand different perspectives, include those of businesses, I would not have taken the guitar at a reduced cost, merely as I don't believe I could play it without often remembering the frustration involved.

 

[Lunchie]

Edit: It is just real strange the instrument arrived back with damage, I'm having a hard time figuring out how a guitars finish gets damaged within a hardshell case without any visable damage to the cardboard box.

Its Freds word Vs. theirs and we are all just spectators. I can see how it could of been shipped to Fred with the damage and him not noticing it. When I buy a guitar online the first thing I do is plug it in right away because I want to play it. I dont really inspect it all that closely unless there is an issue.

It could of been that Fred likes buying guitars and bashing them and returning it . It could of been easily taken out of the box at some time in the shipping process. I have had packages that were obviously tampered with, I've had magazines that you can tell had been previously read.

We will never know the exact reasons, but just judging by the sellers reply, I am leaning more on Fred's side. IMO all they proved is that they dropped the ball and that is enough for me.

I am 99.98% sure that if Fred filed a claim with Paypal he would of gotten 100% of the money back. I have had too many run in with their buyer protection on both sides and they have always gone towards the buyer. So he did them a favor by taking the guitar back at a reduced price.

 

[FredDairy]

I would have opened the PP case straight away. You can always file as resolved at a later date.
What I don't understand is that you decided you didn't like the guitar so sent it back. You didn't like it enough to pay the shipping yourself.
Now you like it enough to buy it back albeit at a reduced price.
This seems strange...

I just bought a Mono Vertigo case for $230. I hated it in almost every way and the seller is taking it back and paying the return shipping as part of customer goodwill. I told them them and Mono that the case IMO was vastly overpriced and not suited to my needs and really I didn't want it at ANY price. I didn't like it and didn't want it.

I think Willcutts have been bad here, no doubt about that. The post from the employee actually reinforces that. I wouldn't touch them after this TBH.

I'm still not sure why you agreed to take back the damaged (and now repaired????) item.

Well I can try to answer some of these questions.
Not all returns are due to a customer being unhappy with a product. I love Telecasters. My paying for the return shipping is normal. Infact, you got VERY lucky with the seller paying your return shipping. I have no issue with that aspect. Infact, when I sell guitars if a buyer isn't happy with the neck shape I'm not paying the return shipping. If its damaged yeah I will.

Why take it back?
I can mod the Tele to my liking. I could also part it out and probably recoup my loss. The body is light I could keep that and build something off it. I've wanted to do a Dakota red Burton tribute. I'm really digging my other '58 RI that I placed a '52 RI neck on. I could go that route. You guys all know from my previous posts that I usually have 2 of the same guitar.

Also as many have pointed out here opening a PP case may not have been a successful venture. I could have literally thrown that $250 out the window. This way I at the very least have something in return.

 

[Colo Springs E]

Also as many have pointed out here opening a PP case may not have been a successful venture. I could have literally thrown that $250 out the window. This way I at the very least have something in return.

Sounds like you're moving on, and that's all that matters, but I bet you WOULD have been successful in that dispute--in my experience, PP is very prone to siding with the buyer.

Out of curiosity... will you buy from this shop again?

 

[rogb]

Well I can try to answer some of these questions.
Not all returns are due to a customer being unhappy with a product. I love Telecasters. My paying for the return shipping is normal. Infact, you got VERY lucky with the seller paying your return shipping. I have no issue with that aspect. Infact, when I sell guitars if a buyer isn't happy with the neck shape I'm not paying the return shipping. If its damaged yeah I will.

Why take it back?
I can mod the Tele to my liking. I could also part it out and probably recoup my loss. The body is light I could keep that and build something off it. I've wanted to do a Dakota red Burton tribute. I'm really digging my other '58 RI that I placed a '52 RI neck on. I could go that route. You guys all know from my previous posts that I usually have 2 of the same guitar.

Also as many have pointed out here opening a PP case may not have been a successful venture. I could have literally thrown that $250 out the window. This way I at the very least have something in return.

Fred, at the very least I am way lost here.
Most posts on here are telling you that PP sides with the buyer most often.
You made the dispute public. OK....
Why did you return the guitar if you didn't like it? Now you do like it?
Listen, your guitar, your life, just trying to understand bud.

With regards to the Mono I would have been happy to pay the return to see the back of the awful thing, the retailer just doesn't like seeing unhappy customers and offered the return straight away. It's called going the extra mile. Your guys didn't do this. Like you I have been a regular customer for years. Different approaches by 2 retailers. Guess which I will be using in future

 

[FredDairy]

Fred, at the very least I am way lost here.
Most posts on here are telling you that PP sides with the buyer most often.
You made the dispute public. OK....
Why did you return the guitar if you didn't like it? Now you do like it?
Listen, your guitar, your life, just trying to understand bud.

I've already answered this question in post #113. Reread it.

 

[rogb]

I've already answered this question in post #113. Reread it.

Fred, please! I think I can read a post OK, thanks. I read it right the first time. Where did you state in #113 why you returned the guitar.
Quote it and bold it for the dumb asses like me.

 

[Bones]

This is some thread.

 

[FredDairy]

Fred, please! I think I can read a post OK, thanks. I read it right the first time. Where did you state in #113 why you returned the guitar.
Quote it and bold it for the dumb asses like me.

I never said I didn't like the guitar. Those were your words. You were confused as to why I took back a guitar I didn't like. I never ONCE said I didn't like it. I told James when I sent it back the neck was too thin. Which it was. I told you in post 113 for the price reduction they sold it back to me I could affix a neck to it I like and probably sell the '58 neck on eBay and make a profit.

It is a VERY common practice to buy a guitar and send it back within the return period. I've probably done it 100s of times. Infact, Sweetwater has a MONTH long return window. However, most of these places won't pay that return ship. which I guess isn't fine with you. But I could careless what's 50 bucks shipping on getting to try out a guitar?

 

[surfoverb]

wow ill never shop there.
the pickguard has a protective plastic coating that is scratched. i havent seen that addressed yet.