Members cdp Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Let's just say my 3 month old US Deluxe Strat with the SEVERELY cracked fretboard sits alongside:1 PRS Custom 241 PRS 20th Annniversary Custom 221 Tom Anderson Hollow Cobra1 Taylor 714 Acoustic1 Musicman Stingray Bass *all have rosewood fretboards. there is a humidifier going 24/7 about 10 feet away from the area of the room where my guitars are in their cases. I never leave my guitars out of their cases when not in use. 3 or 4 times a year I treat the fretboards with lemon oil, and change strings before every gig (about 1 a week for the past three or four years). The good folks at Fender are trying to decide if they are going to replace the neck under warranty. The process is in week #3 now, the latest news is that they want digital pix of the fretboard. The implication is that I must have done something terrible to their flawless work of art.I actually don't care at this point - - if they don't replace the neck under warranty I'll just pay for a neck out of pocket, and simply will no longer buy their products. I will discourage anyone form buying a US Deluxe Strat - the build quality doesn't justify the price, and Fender doesn't stand behind them anymore than they stand behind a $300 Squire. Live and learn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Europa760 Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 YEA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ranalli Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 It takes them more time and money to dispute this crap than it does to just give you a new neck. What a waste of time and money....I hate when companies do that stuff. Best company I've dealt with was Samson.....my wireless broke they took it back and fixed it all up no questions asked...none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 The best manufacturer I deal with is Ibanez. Nothing went wrong in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AmpegJoe Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 You don't say if anyone but you has seen the cracked fretboard so far. Asking for a picture of it doesn't seem too unreasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members geddins81 Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Tough break cdp.....I've never been a "Fender" guy at all, but recently bought an AM Deluxe Strat, and I was delighted with the build quality, finish work, and overall impressive quality of the guitar....sorry to hear you got a bad one. It happens though, but they should be about the business of making it right, not arguing with you.....have you asked your dealer to help out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members batotman Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Post pics!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CurtisM Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 That sucks man. Ive had no problems with my fenders. Maybe youd have better lucking taking it where you bought it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 You mean you just notified them that your fretboard was cracked and wanted them to ship you a new one based on your say-so?Doesn't sound right. What's to stop anybody who buys a Fender from doing that just to get a free neck? For that matter...What's to stop someone from taking that free neck and attaching it to a hundred dollar cheap strat copy and selling the resulting fake American strat on Ebay? Or selling the extra neck alone for that matter?If they are asking for a pic, that doesn't seem unreasonable to me. Personally I'm surprized they don't ask you to mail in the neck with a cracked fingerboard for replacement. Seems a more logical way of doing business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FlyingBloodyFrogBiscuit Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 I'm not defending Fender, but let me give you some insight from someone who worked in manufacturing as an Engineer and Manager for years. Fender doesn't make parts, they make guitars. It's not that easy to pull a neck off the production line. Doing that, you have the rest of the guitar that's got no neck, and no place to store bodies. Now customer service is bitching at QC because they've got some prick in Baltimore screaming that his fretboard is cracked. QC says horse{censored}, here's our ISO documentation, and we made 50 necks from that same lot of rosewood, with no problems. Now someone's screaming at the warranty manager that he damn well better have his ducks in a row if you're giving that asshole in Maryland a new neck. Now to save his job, he has to find out where this guitar was shipped, how long it was stored, where it was stored, how long before it was sold, because ISO is going to require a corrective action report or they are going to pull your ISO certification, and if you lose that, you're certainly not shipping a damn thing to Europe, and Gibson, Ibanez, and Yamaha are jumping all over that {censored} and start a marketing campaign saying Fender's {censored} is all {censored}ed up because they lost their ISO certification and can't maintain quality control standards. I know from a consumer's point of view it's a bitch, but stick with it, they'll replace your neck, it's just that that poor bastard has a mile of paperwork to go through before he can do it. It sucks, but that's the reason most consumer goods are manufactured overseas these days, it's almost impossible to make money with all the regulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jerry_picker Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Originally posted by cdp Let's just say my 3 month old US Deluxe Strat with the SEVERELY cracked fretboard sits alongside:1 PRS Custom 241 PRS 20th Annniversary Custom 221 Tom Anderson Hollow Cobra1 Taylor 714 Acoustic1 Musicman Stingray Bass*all have rosewood fretboards. there is a humidifier going 24/7 about 10 feet away from the area of the room where my guitars are in their cases. I never leave my guitars out of their cases when not in use. 3 or 4 times a year I treat the fretboards with lemon oil, and change strings before every gig (about 1 a week for the past three or four years). The good folks at Fender are trying to decide if they are going to replace the neck under warranty. The process is in week #3 now, the latest news is that they want digital pix of the fretboard. The implication is that I must have done something terrible to their flawless work of art.I actually don't care at this point - - if they don't replace the neck under warranty I'll just pay for a neck out of pocket, and simply will no longer buy their products. I will discourage anyone form buying a US Deluxe Strat - the build quality doesn't justify the price, and Fender doesn't stand behind them anymore than they stand behind a $300 Squire.Live and learn! That's why companies like MF sell "Gold Coverage" an such insurance poicies with guitars. Dicking with warrantees is by nature often highly confrontational. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Originally posted by FlyingBloodyFrogBiscuit I'm not defending Fender, but let me give you some insight from someone who worked in manufacturing as an Engineer and Manager for years. Fender doesn't make parts, they make guitars. It's not that easy to pull a neck off the production line. Doing that, you have the rest of the guitar that's got no neck, and no place to store bodies. Now customer service is bitching at QC because they've got some prick in Baltimore screaming that his fretboard is cracked. QC says horse{censored}, here's our ISO documentation, and we made 50 necks from that same lot of rosewood, with no problems. Now someone's screaming at the warranty manager that he damn well better have his ducks in a row if you're giving that asshole in Maryland a new neck. Now to save his job, he has to find out where this guitar was shipped, how long it was stored, where it was stored, how long before it was sold, because ISO is going to require a corrective action report or they are going to pull your ISO certification, and if you lose that, you're certainly not shipping a damn thing to Europe, and Gibson, Ibanez, and Yamaha are jumping all over that {censored} and start a marketing campaign saying Fender's {censored} is all {censored}ed up because they lost their ISO certification and can't maintain quality control standards.I know from a consumer's point of view it's a bitch, but stick with it, they'll replace your neck, it's just that that poor bastard has a mile of paperwork to go through before he can do it.It sucks, but that's the reason most consumer goods are manufactured overseas these days, it's almost impossible to make money with all the regulations. If you think this happens every time Fender get a warranty claim I am not surprised you are not in manufacturuing any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Europa760 Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 what the hell do ducks have to do with anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Originally posted by Europa760 what the hell do ducks have to do with anything? I think they make the necks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members walfordr Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Originally posted by Europa760 what the hell do ducks have to do with anything? Maybe his fingerboard quacked becwause of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 I don't see what would be so hard about a factory that assembles guitars to have a place to store extra bodies and necks. It's not like you have to have a big room. Anytime a guitar has a bad neck, the body gets sent to the room. Anytime a guitar has a bad body, the neck gets sent to the same room. New guitars come out of that room. Simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ancient Mariner Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Originally posted by FlyingBloodyFrogBiscuit I know from a consumer's point of view it's a bitch, but stick with it, they'll replace your neck, it's just that that poor bastard has a mile of paperwork to go through before he can do it. This is the real issue. I know some companies that, because of their ISO system are unable to handle an order in less than 3 days, even if you give them your CC number. With a complaint like that going through the official channels, there's going to be a mile of paperwork, non-conformance reports, corrective/preventive action plans, batch records and a mountain of crap to complete. Now if you could get hold of a sales rep and show him your damaged neck, he'll just cut through all the paperwork and grab you a replacement (to the fury of the other guys FBFB mentioned) and get you fixed in a jiffy. Sales guys can just do that kind of thing, and it bugs the hell out of us that have to work within the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Maybe the use of Ducks on the production line indicates a humidity problem.? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 Originally posted by walfordr Maybe his fingerboard quacked becwause of them. Ahhhhhh Hahahahahahahahaha!!! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fanuvbrak Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Buy Peavey. Best customer service in the business. Example: I had a 20 year old T-27. One of the knobs stripped and fell off. I wrote them and asked if they knew where to get a replacement knob. They sent me one, free of charge. That's the difference between a company that just bears the founder's name and a company that is still run by the founder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frets99 Posted March 28, 2006 Share Posted March 28, 2006 The duck sub-thread quacked me up but I'm sorry about your guitar. I understand your point and I do see what they have to go through to fulfill a warranty but from my point of view.... way down here... wouldn't it be easier to have a few necks around just for replacement and at least respond more quickly or at least warmly to warranty claims on big ticket items just to keep the customer satisfied. Sort of good PR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cdp Posted March 28, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 To answer a few questions from different replies:I did take it back to my dealer. They are an authorized Fender repair center. The store manager, set-up/repair guy and salesman have all spoken to the Fender 'rep'. The 1st week the news from Fender was that a neck would be shipped, and my dealer (auth. repair center) would replace the neck. The dealer / store manager has been very cool, and has also told me that his former Fender rep wouldn;t have blinked and eye - this would have been resolved by now. The new Fender area rep rarely even visits the store, so there's almost no relationship. The store was Fender's #1 retailer in the mid-atlantic region for 2005... As for the reply that explained how difficult it is for Fender to pull a neck off the assembly line" for some asshole in Maryland"...that's cool too. If it's too hard for them to do under warranty, does that mean it's too hard for them to do with me paying for it? Read my post again - this asshole doesn't care how it ends up, either they replace it free or I'll pay for it. I wouldn't want anyone at Fender to work too hard on my behalf...I'm just a consumer of guitars and amplifiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Fender quality control dept. ' alt='>'> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 I'm not defending Fender, but let me give you some insight from someone who worked in manufacturing as an Engineer and Manager for years.Fender doesn't make parts, they make guitars. It's not that easy to pull a neck off the production line. Doing that, you have the rest of the guitar that's got no neck, and no place to store bodies. Now customer service is bitching at QC because they've got some prick in Baltimore screaming that his fretboard is cracked. QC says horse{censored}, here's our ISO documentation, and we made 50 necks from that same lot of rosewood, with no problems. Now someone's screaming at the warranty manager that he damn well better have his ducks in a row if you're giving that asshole in Maryland a new neck. Now to save his job, he has to find out where this guitar was shipped, how long it was stored, where it was stored, how long before it was sold, because ISO is going to require a corrective action report or they are going to pull your ISO certification, and if you lose that, you're certainly not shipping a damn thing to Europe, and Gibson, Ibanez, and Yamaha are jumping all over that {censored} and start a marketing campaign saying Fender's {censored} is all {censored}ed up because they lost their ISO certification and can't maintain quality control standards. ....at this point the stockholders hold an emergency meeting screaming for the CEO's head. He denies knowing about any of this of course, because ISO certifiaction usually never passes through corporate. Fender's Japan division president sees this as an opportunity for a power grab and decides to invite the chairman of the board to fly to Japan for a game of golf to talk business. The chairman flies over there the night before and hires a 3,000 yen hooker. All night they go at it and she screams: "Aiyookee! Aiyookee!" which the chairman decides must be Japanese for "Great Job!Fantastic!" The next day at the golf game the Japan Division president hits a hole in one. Hoping to impress his Japanese friends, the chairman yells:"Aiyookee!" To which the Japanese respond: "What you mean, 'Wrong hole'?"The chairman is humiliated but gives the Fender Japan Division president the job. Gretsch is immediately dropped and picked up for manufacture in China. The resulting move upsets the already tenuous trade imbalance America has with China. China invades Taiwan. America responds by boycotting all Chinese made products including Gretsch guitars. These become rare collectors items on the black market similar to Cuban cigars. etc.... Happens all the time. See what your damn guitar neck did? Why couldn't you have just been happy playing that PRS guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tele The Truth Posted March 28, 2006 Members Share Posted March 28, 2006 Originally posted by cdp The store was Fender's #1 retailer in the mid-atlantic region for 2005... I realise you're in MD, but does this store happen to be in Delaware? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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