Members tmorrow Posted February 18, 2005 Members Posted February 18, 2005 Yesterday my wife had a surprise for me. It seems she had run across a used Taylor 710 in pawn shop. Knowing how much I like my 310, she decided she couldn't pass it up. She put down the $600 they wanted and brought it home. Well, just one look and I knew something was wrong. The headstock wasn't right; "Taylor" appeared to be a gold decal instead if inlaid; the sticker inside was too big and didn't have Bob Taylor's sig; the serial number was 10 digits. With a sinking feeling, I immediately called Taylor in El Cajon, and within minutes verified what I already knew: my wife had been taken by a counterfeit. It seems that currently there are a rash of counterfeit Taylors surfacing in Texas, and only in Texas. Taylor was very interested in where we had got this guitar, so I gave them the name & phone number of the shop. I called the shop and told them that the guitar they had sold her had been verified fake by Taylor, and there were two ways we could go: my wife could get her money back, or we could take the fake to the authorities. They immediately agreed to give her money back. So tomorrow, back it goes, along with another phone call to Taylor to let them know that this shop no has the fake in their possession. Moral: make sure the folks you know realize that there are counterfeits out there, and while it might seem like a nice way to surprise the guitarist in their life, it would be better to include that guitarist in the purchase.
Members knockwood Posted February 18, 2005 Members Posted February 18, 2005 That was awfully nice of her. Sometimes I see that look in the eyes of my wife, who cannot help but have observed that on my own time I am invariably either playing my guitars or reading about & coveting others, and I routinely make her promise never to try and surprise me... 'cause I know this kind of thing can happen.
Members 54merk Posted February 18, 2005 Members Posted February 18, 2005 Fake guitars, including Taylor, are not unusual at all. You see them occasionally on ebay. Don't know what Taylor can do about it since it was used and the seller is not an authorized dealer. Glad it was a happy ending.
Members LDF Posted February 18, 2005 Members Posted February 18, 2005 That's just so wrong! It makes me very angrrrryy. I'm sure the pawn shop guy knew it was a fake too. He just wanted to see if anyone would notice. If I tried to mislable one of my guitars and sell it as a taylor to a pawn shop, I'd get thrown out. But it's okay for the dealer to rip people off. Selling a fake guitar is as underhanded as chicks who wear contact and dye their hair and NEVER admit it.
Members bjorn-fjord Posted February 18, 2005 Members Posted February 18, 2005 Damn, I've never heard of that. I've heard of people trying to pass off newer Fender Strats as vintage but never a complete fakery. That's horrible. Thanks for the warning.
Members JasmineTea Posted February 18, 2005 Members Posted February 18, 2005 Years ago, a guy tried selling me a strat with black paint over the face of the headstock...No, thanks.
Members tmorrow Posted February 18, 2005 Author Members Posted February 18, 2005 Well, just got back from getting my wife's money back - every penny. Over the last two days, my wife really educated herself on what a real Taylor should be, and it was prett neat to watch her point out all thedifferences between a real 710 and the fake to the pawnbrokes. He just stood there with his mouth open. He gave her the money back, then said "Well, we sell fake Rolexes all the time, this is really no different" and hung the thing back on the sale rack! This really pissed my wife off, so as soon as she got home, she was on the phone to Taylor telling them that the shop now had the fake back, was aware that it was fake, but was still going to try to sell it as a real Taylor. I had to leave for work, so I don't know how this conversation ended. Hopefully they can do something with that info. I do know that Taylor is very actively seeking to shut down this ring currently operating in Texas.
Members 54merk Posted February 19, 2005 Members Posted February 19, 2005 Taylor cannot do a whole lot about the pawn shop. I would file a complaint with the local Better Business Bureau so at least it's on file. You did get your money back but they will just sell it to some other unsuspecting chump. If they regularly handle guitars they would no doubt have known it was a fake all along.
Members guitarcapo Posted February 21, 2005 Members Posted February 21, 2005 Did the pawn shop act like they didn't know it was fake? If they did I would think you could call the cops in because that's fraud. So is selling a fake Rolex as real. But to sell something fake and say it is fake while you are at it would be a grey area. A civil matter between Taylor and the pawn shop at best.
Members tdawgodopolus Posted February 21, 2005 Members Posted February 21, 2005 It may not only be in Texas. I was at a pawn shop here in Arizona recently and I saw a Taylor 710, so I took a look at it. Immediately I thought something was wrong: it looked like the top was a laminate top. I did a doubletake, figured that maybe I wasn't seeing things correctly, and I began playing it. Sure enough, it had no tone and no depth. I looked again to see if I was mistaken, and sure enough, it was a laminate top guitar. It is a terrible tragedy. I'm glad that your story has a happy ending.
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