Members Notes_Norton Posted June 22, 2012 Members Share Posted June 22, 2012 We are often quick to complain on the web when we believe we got a raw deal from somebody, and that's a good thing because it serves as a warning to others. I believe it is also good to let people know when a company treats its customers well, as it's good to know who takes care of us too. That's what this post is about. Some time ago I bought a Parker DF524. I love this guitar. It's well balanced, sounds great, stays it tune, is not heavy and has great action. About a half year after the warranty expired, it developed a small crack in the wood (look between the fretboard and the pickup on the 1st string side): I e-mailed Parker with a couple of pictures and the customer service rep (Dave Steffen) immediately wrote back, agreed that this shouldn't have happened, and offered to fix it at no cost to me (other than shipping the guitar back to the factory). A few weeks later it came back looking like this: Some other companies would have said, "Tough luck, your warranty is no longer valid" but Parker said, "Send it back and we'll fix it." Anybody can have a problem. How the problem is handled determines whether the company makes a friend for life and repeat customer, or an enemy who will bad-mouth them everywhere they go. Parker made a friend for life and the next guitar I buy will be another Parker. Insights and incites by Notes ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluesnapper Posted June 22, 2012 Members Share Posted June 22, 2012 Parker need to do something right after designing all of those ugly, misshapen guitars! :poke: Srsly though, that's good to hear. I'd like to think the big boys would give you the same treatment, but probably not without a fight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaVenCAD Posted June 22, 2012 Members Share Posted June 22, 2012 By all accounts I've ever read, Parker is top notch when it comes to taking care of customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LesPaulFetish Posted June 22, 2012 Members Share Posted June 22, 2012 That's nice to hear... I wonder what Gibson would've said :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RaVenCAD Posted June 22, 2012 Members Share Posted June 22, 2012 Gibson warranties don't expire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LesPaulFetish Posted June 22, 2012 Members Share Posted June 22, 2012 Gibson warranties don't expire. ... You got me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted June 22, 2012 Members Share Posted June 22, 2012 Nice axe. That's the one Parker I'd like to have in my line-up. Good to hear they looked after you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ExiledCrow Posted June 22, 2012 Members Share Posted June 22, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajympt Posted June 23, 2012 Members Share Posted June 23, 2012 Gibson warranties don't expire. True, but somehow I suspect they would have a clause that would keep them from being responsible for it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AxAxSxS Posted June 23, 2012 Members Share Posted June 23, 2012 very cool, and great looking repair! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mockchoi Posted June 23, 2012 Members Share Posted June 23, 2012 I'm glad to hear that, Notes. I know you're active at the Parker forum, and I'm sure you've been following some of the issues they've been having. Things seem to be starting to turn around there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted June 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 23, 2012 I suppose any time a new design is introduced, potential problems can rear their ugly heads. You know the old software adage, "Never buy version 1.0 of anything." But how a company handles its problems determines whether it cares about its customers or not. My partner, Leilani has a Korean Parker (PM10 Hornet - single cut LP-ish but lighter) and it's build is absolutely faultless. I can't even see the seam where the neck meets the body unless I take it out in the bright sunlight. I wanted a lighter guitar as the faux-LP was wearing on me. I play sax, flute, wind synth, guitar, percussion controller and in the past keyboards on stage. That means switching instruments quite frequently. After a while, my right arm felt like I was exercising from picking up and putting down the faux-LP all night (that's an exaggeration but when you have GAS any excuse will do). I don't like the shape of the "normal" fly. That upper "arthritic thumb" horn just looks ugly to me. I also wanted to explore strat territory. I had a Kramer/Focus imitation Strat for a couple of months a few years ago, but absolutely hated the 9" radius neck. Tried to love it, but it just wasn't for me. So when Parker came out with the DF (Dragonfly now Maxxfly because Dragonfly turned out to be a trademark of a no longer produced acoustic guitar) I thought about it (it's light weight). Talked about it. Thought some more (it has a 14" radius neck - my favorite). Talked about it. Thought some more (it has a Fishman under the bridge). Talked about it. Thought some more (Leilani's Parker is flawless so they obviously make good guitars). And the very day that I decided I was going to bite the bullet, pull out the plastic and order it, my wife/duo-partner/best-friend said, "You need a better guitar, why don't you get one." (It's great to have a guitar playing wife). Leilani and I are bonded at the brain. We often come up with similar decisions on our own at the same time. So I got my DF. It is a model between the Dragonfly name and the Maxxfly name and has no indication on it. So I call it a "No-Fly" and play in the No Fly Zone. I bonded with it immediately. It is the perfect guitar for me and there is only one problem with it. I cured my GAS. You know, GAS is fun. I can look at other guitars and admire their beauty, but that's as far as it goes. The GAS is gone. 'Tis sad I'm glad they did the right thing and I've been so happy to gig with it. Three weeks playing the old faux-LP made me appreciate this even more. It's a dream to play and it has such a wide variety of great tones. Notes ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tiltsta Posted June 23, 2012 Members Share Posted June 23, 2012 Nice. Glad to hear there are still good companies out there. I've had really great luck with Mesa Boogie and Rocktron over the years. Rocktron sent me a power supply and knob for a rack processor that I bought used....for free. Gibson/Steinberger also has done very well for me over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members esphil Posted June 23, 2012 Members Share Posted June 23, 2012 I love my Parker, the build quality on it is top notch, I think the shape is beautiful. I didn't used to like it but now I prefer it over a strat type look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Valtyr Posted June 23, 2012 Members Share Posted June 23, 2012 Good to hear they are doing right. I have two Parkers, never had an issue so I have never contacted their customer service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mister natural Posted June 23, 2012 Members Share Posted June 23, 2012 respect the Parker love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cale76 Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 That's nice to hear... I wonder what Gibson would've said :poke: I have a feeling that Gibson would have said something like, "You changed the strings on this guitar, that voids the warranty." I heard somewhere awhile back that if you use your Fender guitar for "commercial purposes" (for example, a gig), that this voids the warranty. It seemed kind of far fetched to me, I need to actually look into that. More details to follow, maybe, if I remember... I will say that Fender took great care of me with my Super Champ a few years ago. It was cutting out intermittently and I sent it off to them to look at (it was still under warranty), it got there and played fine for them, but Scott was the individual who I dealt with told me, "Since it's an intermittent problem sending this back to you isn't going to help you, so I'm going to go ahead and send you a new Super Champ so you hopefully won't have the same problem." In all honesty even at these large corporations there are still people that work there that care about customers and are going to do what they can to help you out. It's nice to hear about these stories rather than just all of the bad stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Notes_Norton Posted June 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 <...snip...>In all honesty even at these large corporations there are still people that work there that care about customers and are going to do what they can to help you out. It's nice to hear about these stories rather than just all of the bad stories. I agree. The good ones are as helpful to the community as the bad ones, but often the disgruntled customers are the ones with the most incentive to post. Notes ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members photon9 Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 That's really great. I wish all companies were like this. I mean the fix probably cost parker all of $50 buck tops, now they have a customer for life and maybe a couple new ones. Money well spent IMO. I have a korean parker, P-38, it's a great guitar. I think parker designs are really cool. I dig them a lot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerry_L Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 Synchronicity. My Maxxfly PDF 80 was just delivered as I was reading this thread. Not as nice as the DF524, but still seems like a neat little guitar. Very light, pencil-thin neck, action like butter. Have to wait until I get home to plug it in and hear how the Duncan USM pups sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jerry_L Posted June 25, 2012 Members Share Posted June 25, 2012 Synchronicity. My Maxxfly PDF80 was just delivered as I was reading this thread. Not in the same league as the DF524, but still seems like a neat little guitar. Very light, pencil-thin neck, action like butter. Have to wait until I get home to plug it in and hear how the Duncan USM pups sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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