Hey FENDER thanks for the new guitar with the frets popping out! And thanks for the email telling me you can't "work with me" because I didn't go to an "authorized service center" to have somebody make it playable. I quess it's ok that I pay somebody else $277 to fix your horrible quality control on a new FENDER guitar! I will never buy anything you people make again and tell everyone else what I went through buying a fine FENDER guitar!

Fender does have to work on there customer care service because it is more like dont care service. I think someone on the board better call a meeting and pull up a chart of the ratings on HARMONY CENTRAL as they are rated the WORST with dealing with there customers as if they are giving us a privlidge. If I pay good money for something and something goes wrong I like to know I have nothing to worry about. Fender is a little slimy with these loopholes like if someone is not a Fender dealer they cant touch the guitar. I am not a Fender employee but if something is not right I am going to try and figure out what is wrong as are 90% of the people here and if I cant then I will get it seviced. As I said 6 weeks ago when I was on that Wolfgang hunt I called Peavey so many times I was knowing people by name,if I wanted to know what year my guitar was made they kept me on the line talking music till they found it. I wanted to ask a custom shop question BAM I was connected to the custom shop, I swear I was in disbelief. I wish they had more axes outside of the Wolfgang-which they dont have no more-or the HP custom which I like because I like the way I was treated and liked doing buisness with them.So why cant my GUITAR COMPANY treat me and you like that.Maybe when sales really dive someone will get that meeting going.

Could you tell us where you bought your brand new 2009 Fender Strat from? They have a full year warranty against stuff like that. Were the frets like that when you tested it out? I'm sorry that happened to you, but Fender should, and probably will sort this out for you.

Whats so hard about taking the guitar to a authorized repair person?

Do you really expect a company that turns out 5000+ instruments a week to work on your repair themselves?

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No no and no

I bought a Fender in the UK from an authorised Fender dealer, and a good few months after the warranty period (almost 2 years I think) a fault developed with the guitar. I emailed Fender who asked me to return the guitar to the place of purchase so that they could return the guitar for repair. I explained that the shop had since shut down. The arranged for a courier to collect the guitar from my house, replaced the faulty part and had it delivered back to my home, very nicely set up and re-strung and in tune.

I can't fault Fender UK for their customer service. It was a shame that the fault occurred (if you want the details, a large patch of varnish fell off the neck - they replaced the whole neck) but there care has made the incident a small blip in the guitars history.

Just my story.

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72 Custom Tele
50's Strat
Sqiuer Classic Vibe 50's P bass
Blues Junior
DG acoustic
Sparkly Thong

it really is a shame, and rather pathetic that this should even happen. for the prices that new american fender's go for, they should be FLAWLESS. honestly, some of these prices are obscene, moving into the $1,000's...and didnt fender just recently have a general cost INCREASE?! and yet they still pop out defects like that. ridiculous

im tellin ya people, you might as well go Squier or SX, you'll get the same quality (maybe better) for much less $$. G&L isn't even as costly, i dont think, and they are Leo's latest brainchild (before death)

i got a squier strat, and after 6 years the biggest problem i had was the pup switch busting. not bad for $100. if i pay at least $500 for something, i expect equally worthy craftsmanship and quality. i've seen many fender's with poorly buffed fretwires, polepieces that haven't been fully deburred or cleaned of shavings, etc. stupid stuff. how about the shortcuts such as using plastic input jacks on amps like the Blues Jr? SHOULD NOT HAPPEN FOR THE MONEY PAID.

frankly i get sick when everyone gets all ga-ga and drools over the fender image. "oh my God, i'm stroking my d**k because i'm so turned on right now, i LOVE FENDERRRR!!!!! OH MY GOD STRAT NECK PUP INTO 65 DELUXE REVERB"

im so sick of the so.cal. cult imagery and the artificial culture created here.

sorry for the rage against the machine there, just really disappoints me seeing stuff like this. i have for long time supported fender but i'm in question now

Actually, Fender DOES care. Like any company, they don't want to create a long string of unhappy customers.

Your story is sketchy, but as near as I can tell, it went something like this:

YOu bought a new guitar, and then experienced some kind of fret problem... maybe ordinary sprout, maybe frets actually popping out. But instead of taking the guitar back to the place you bought it, or a Fender authorized service center, you took it to a private repair guy, who overcharged you for the work (you could have a complete refret done on a Fedner for less than the number you quote).

THen, for some reason, you contact Fender AFTER you've done this - asking them to pay for the work, maybe? Well, that's not going to happen, and they probably also told you that you'd voided the warranty by having someone else do the work.

Is this pretty close?

That's not a company that doesn't care. If that's how it went down, then, you goofed.

If you can't play it before you buy it, then make sure you buy it from a place that has a 30-60 day, no questions asked, return policy. Caveat Emptor, buyer beware.

ALSO, it clearly states on page 1, paragraph 2 of the Fender warranty: Fender has established a network of independent Authorized Fender Service Centers for warranty service. The Fender Dealer from whom you purchased your instrument may also be authorized for warranty service and should be the first point of contact when service of any kind is required for your Fender instrument. To receive warranty service, return the complete instrument to an Authorized Fender Service Center, with your sales receipt as proof of purchase, during the applicable warranty period. Defective components that qualify for coverage under this warranty will be repaired or replaced (at Fender's discretion) without charge. Remedies beyond normal service repair of any Fender instrument require both an evaluation and confirmation of the defect and a direct recommendation to Fender from an Authorized Fender Service Center for alternative considerations.



Here's the link to that so you don't think I am making this up:
http://fender.com/support/pdfs/FENDERLIMITED64CE6.pdf

So Fender would have covered it most likely if you went through the proper way of handling this sort of thing. Sorry about your problems with the guitar, but next time contact where you bought it or look around on the website for warranty info if its still new.

So to me, Fender and you are both to blame. Yes, maybe Fender quality control made a mistake, but you made a mistake as well for not handling this properly, so you are both at fault.

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RAMA LAMA FA FA FA

When I buy a Fender like every other guitar I buy I go over it with a fine comb. Now this I will say out of all the Fenders I have owned they are built like a tank,solid as a rock whatever you want to say, and outside of my Jeff Beck strat changing color which is now happening in several differant places and as soon as I can post pics and solve this mystery so otheres can see what I am talking about I have never had an issue with any of my axes.Now if the Beck was the first and only Fender I owned I would be ranting and raving and probably saying they suck but we know that is not the case.The case is there CUSTOMER SERVICE is horrible they are just not up to snuff for the company they represent. I truly believe they shoud have a board meeting to address this issue as a major company you want your consumer to be as happy and to have faith that everything will be right. I have dealt with customer service on a few occasions and they stunk period.Reminded me of dealing with motor vehichle and anyone who is a New Yorker will understand exactly what I mean.Now I dont know the facts of Jburks story to know who is wrong or right here or how he was treated but I do know Fenders customer service.Now for those of you who would like to take a teset I would like you to call Peaveys customer service to ask about anything make something up if you want and then post how you were treated. I know most of you are going f@$k this.But if you want to do it then you will see how we should be treated because without us there is no them.

Why should they care about a product they didn't sell you? There's probably a reason a guy sold it to you used...

I saw the HC reviews and have heard some stories but in terms of first hand knowledge, I can only speak for myself. I've only had two issues where I had to deal with Fender Customer Service. Both times I was quickly and fully accommodated, right down to a prompt return of a phone call when they told me they'd have to get back to me over an issue. As a matter of fact, the dealerships did not have to get involved either time. There was no hostility and I felt the persons on the other end really did have a desire to resolve my issues. Consequently, I have no axe to grind. I guess the trick is, if you do it by, "the book", meaning, "their book" in terms of warranty procedures like I did, you surely won't have a problem. Maintaining a friendly demeanor also helps. In their defense too, can you imagine how many BS phone calls and e-mails they must have to put up with hourly, let alone daily, weekly, monthly...?

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You dig?

Loophole? That is a basic tenet of warranty service in almost any industry. You get warranty work performed by an authorized dealer, period.

And both times I have had to deal with Fender Customer Service on a warranty issue I have had excellent service - albeit a little slow on the actual repair.

And Customer Relations answers phone calls and emails extremely promptly as far as I am concerned.

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Ignorance IS bliss - and I am the happiest person here!

Exactly so. And for good reasons, too.

I'm sorry if fender has a crappy customer service department. You just gotta find a luthier or tech who know what they are doing an befriend them. I have a good friend who does all my guitar work for free. Like over 50 hours of it so far. Just because he's awesome. This guy builds amps and everything.

So find a tech and get in good with him.

I think that's been the problem here - you get some guy in a shed to fiddle with your guitar, and you'll invalidate the warranty.

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72 Custom Tele
50's Strat
Sqiuer Classic Vibe 50's P bass
Blues Junior
DG acoustic
Sparkly Thong