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Post subject: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 4:19 pm
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Many of you may know I got my FSR American Vintage Ltd. Ed. ’57 Stratocaster last Sept. (‘12) as an anniversary gift from my wife.

From the day I brought it home, it has ‘lived’ in our Den/Music Room. My wife collects antiques (incl. a 100 y.o. Baby Grand from her Great-Grandmother) and these, along with several Humidors of my Cigars, also live in this room. We keep the room both temperature and humidity controlled at a constant 70°F and 60% humidity (humidifier and a Hygrometer w/ alarm).

I play (actually ‘noodle’) the Strat only 1 hour/week because I am not yet ‘worthy’ of such a fine instrument and don’t want to use it as a practice guitar – that’s what my used MIM Tele is for.

On Christmas Eve, I was playing the Strat and when I wiped it down to put it back in it’s case, that's when I noticed the finish was cracked at the cord socket… :shock: :shock: :shock:

On closer inspection, I saw that there were many small cracks on the face of the guitar... :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: . All the cracks were longitudinal only !

Decided to wait through the Holidays before contacting Fender. My wife was terribly upset, especially since the Warranty specifically stated that the Finish was not covered.

Anyway, last week I PM’d Rob Schwarz, told him the issue and that I understood the Warranty disclaimer, but that there had to be a defect either in the Body or the Nitro because of the newness of the guitar, the storage conditions, and the fact that all the cracks were only running lengthwise. Rob asked me to email the info to him, which I did.

Two hours later, I received an email from Austin Bingham at CS Support asking me to bring the guitar to Charles Hoffman Handmade Guitars -http://www.hoffmanguitars.com/ (a Fender Auth. Service Center) for evaluation, that he would call them to expect me. Austin suggested that if indeed there was an issue, Fender would send a replacement Body, but that there could be up to a 90-day wait for one.

The next day (Sat.), I brought the guitar into Hoffman's and one of the techs thoroughly inspected it, and then called over Charlie Hoffman to personally evaluate it. Charlie Hoffman looked it over and stated that there definitely was a problem with the wood which made the Nitro finish crack and that they would call Fender and explain the situation this week. I said that Austin had warned a replacement could take 90 days and so Hoffman’s had me take the guitar back home.

On Wednesday, I received an email from Austin at CS Support telling me that he had spoken with Hoffman Guitars and that an order had been placed for the replacement body. He apologized for the defect and said: “Wood doesn’t always like being turned into a Guitar Body…”. He said that he would email me, and Hoffman Guitars would call me, once the new Body was received.

I admit I was extremely anxious that Fender might just walk away, especially since the Finish isn’t covered by the Warranty. But, I was overjoyed and amazed at how professionally and swiftly Rob and his staff took ownership of the issue and corrected everything to my satisfaction!

So major Kudos and a big Thank-You to Rob, Austin and the rest of the staff for their help !

It isn’t hard to see why Fender has gained such a great reputation with people like this on their Team !

Cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele


Last edited by Lightnin MN on Sat Jan 26, 2013 5:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:43 pm
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Location: The Frozen Tundra of MN
Wow, awesome response by Fender! Congrats! :)


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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:48 pm
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Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
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Rob's been "in the trenches" for a long time -- he started out licking stamps in the mail room at Fullerton back in '78.

:lol:

Seriously, most of the staff are very conciencious about FMIC's rep and take customer satisfaction very seriously. A tip of the hat to all who carry on in Leo's tradition!

8)

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 7:56 pm
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Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:03 am
Posts: 9449
Location: NL Canada
I've only had one issue with a defect on a Fender guitar still under warranty,that was in the late 70s and Fender went out of its way to accomodate me,it's great to see that First Rate Customer Service is still a priority with them.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.


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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:07 pm
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ROB!!! Our hero. (Especially with his peers.) ((Not saying who.)) :mrgreen:


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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:26 am
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Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Reading this was a great way to end the work week! Rob is one of the most loved and respected individuals in the building and there's a reason for it ...

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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 1:25 am
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UPDATE:

Got a call today from Gabe Hoffman over at Hoffman's Handmade Guitars to tell me that they just received the new body for my FSR AV '57 Strat from Fender !!

So I jumped in the car and drove the mile and a half to Hoffman's to bring them the guitar.

Gabe looked over my Strat and said it looked great... better than some CS ones he's seen !

He said they'll have it done in a week ! Yea !!

Thanks again Rob and Austin Bingham (CS Stringed Instrument Support Technician) for the great service and support !

Cheers!

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'11 FSR Am. Vtg. Ltd. Ed. CAR '57 Stratocaster (SN# LE02639)
'14 American Deluxe Ash Stratocaster
'12 Telebration Empress Telecaster
'99 Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
'12 FSR Telecaster HH
'10 Heritage H-535
'99 Martin DC-1E
'13 Lanikai Tenor Ukulele


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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 2:04 am
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Outstanding!

8) 8) 8)

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 2:36 am
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Hey that's great!

Outstanding customer service!

I have to say I have been looked after too in the UK, by Ryan Howlett and I got a replacement guitar for a manufacturing problem on my USA Deluxe Telecaster very quickly too.

Its why we all buy Fender Products.

Congrats again and if its OK some pictures of the beauty would be great when you get it?

Your local shop has done the business too so tip of the hat to them also!

Congrats.

Tom

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Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster


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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 3:27 am
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Good stuff! Please be sure to post a pic for us to enjoy!

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Post subject: Re: Another 3-Cheers for Rob & Fender thread !!
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 5:37 am
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They did that for me with my MIM Buddy Guy, the year the guitars were introduced. The neck developed 'fret sprout' despite the fact that the guitar had been stored under proper conditions. They reimbursed my service guy for the adjustment to the frets.

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