Hi there,

In January 2012 I bought a Blues Deville 410 Reissue in the local Fender
Authorised music store (Keymusic) over here in Belgium. All was fine
for a few months, but then one of the speakers blew. I only used it at
home and in the studio at very moderate volumes. I'm a professional
sound-engineer, so I recognized the problem as a burnt voicecoil.
Since the amp was still in warranty I returned it to the store to get it
repaired. That was 15th of november 2012. I still haven't got my amp
back, and the repair service of the store says they are still waiting
for a replacement speaker from Fender Europe in Germany. Today I got a
mail from the dealer that they don't expect to get it before the end of
march. That makes more than 4 months to replace a speaker.

I think this is outrageous. I paid a high price for a world class
product (I thought so at the time) from a well-respected company, so I
expect a customer service of the same level. If this is the way Fender
treats their customers, I think it is about time to get rid of my Fender
gear (guitars, basses and amps) and start looking for a company worth my
trust and money.

I don't know what is so difficult in sending a relatively common speaker
from thei European distribution center to their authorised dealer in
Belgium. It's only a few hundred miles. At that time I could have
gotten it myself by foot!!

Since Fender doesn't even answer my mail I sent them the 20th of February, I thought I had to put it on this forum to warn you all.

I sense your frustration, but you'll probably not generate a lot of sympathy by charging through the door with your 1st post on Fender's own forum.

There are a lot of loyalists here, myself included.

I have had NOTHING but EXCELLENT customer service from Fender.

The finish on my new American Vintage FSR Limited Edition '57 Stratocaster started to crack (not checking ). Despite Fender's warranty disclaimer on Guitar Finishes, I contacted Fender (through an IM to one of their people here on this site) who responded within 2 hours and made an appointment for me to get the Guitar to an Authorized Service Center for evaluation. Upon evaluation, an issue with the wood, not the finish, was noted as the cause. Fender has agreed to replace the Body, but warned me it would be up to a 90-day wait. This is because they do not have a replacement body just laying around, esp. since it's a Ltd. Ed. FSR. They won't be interupting production to produce a batch of replacement bodies until that time.

The same is likely true for your Amp speaker. Large inventories of replacement parts, especially so far from the Factory are easily depleted while the bulk of on-hand ones are slated for production. This may be what you are experiencing.

If you think that Warranty Service is better at Gibson, or such, I suggest you'll find it's not, in fact based on some reports, it's much worse.

I suggest looking up Rob Schwartz here and shooting him an IM. I cannot speak for him and so cannot say whether he can assist you or not.

cheers!

_________________


'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

Hi,

While I understand you about "charging through the frontdoor", I'm not looking for sympathy, but for a speaker. It's not like I didn't try to contact Fender on another manner. I sent them a mail the 20th of february via the only address I found on the website. I got an automated reply, saying that they had too many mails for the moment and they couldn't give me an answer right away. I can understand that, no problem. So I waited 2 weeks, but still didn't hear from them.
That's why I wrote this post on the forum, because I know no other way to contact them. Believe me, I would like to do this communication on a different way, away from fora etc., but nowhere on the internet I found a way to communicate with customer service other than the mailadress "consumerrelations@fender.com" from which I got that automated reply.

You tell me to send an IM. I'd love to, but where do you find the coordinates to do so? Maybe you know these guys personally, but I don't. Maybe you could get a better service because you're in the US. But it seems to be a whole other story here in Europe. Apparently that's something more US companies suffer at. So I didn't mention Gibson anywhere. I just have the impression we would get a better service from companies with their main office in Europe, who don't just see us as an opportunity to sell more, but also value the service related to that.

I hope to get a reply from somebody at Fender as to how this should be solved, but for the moment i'm not too confident at it.

I wonder why "Keymusic" can't just install a new speaker. After all, they're not really coming from Fender, are they? My impression is that they're telling you fairytales and that's the reason why you have to wait for so long.

Cheers

David

_________________
"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

You're shouting for the wrong people. The onus here is on the seller to fix the problem. If your not happy they're telling you a part is taking that long, they should get off their butt and order it direct from the US.

Any decent company would take care of all such warranty hassles and not leave the customer waiting, or to chase things up themselves.

I've had great satisfaction in Fender's customer service here in the USA. I would be suspicious of the seller rather than Fender as others have suggested.

_________________
The quintessential sound of 60/70's R&R:
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Gibson Guitars

Email was not designed for time sensitive communications, for that a phone call is better. Why don't you give them a call and let us know how it goes?

_________________
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Dude, for what it's worth, I also think the problem you are having is with the place you bought the amp, not Fender.

As far as I known, European law says that you can give a seller an opportunity to repair or replace an item which breaks down within a warranty period, or can claim a refund or price reduction. I'd be surprised if Belgium has not adopted the EU requirements in full. EU law states that warranties against defective workmanship last for two years.

I would argue that you've given Keymusic more than enough time to carry out the repair. Price reduction is probably pointless. I've just checked their website, and it claims they have the 410 reissue in stock at their warehouse, delivered within 5 to 8 days.

On that basis, I'd go back to them now and demand a complete replacement or full refund. You might like to go here first: http://tinyurl.com/yv8slj

Article 3 is the one you really want I think - you could try printing it and waving it like a flag. I don't know if you're in a French, Dutch, Flemish or German speaking region, but I think they're all there.

Good luck!

_________________
Mater tua criceta fuit, et pater tuo redoluit bacarum sambucus

That is a good post.

Hi Geertgeluid, welcome to the Forum. Company warranties and such are all very well, but they are additional to our statutory consumer rights, not instead. Under EU consumer law you have a right to goods that are fit for purpose, or a repair within a reasonable time, or a replacement, or a refund.

By selling you goods the shop entered into a contract with you and your issue is with them, rather than with the manufacturer. As you say, it certainly is perplexing that it could take this amount of time to get the replacement part, but that is beside the point - it's not your concern. The shop has to fulfil its obligation to you or give you your money back.

Arm yourself with consumer law and have another talk to the shop.

And if they still don't give you what you want, then presuming you paid for the amp with a credit card you have another line of action. The credit card company will give you your money back and in turn seize it from the shop, no questions asked. You knowning this can also help focus a shop manager's mind, in a calm, polite conversation on the subject.

Good luck - C

_________________

Just to comment and personal view on the value of forum's like this, more specifically, it's members. This thread has provided the OP with insight and objectivity in pursing a direction for resolution that did not seem apparent at the outset. Good luck and hope the best for a a positive and more timely outcome based on the guidance provided. Please provide your feedback as to how you get this resolved.

Having consumer rights, and enforcing them with stores are often two different things. He should ensure he has talked to the appropriate consumer rights agency of his intentions, to get confirmation of his position, and advice of action he can take if they refuse to honour whatever rights he has.

Hi Drubbing: this is absolutely true.

That's why it's a good idea to learn the rules on these matters and be armed with that knowledge when we walk into the shop - because like as not we find ourselves talking to a shop assistant who himself hasn't the faintest idea of consumer law and just tries to fob us off with hot air. Too many people know no better and allow themselves to be turned away.

In my country I could point Geertgeluid at a government website that sets out consumer law in clear language. I don't know it for Belgium - but I'm sure they have the same thing readily available in Geertgeluid's language.

A quick bit of internet searching is the next step for him.

Cheers - C

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Hey guys,

thanks for pointing me to the european legislation, but I know that one. But since I bought the amp professionally with my TVA number on the invoice, I'm not entitled to the "consumer protection" (See article 1, point 2a). So the 2 year warranty provided by the seller is not in play here, and I fall back to the manufacturers warranty of 1 year.
Nevertheless, I'm going to ask them (the shop) to either swap the amp, or the speaker with that of an amp they have in stock, and sort it out with Fender themselves. I have to say that I only have had very good experiences in the past with the repair and consumer service of Keymusic, so I tend to believe them when they tell me that Fender demands to only repair with original parts provided by Fender in order to be able to give a 3 month warranty on the repair.

I'll keep you guys informed as to how this problem will be resolved. All I can say for the moment is that I'm disappointed that I still didn't get a reaction from Fender, other then that yesterday I got an identical second automated mailanswer as the one I got the 20th of february, telling that they had too much mails in their inbox, so I had to be patient...

just fixs your amp buy the parts send the bill too place of purchase,fender
also get on with your playing sir,let it roll,p.s. some one
.will send you pay in full ticket.do it your self I do.gone
,gone gone two 30 days gone!!Far make sure expert look ,signs off on damges amp parts.do it fine .

Geert

Why not just install Jensen P10R or even something from Weber? Could be an improvement anyway from what I hear.

Cheers

David

_________________
"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."