i bought a mim standard strat the other day and have just noticed that there is a crack / scrath on the neck. is this going to be covered under warrenty, or are they gonna come back and say that this was caused by me? bearing in mind i got the guitar yesterday. i have some photos,(admitedly not the best quality).

it's noticeable when placing the thumb behind the first and second frets, which i didn't do when trying the guitar.

is the finish on the new mim strats prone to this?

cheers

To answer your second question first, I've not seen that on any of the recent MIMs so the answer to your question is, no.

As to your first question, it seems that you are pretty much at the mercy of the management unless the store has one of those return policies," if not completely satisfied" within a given period of time.

Either way, contact the dealership ASAP. The longer you have it and don't alert the dealership, the greater the odds are against you.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

_________________
You dig?

Ah, at last a chance to (politely) slightly differ from Martian on something. That don't happen very often!

Hi robvalentine: you bought it yesterday? I'd be astonished if the shop didn't just change it for you immediately without even bothering to talk about warranties or consumer rights or whatever.

It's no skin off their nose: we heard just a couple of days ago about a shop putting a returned Eric Johnson Strat with a significant neck pocket flaw back on sale as "new". If they're not cheeky enough to do that then they just hand it back to their Fender rep and it costs them nothing.

Though I guess you could get some snotty kid behind the counter who might give you grief: then just invoke your consumer rights - they haven't a leg to stand on. Can they prove you made the mark? Of course not.

Rob, I'm in London too: out of sheer nosy curiosity I wonder where you bought the guitar? Service is better some places than others.

(BTW: I couldn't view your photos. My browser returns the single word "Unauthorised"... )

Good luck - C

it was rockers on Denmark st they are swopping the neck as itype this they didn't argue andweresuper helpful and sorry.. It wasn't an obvious flaw to be fair and iwas just worried about their rep... Esp as I haggled a good price

thanks for the help guys

Ah, well that's a good recommendation. I've never actually bought anything in there before, but...

I'd just been silently hoping it wasn't Chris Bryant on the corner with Charing Cross Road. We had a service horror story from a Forum user about them recently, and my own experience of 'em was luke warm at best...

Cheers - C

not on my iphone now so can type for longer..

also the photos are on my mobile me account, and i can see em when i'm not signed in, but photo hosting is a black art to me.

in the end they didn't have time to swop the neck today and being impaitient i upgraded to a 60's classic strat in lake placid blue, it plays better than the other one, and the neck is straighter...

had to pay the diff, but still a good deal considering they are gonna let me bring it back in a few weeks for a proper set up.. so new strings and free setup and better guitar, i am happy with that

Wow thats a good looking ax love the color with the rosewood fretboard. Glad everything worked out good for you I can accept a dent or ding anywhere except on the NECK.

"And so they lived happily ever after."

Congratulations!

Ceri,

In my neck of the woods, they can be pretty hard nosed about stuff like that. Even though I live in New Jersey now, I'm literally 10 minutes away from NYC where my sphere of influence still lies. As I'm sure, "straycat13" can attest to, once the dealer sells you a guitar, unless you want to give it back to him/her for nothing or for custom work, they never want to see it again. Nice, eh?

_________________
You dig?

is what the crack looked like, they asked each other, and then said it was a crack straight away, and this is from a street which has a mized rep in terms of cust service...

Way to make a happy ending!! Nice axe!

Gridlok

Clearly, that's what it is. I'm sure they immediately realized that there is no way you could have done that even if you tried.

All's well that end's well.

_________________
You dig?

Hi Martian: gosh, that's eye-watering! I've never bought a guitar when visiting NY - I'll take even more care if I ever do!

Where I am the problems with guitar buying normally relate to stupid, surly and superior shop staff (I've often found that much better where you live). With faulty goods, as soon as you brandish the phrase "Statutory Consumer Rights" shop assistants wilt before your eyes. It ain't worth their effort to argue...

Cheers - C

PS Sounds like this particular shop treated robvalentine well - and got an upgraded sale out of it. There's a lesson for all guitar stores in that...

Martian do you know Maggio Music on 86th and 18th ave it has been there like 70 years. Well thank God for Mike .Not only is he an ace player and tech but he is an all around great guy and a friend. Any time I pick up something or something goes wrong I just give Mike a ring, I dont trust none of these chain stores for anything. I hate to stop in Sam Ash even for strings though there 5 minuetes from my house. They knocked my friend Timmy out of buisness when they opened up as he had a lil store on Flatbush ave KING JAMES which used to be great to just go and hang out a couple of hours a week and talk gear and music. You go into one of these chains and every 5 seconds its like they are pitching something at you and then when you want something there up front yaking and take ten minuetes to get to you. Oh and about the neck depending on who they are dealing with they would of hassled about it and went up the chain of command.

I've been in Maggio's many times but many years ago. I'm originally from Staten Island and had lived there from birth for 49 years hence. So sure, I know your whole scene along with (back then) Bath Miusic, Guitar City, etc. who were also some of the last of the 'good guys'. As a matter of fact, back in the 70s, when King James had the three stores, I managed the one on Staten Island. I did this to put my self through St. John's University. I carried 16 to 18 credits per semester and ran the store Monday through Saturday, from opening to closing, totalling 58 hours a week. At the time though, the owner/parnters were Kenny and Ed.

And that ubiquitous chain of command crap! How many times I'd see players hopping from store to store until they found that rare, sympathetic person in charge who would agree that their guitar's malady was in fact, a warranty issue and take it upon hiim or herself to pursue it for them. This, in spite of the fact that the guitar wasn't bought there which is another whole, separate issue unto itself. Yes, I certainly know the drill.

_________________
You dig?