[quote="Blertles"]

The issue here is that you had a guitar with faults and you didnt give fender an opportunity to remedy them at all. (I didn't?) Instead you took it upon yourself to fix which might just void warranty (because I changed the bridge saddles???) , then you complained to them and now you feel burnt?. (Yes I took the time to write them a letter and was ignored.)
Fender did not burn you at all. (I said I felt burnt by their non response) You clearly did not follow warrantable repair guidelines and you didnt give fender an opportunity to fix what was wrong- that is what the issue is. (Uhhhh... Did you read the part about how I never got a response from Fender?)
I work with this sort of thing on a day to day basis. If I sold a product to a customer that unbeknown to me was faulty, and they took it upon themselves to fix the issue at home without raising it with me, (I did raise it with them) then afterward send me a letter of complaint about how sub-standard the quality is and then go on to say to others that "I burnt them" and the quality control was sub-standard, I would read the letter perhaps I would throw it away. (Whoa... Really, that explains a lot...)Mainly because you would have voided your warranty, (how did I void my warranty again?) and there would have been nothing I could do about it. (there wouldn't be?)I'd feel slightly gutted that I couldnt help (because I wasnt given the opportunity) and I would no-doubt think that you potentially would be spreading word of mouth about the incident. (That would be a big shock eh?) Im not sticking up for fender, (Your not?) but I know what its like for a retailer to have my knees chopped before we are given a chance to help in a situation like this. (I didn't give them a chance?)
What makes it worse for me is that is personally, I work for a service provider aswell, and people just want compensation for anything... it drives me nuts.[/quote](What are are you talking about? I didn't ask them for anything.)

So what you are saying is that if your customer sent you a letter like this you would just would just ignore it. I see. It's the customers fault... Stupid customers...

Blertles, I think you're totaly missing my point. I would have never posted anything here if a Fender rep could have simply replied with something like "sorry bout the issues, we'll look into that. Hope it doesn't steer you away from future purchases". See how easy that is?

I find it bad that you tried out 20 guitars and the necks were not set right on any. Shops around me do setups on there guitars that are out for the public to try. Plus when they are out of box bought they set them up for you then or tell you to leave it or bring back in. The one problem you described on some seemed to be that the neck needed to be pulled straight, thats one you don't get often.

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yeah you voided the warranty.... you made repairs to it yourself rather than bringing it to an accredited tech..... so no, you didnt give fender or the dealer a chance to correct the issues

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I never asked them to correct any issues. They failed to acknowledge issues that I, their paying customer, felt were important.

Accredited tech... Really... To change some bridge saddles? Now you're just being silly. I get the feeling you (and Blertles) are just here to be combative no matter what my response. I'm totally cool with that because everytime you try to diminish my grievances or change the subject you move my thread back to the top of the pile and more people read what I came here to say.
Oh, and Fenders' Q.C. and customer service is still poor.
Thanks.

So are you saying you did send the letter before you made the repairs? Did you make the dealer aware of the flaws before you took action to remedy them yourself? I understand your need to vent, but it seems you did so after you effected the reapairs and indeed did not give the dealer a chance to make it right. Is this not correct? Again, yes I'd be pizzled about flaws that I failed to notice prior to plunking down my cash, but why send a letter just advising that you fixed their mistakes without giving them the opportunity to fix them and then feel wounded because you didn't get a reply? In speaking of things like replacing the bridge saddles (good choice, btw), setting the intonation and making truss rod adjustments, how did you miss the huge wave in the board (you did sight down the neck and fret crowns to examine for straightness, right?). I, like many posters ahead of me am not taking up the banner for Fender here, I just think you'd have had a more valid complaint if you'd have taken the guitar to the dealer for repairs or a refund and then advised Fender of their shortcomings. My take on this is you basically told Fender their guitar sucked and you had to do this, this, and this to fix it to your liking, even though you'd looked over 19 other similar models, and that the next strat you get wouldn't even be one of theirs! Who would legitimize that with a reply? Sorry, I know it sucks to hear that, but I'm sure they took your observations under silent advisement.

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Yeah, you pretty much hit the nail on the head there. That's what I'm saying and that is what I told them. And no, it doesn't suck to hear. I just don't agree with you. Thats all. And I hope someone who wants some insight into what they might potentially end up with for 750 bucks types some key words into their browser that leads them here. Thanks for bumping my thread.

Well my biggest gripe has always been that Fender has one of the worst CS departments of any company. I still think about the girl who posted she almost got killed in a car accident with her new Strat which ended up with a broken neck and they would not replace it for her. I can see in the last year nothing has changed there. In this department Fender can learn something from Peavey or EBMM who both run probably the best CS departments around.

Max you seem like a handy guy who knows what he is doing but I would of just brought the ax back as you got a dog. I think we all understand be it a Strat or a Benz you sometimes just get a lemon. I have 9 Fenders and have to say except for my Beck Strat mysteriously turning two different colors they are all built like a tank and play perfectly. In fact this year was the first that I bought a Fender in the last 7, an American Tele Deluxe that just blew me away that I also bought an Ash Strat Deluxe, and felt that Fender was making guitars as good if not better than ever.

Hey I agree with you on the CS part and believe you got a dog, but I think you should of brought it back. I would hate for you to get turned off to what I always felt was the best company made guitar ever. Maybe down the road you will come across that keeper and then feel what I believe most of us feel about a Strat or Tele.

Heres another bump ...

Best thing about this post is that Naughtius Maximus (apart from his name )can actually string a decent letter together.

There even be correct grammar in them there sentences!

I wonder if keeping my strat within 3 foot of the lounge radiator is whats keeping the neck straight ?

Straycat, I appreciate your input, but I think what you guys are not understanding is this.
If I had returned the guitar in the first place, and the dealer gave me another one with no questions asked, I would still have written the same letter to Fender. I would also have it posted here when they failed to have as much a a comment about it. I'll also continue to share my experience with Fender quality with others on and off of the internet.
I'm sorry but I'm giving Fender a big red "F" on their report card. Sorry if that makes some of you uncomfortable.

Ok...first let me say that these are just my own personal opinions...please take them as such and in the spirit they are intended. Second, please be aware that I am -NOT- trying to be intentionally rude here...I'm just calling this as I see it and trying to be honest, not inflammatory. Last, I have not read all of the other responses here thoroughly so please forgive me if I add anything terribly redundant.

My first impression from the letter you wrote to Fender to me sounds like you were looking for the proverbial "champagne on a beer budget"...and Dom Perignon at that. Right now I own 5 Strats...2 Fender, 2 Squiers and 1 "partscaster" and I have played -MANY- Strats at various guitar stores over the years and I have -NEVER- encountered the problems your letter suggest, let alone to that degree. 20 or so Strats where the neck's werent' aligned? I'm sorry but I find this EXCEPTIONALLY difficult to believe. Even the 2 $100 Squier Bullets I had last year had good neck alignment. I simply can't even begin to imagine what it was you were looking at there. I will say that I have encountered various setup up issues and such that are typically related to things such as shipping...it's been my experience that most guitar shops such as Guitar Center, etc., just don't do any setups on most of the guitars when they come in the door...they come out of the box and right up on display. This however isn't a "factory issue", it's just the nature of shipping an item such as guitar and the retailers failing to address it. This alone tells me that your "standards and expectations" are simply a great deal higher than what anyone should expect from what is, as Nick put it, a "mass produced instrument". It seems to me that you were expecting the attention to detail found in a $4000 Custom Shop guitar in a $700 instrument...to me this is like people who try and compare a $150 Squier Affinity to a $1000 American Standard and it's simply -NOT- a fair comparison. If you wanted a $4000 Custom Shop instrument, then that is what you should have bought to begin with. If you think you can build a better "partscaster" (and many of us do just that), then that's what you should have done. I -seriously- doubt if anyone held a gun to your head at the music store and forced you to buy that HW 1.

Yes, I have certain expectations when it comes to guitars but I base those expectations on what the guitar actually is. I don't expect a Squier Bullet or Affinity to play and sound like a $1000 American Standard. That's not to say the those Squiers are "bad" guitars, it simply says "they are what they are". Personally this is why I tend to prefer the Squier Standards and the Mexican (or MIJ) Standards...they're good instruments that I can customize to my own liking while still being reasonably affordable. That said I also wouldn't expect a Highway 1 to be "as good" as an American Standard or American Deluxe and I wouldn't expect those to be as good as a Custom Shop instrument build to my exact specifications by a master builder. Conversely, I also wouldn't expect that Custom Shop instrument build by a master builder to only go for $700, let alone $200 either. It's called "perspective" my friend! When you're looking at various models of guitars, you have to compare "apples to apples" otherwise you're going to be disappointed every time. Again here from the tone of your letter it really sounds as if you were expecting a bottle of '56 Dom Perignon for the cost of a six pack of Molson and you were disappointed when that didn't happen.

Second while you say that you played around 20 with mis-aligned necks and this would seem to indicate that you were paying tremendous attention to "detail", you somehow missed that there was a bit if glue on the fretboard(???)...were you paying attention to detail or weren't you? This right here tells me that something in your observations was askew. I can't really explain the truss rod issue either...I will say that I've always thought it rather strange that everything else on my MIM's is metric yet they use "standard" hex nuts for the truss rods but I've never had a problem with a decent hex wrench being "sloppy"...all of mine have a very good fit (although in all honesty I haven't had to adjust any new Highway 1's). Then in your letter you say that you are "enamored with the sound and feel of this instrument" yet you're griping about these little detail issues making it sound as though it's the worse instrument you have ever seen. I mean really...what is it you are trying to say here? "It's one of the best sounding and best playing guitars I've ever seen...I hate it"? Make up your mind...either like the guitar or you don't.

Regardless of all of this, I would again reiterate what Nick said about these instruments being mass produced. It's a fact that companies such as Fender crank out thousands of these guitars at a time and it's certainly possible that sometimes small details can go over-looked. This isn't a reflection of the company or it's products as a whole however it's simply the nature of manufacturing...and it's also -why- such products include a warranty (which you chose not to take advantage of). If it's any consolation, I work with a guy who just went through this with Gibson...bought a Hummingbird acoustic from a catalog and it really was seriously screwed up from the factory. He sent it back and they turned around and said "nothing was wrong with it"...and it was still screwed up. He sent it back again with his specific complaints and finally they did take care of everything for him...it took nearly 6 months for him to get his "brand new" guitar back but he was finally happy with it. so trust me when I say that these sort of things are strictly limited to Fender...it happens to every company that mass produces a product. Crap happens.

As far as Fender not having any response to your letter, I will say that I have had my own issues with Fender's customer service in the past however had I of been in their shoes, I probably would not have responded to your letter either. To me it didn't seem as though you were really asking for anything there as much as simply "venting". I think the most they could have really offered with your letter was warranty service and you made it pretty clear that you weren't interested in that...you just wanted to gripe about things. What exactly should they have responded with..."Sorry you didn't like the guitar...have a nice day"? There is a very old adage...and I'm sure the folks at Fender are -very- well aware of it, "you can't please -all- of the people, -all- of the time". In the case of your letter, had I of been a Fender rep, I likely either would have laughed my butt of at it or simply just deleted it because I -know- there's nothing I could have said or done that would have made any of this right in your mind.

Again...I'm not trying to be deliberately rude here (and if I were, you would -know- it) but to me it seems this isn't so much about Fender's quality as much as someone who either has misplaced expectations or simply someone who got themselves in to a snit over a bunch of stupid little things. Clearly most of us here on this forum tend to think the Fender's are actually pretty decent instruments as a whole...none of us would really be here if that were not the case and what's more is that I don't think I've -ever- seen anyone post that they've played "20 guitars with mis-aligned necks". The -only- conclusion that I can draw from that is that it wasn't the guitars, but simply the person who was playing them. Yea...sometimes crap happens...I could see where maybe a guitar or two from the same production perhaps had such issues, but -not- every Strat in the store. If Fender's production were truly as sloppy and "defective" as your letter suggests, they simply wouldn't be in business. Again (and again) in a mass production environment sometimes little details can get over looked and I'll be the first to admit that however when you have -1- person going on about such things to such a degree and everyone else seems to be saying "WTF?" and everyone else seems happy with the quality of their instruments...is that really the instruments or is it just that one person who has the problem?

Again, these are just my opinions...I'm just calling it as I see it here. If you really wanted a $4000 Custom Shop instrument though, that's what you should have bought. You purchased a $700 instrument and I suspect it's actually a pretty nice one...if you can't enjoy it for what it is, I seriously doubt that anything else would really make you happy.

Jim

Naturally since we're guitarists too, it's always extremely disappointing for us to see a note from someone who's having a frustrating experience. That said, enough folks have already piped in here as far as specific reasons why Fender would likely not entertain a direct response to an inquiry like the above.

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