You had the guitar for one hour after you purchased it brand new from the dealer. When it failed, your first call should have been to that dealer. If you had asked them for an immediate refund, they probably would have been more than willing to do so, particularly if you are a good customer at that store. Then you could have bought any other guitar you wanted. But no where in any of your posts do you say you did that. Instead, you went to your luthier and started a warranty repair claim. Now you have to live with the consequences of your actions. Its too bad that it may take longer than you like, but that's the way it is, particularly when a third party (Roland) is involved and the failed part is no longer made. Fender is not doing the bare minimum. They are doing exactly what their claim process calls for. Could they have simply offered you a refund? Perhaps. But that is their call, not yours.

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Bill

Hi Phaxtor and welcome to the forum.

I really hope you get the guitar fixed sooner rather than later.

I have to say that I completely understand what you are saying in some regards. You fall in love with a guitar and i doesn't work as it should so you want it fixed.

I will say on the other hand, did you know it was a discontinued model?
Also, even though your luthier is a CUstom Shop warranty centre, you have still bypassed your basic rights as a consumer by doing this. You said you just 'took your chances' so I'm afraid this is te result. I do believe that the luthier should have been able to tell you the full job needed before starting the warranty claim....I mean just checking a guitar can be done without nulling the warranty....can't it? Actually, the luthier, as a Fender licensed guy, would have been able to 'ivestigate' under warranty and let you know what needed done and how longit would take before proceeding..........

Personally, I wonder if, because the luthier is Fender licensed, you are aiming your frustration(understandably as it is) in the wrong direction. Due to the warranty procedures, Fender are doing all that is legally required and, I feel it is your luthier that has let you down.....IMO

I hope it gets sorted soon for you mate, really I do.

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speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!

And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........

i dont see how the luthier let him down.
he said himself that the part had to be custom made.
that takes time and so does the inspection and all the channels it needs to run through.
" i want it and i want it right now" is the way im reading things at this point.
sorry but thats just my opinion. thats why im trying to figure out what took place and when.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I mean that when the luthier told him it 'could cost $20 or $1800' he should have advised the OP to wait till that was sorted and had sme sort of time scale before letting the OP go ahead with the claim.

I suppose I don't really understand why the dealer didn't sort out investigating the problem (as is the consumer's right) before getting warranties involved. In that sense I agree with the bulk of you guys. In the Uk, whatever has been bought, it is up to the dealer to repair, replace or refund within 28 days of purchase and for certain items it can actually be up to two years that the item can be returned. The manufacturer will tell you to go to your dealer and not bother them......

If that is the case in the USA then, as with many, many European companies, the manufacturer will look upon this as, 'What is this customer doing, piling work on us when the dealer is rsponsible in the meantime.....' yup I know that is a crappy stance and I am NOT saying Fender have done this but the luthier, as a representative of Fender, should have pointed all the issues out and going by the OP this is not the case, he was not given all the info by the luthier, who as someone who does work under warranty should know the system and inform of all the options available and the route that should be taken for the quickest, best outcome all round.........just my opinion though.......
If I am picking anything up wrong ....then just ignore me and also being in the UK I know that consumer rights and the such are different.

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speak slowly I'm a drummer too!!

And I proudly lack a stick or a kazoo up my arse...........

Because the OP never went back to the dealer with the problem. He went straight to his "luthier" who then went straight to Fender and filed a warranty claim.

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Bill

i dont think the dealer was involved when he took it to the repair shop in the begining.
that was his own choice i believe.
he called the guy "his luthier" so im thinking he knows the guy, had a issue and called him up or visited, and it went from there.
i think its pretty cut and dry that he wants the guitar. its cut/dry that he knew he could take it back but didnt. so he chose to have it repaired.
he said everything was good at fender in his first paragraph. complimented them even, but
still says in short that fender is dropping the ball, that his expectations havent been met.
we still dont know what more hes expecting of fender at this point.
he doesnt stay on here long enough to conversate about the issues. yes life is busy but if i had that much cash on the line and thought i could get answers here, i would be checking in pretty often to see whats being said.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Here is the Fender electric instrument warranty:

http://support.fender.com/warranty/FEND ... 1_revC.pdf

Note the following statement, sentence two of paragraph two:

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.

The OP failed to do this and now must live with the consequences.

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Bill

dang bluesky, you rock. mission failed for the OP.



op said on page 2,
"In customer service only one question needs to be asked to the consumer, "How would you like this resolved?" That doesn't inherently imply that what is asked of the manufacturer will occur, but every consumer is different. I just can't stand being told that I "might" have my guitar back in a few months".

no you tell them the problem and they tell you what they can do about it is how it works.
then the OP on another post on page 2 says hes delt with "countless" out manufactures
warranty claims and this one is turning into a nightmare. i dont know, in the 30 yrs ive been in the game ive only had to use warranty 3 maybe 4 times.
im curious to know what some of those were on.

bottom line is the OP failed to follow fender guidelines. he had 2 choices and now has to live with what he has choosen to do. yes it sucks but it is what it is.
thing i dont get is hes kinda pissed with fender all the while knowing its a roland part that F'ed up. lol how thats fair i dont know. hell, he still has opportunity to go grab the guitar and get his money back. i would go grab a like guitar w/o the roland and exchange it for the old one. then maybe if i still wanted the roland stuff i would buy the kit and install it myself. i dont think the kit screws on they use double sided tape if i remember correctly.
just see if he can but the guitar and get the difference back and have the bad roland kit removed. hes setting himself up for failure knowing the roland kit is no longer in production and he still wants the guitar anyways. if something goes wrong.............
i would by a new product model.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

You are all technically right. The process was not followed correctly. And I suppose it was an internet deal.

I think this thread just speaks out of frustration and I have sympathy for that. OK, rules were not followed, but ... honestly, I can understand that it's not a funny situation when your rig just blows up.

Shouldn't happen, but it did. And I just want to pad our OP on his shoulders and say "may there never be anything worse happening in your life". I hope you can use your other guitars while waiting for Fender to solve this issue.

Cheers

David

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"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."

As far as the 6 to 8 weeks, Roland is probably the culprit. They are notorious for long delays regarding spare parts even on stuff that's not discontinued. I like Roland/ Boss products. Generally, they're reliable, but when it comes to getting spare parts, there's seems to be something lacking in their infrastructure.

The fact is he seems to want a refund. But you only get refunds from the dealer you bought from.
He COULD have gotten instant satisfaction if he went back to the dealer.
In fact with how he handled this, he's lucky Fender has a network of approved service centers. Many companies would have told him to go pound sand if he had independently gone to a repair center without first returning to the point of sale.

This guy is complaining about nothing.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

no, he's stated he wants to keep the guitar. i think he wants a few "extras" for his troubles it seems. its either that or this whole thing is BS from somebody bored.
hes not keeping up with the post like this is a legit concern, so.............

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I think the OP has realized that he has made few friends here and will get little sympathy. The thread has pretty much run its course and there really is not much else that can be said. It is wise of him to bow out now instead of digging himself in deeper.

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Bill

well he should have all the info he needs at this point. good luck to him.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

But dude....he fell in love with the guitar after owning it for an hour. How could he possibly return it or exchange it? Another guitar just wouldn't be the same

I know what it's like to play a guitar that just feels right. I have a couple of my own. But I don't think I fell "in love" with any of them during the first 60 minutes that I owned them. He should have returned the guitar and I think he knows it and his excuse about being in love with the guitar is just that, an excuse for making a questionable decision that turned out to be quite costly in terms of the time that he won't have the guitar.

I agree that the OP was made out of frustration and I understand that. It's certainly an unfortunate situation and I feel for the guy. I hope it all works out in the very best possible manner.