Guitaradoptions.com sucks. Big Time.

goolimari · #1 07-02-2007, 09:10 PM

Hello all

sorry for the longish post, but this might interest those who are thinking of buying a new G&L....

I bought a G&L L-2000 Tribute bass last week (it arrived wednesday evening 27/06/07 3PM'ish at my place, to be precise) from Guitaradoptions.com. It had a problem right out of the box ( loud buzzing due to grounding issues..i have posted about it elsewhere on the forum).

I called up Guitar adoptions .com the next day (thursday) and reported the problem, and specifically mentioned that if it was a faulty piece, i would like to return it, but they assured me that the problem could be fixed and gave me a 1-800 # for G&L and said their 'technician' would help me identify and fix the problem. I tried calling that # ALL day thrusday, but to no avail..

On friday i called Guitaradoptions back and told them about it, and they again asked me to contact G&L directly again, and this time gave me an extension # (112), telling me it was the sales office. I called G&L right back, and this time, the sales guy took my details, and told me a 'technician' would get in touch with me..and guess what, this phantom technician never gave me a call.

By saturday, i was pretty pissed, and had identified the exact problem with the guitar ( faulty grounding wiring and poor shielding). I used an alligator clip connect a wire from the bridge to the switch externally and this seemed to reduce the buzz.

I tried out the bass with this 'temporary fix' on saturday, and after about two hours of playing, found the bass to be a little bit too heavy for me.

come monday and still no word from G&L technicians.

I had had enough trouble with this bass, and decided i didnt want anything to do with it and called up Guitaradoption.com first thing monday morning, and guess what, they tell me 'NO RETURNS' after '24 hours'. I tried arguing with them that i had reported the problem immediately and could not check out the guitar completely because of the buzz issue, but the guy at the other end was deaf to my pleas. and this is the same guy who took, my order, gave me the G&L 1-800 #, and then told me to bugger off.

He now tells me to contact G&L directly to fix my problem using the warranty.

sorry again for the longish post, but i had to vent off..

my biggest piss off is that i bought the guitar from Guitaradoptions in the first place, so if there is a problem, they need to fix it, and they cant give me a G&L 1-800 # and wash their hands off of the matter, and secondly, i had reported the problem within 24 hrs of receiving, and still got a 'bugger off' from them when i tried returning it..

bottom line is, for all your G&L needs, you'd be better off staying away from Guitradoptions.com!

-Goolimari

SpankyPants · #2 07-02-2007, 11:54 PM

Thanks for the heads up. One more crappy site I'll never patronise.

I hope everything gets worked out for ya.

RiddimKing · #3 07-03-2007, 12:55 AM

This is one example of why it behooves you to use a credit card for any online transaction. If you can qualify, get a card even if you only use it in these sorts of situations. Or borrow one from a parent...whatever you have to do. It's amazing how cooperative dickheads like the guy you talked to become when you tell them you're going to contest the charges. And the credit card companies are very reasonable: if you have a plausible complaint, they simply hold up fund transfer until they've done an inquiry. I've contested about a half dozen transactions in the last 10 years, and the CC company resolved in my favor every time. It's basically like having insurance against shady characters. Sorry about your experience, in any case.

K-T · #4 07-03-2007, 01:47 AM

it's such a shame, they had the best range of G&L i have ever seen.

any one know of a site with a similer range?

FidgetStone · #5 07-03-2007, 08:03 AM

Sounds like Guitaradoptions needs to be orphaned.

robgator · #6 07-03-2007, 09:20 AM

If you're looking on-line for G&L, you might try Steilberg String Instruments in Louisville, KY. http://store.stringinstruments.com/
I have been shopping for a new bass and have checked out their web site. Even better, I called the shop and talked with very cool bass cat who talked with me at-length about many of the basses that they had in-stock. Prices look to be competitive with other sites.

Rob K.

**derrellvis69** · #7 07-03-2007, 10:31 AM

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience with Dave @ Guitaradoptions. I bought a couple of basses there (JB-2, L-2500) and didn't have any real issues with Dave persay, but I had a similar experience with calling G&L. I had an issue with my L-2500, and was given the same 800# and extension, and called at least 6 times in 2 weeks, but never got any response EVER>>...

I luckily had a local G&L Dealer here in Denver, that was cool enough to help me with getting in touch with someone at G&L, and getting my pickup replaced by G&L at no cost. I thought it was cool of him to help since I hadn't purchased the bass from him.

I guess Guitaradoptions is pretty much just an internet distributor/middle man for G&L? They don't seem to do anything other than provide an online outlet for G&L, at good prices IMO.

Good Luck...

coop · #8 07-03-2007, 11:03 AM

That really sucks, I've bought from Dave before and had a good experience. But I didn't have any issues like you have. I agree a dealer should not be able to say "tough you've had it 24 hours, so it's not my problem."

On the upside, I'm pretty sure G&L will take care of it. I would contact Matt at http://guitarmannyc.com/ In fact he will be the one I buy my next new G&L from. Good luck and hang in there, it will be fixed.

spideyjg · #9 07-03-2007, 01:22 PM

FWIW, Friday G&L was doing it's open house deal so there were many activities going on and perhaps that contributed to not being able to reach anyone.

Jim

Youngspanion · #10 07-04-2007, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spideyjg

FWIW, Friday G&L was doing it's open house deal so there were many activities going on and perhaps that contributed to not being able to reach anyone.

Jim

Yeah but he called on Thursday and they could still have called on Monday or Tuesday. Today is July 4 and I'm sure the place is closed.

As much as I love G&L, I think that someone from there could have responded to this guy by now. Its irresposible that a large co. like GL can't pick up the phone in a timely manner and give a customer some service. Where is the customer service?

With all of the improvements that GL is making in the company, Customer service obviously needs some Tweeking.

realdeal · #11 07-04-2007, 10:59 AM

I purchased my ASAT from GuitarAdoptions, and was satisfied, but there was a difference.
My bass was custom-ordered, so all GA did was act as a dealer. In that respect, they did fine, giving me the most competetive price I found after shopping around. In addition, Dave arranged a 3-way call with G&L to nail down the details. I liked that. The bass was made and delivered in a timely manner at the best price, so no issues with GA there.
Howerver, the OP's case is different- A defective bass from store stock.
The bass in under warranty (not sure of the Tribute's terms) so the question is how the problem is handled under terms of warranty.
Should the dealer exchange the bass, or offer a refund, or is G&L responsible for taking care of things at the factory level?
And if you're response time from factory was less than satisfactory, then what?
Certainly, to ensure goodwill and future business, if GA acted like you say, their bad.
As to G&L: I had a (minor) issue, and was given right over to a salesperson for "Customer Service" and the problem was taken care of immediately. It wasn't an instrument malfunction though, just a shipping oversight. Nonetheless, they did respond.
I've heard both sides from players- G&L takes care of business; G&L is non-responsive.
It does appear that they leave most Customer Service-related issues to their dealers to handle, and do not choose to have a dedicated CS department or person. Yet, I've also seen examples of Dave McClaren getting personally involved in handling matters too.
I think in the OP's case, it really involves proper coverage under the terms of the Warranty, and who is responsible for follow-through.
Fortunately, the great majority of G&L product is flawless and it's a non-issue.
That's not meant to ignore the problem posted about here, but simply meant to say that in most likelihood, problems are few and far between. Maybe that's why there isn't a big emphasis on Customer Service from G&L/BBE.
Good luck with getting you bass right.

coop · #12 07-05-2007, 07:25 PM

Maybe someone should send Dave @ guitar adoptions an e-mail, and see if he would like to respond. After all, he uses the internet as his sales floor.

Maybe he can enlighten previous buyers ( and possibly entice future buyers ) why he feels he can sell products, and refuse to service them.

Sound unreasonable?

Youngspanion · #13 07-05-2007, 08:39 PM

Not at all.

realdeal · #14 07-07-2007, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coop

Maybe someone should send Dave @ guitar adoptions an e-mail, and see if he would like to respond. After all, he uses the internet as his sales floor.

Maybe he can enlighten previous buyers ( and possibly entice future buyers ) why he feels he can sell products, and refuse to service them.

Sound unreasonable?

Not unreasonable- but maybe ineffective.
Problem with internet sales is that the buyer has never been to or met the vendor, and if a problem arises, you're in cyberspace.

The problem here is with a defective instrument. GA probably never even saw the bass, it probably was stock in a box (or case).
When it was shipped, and found to be defective by the buyer, he may have been given the only option UNDER WARRANTY which is to have G&L repair or replace the bass.
If they didn't respond at G&L- Then there's an issue with their warranty coverage.
May be. But I've also heard "testimony" from players whose instruments WERE well taken care of by G&L.
GA might have taken a better course for return business. One of his conversations with me after purchase was concerning BBE product, and "if I ever wanted a preamp, etc... call me..."
I was delivered a flawless instrument, the OP was not. It needs to be taken care of by G&L-it was new.
Since it's an internet sale, as I mentioned, you can't very well have a relationship with the dealer, especially if they aren't willing to go the extra mile.
IMO, Dave, or whoever took care of business, should have called G&L as a Dealer, on his Customer's behalf, and acted as an intermediary to see that the bass went to G&L for Warranty inspection, followed by what would probably be a simple repair.
If they didn't do that- They should have. That's the way to get the problem fixed.
You want to E-Mail Dave at GA for his response? Fine.
If he wants more G&L business, forward him the link to this TB post too.

flash99 · #15 07-09-2007, 06:11 PM

G&L prefers that defective instruments go through the dealer that sold it. If it's something we can fix without sending it back to them, we just do it and they take care of my repair man. And if it has to go back, it is shipped back to the store where we can check it out to make sure all is well. I have wound up dealing with a number of instruments that came from Guitar Adoptions with problems and not just G&L but at least those customers are now my customers.

GassieBall · #16 12-08-2008, 10:37 AM

I just called Guitar Adoptions to ask about the weight of some Tribute JB-2's. A person said, oh around 9 lbs. I asked, "I'm looking for a light one, any chance you could get the weight?" He said "A Tribute, no we don't even bother weighing the Tributes." I followed up, "Could you just find out the weight to make a sale?" He said, "No." I replied, "I guess they'll be no sale then." He said "OK."

I guess I won't be buying a bass there. No different than buying from Musicians Friend, then.

Was I asking too much? That's why I'd rather by from a store than from a chain - to get that personal touch.

Youngspanion · #17 12-08-2008, 01:06 PM

Hey man. Why give 'em your hard earned cash. They don't even want it. Guitar Adoptions better decide if they want to sell instruments or not.

Ken Baker · #18 12-08-2008, 03:23 PM

If GuitarAdoptions is problematic and unresponsive, a letter to BBE/G&L is in order

BBE Sound / G&L Guitars
5381 Production Drive
Huntington Beach, California 92649

Email is handy, but a real letter on real paper is taken more seriously. Invest in the stamp. It's a small cost.

Ken...

GassieBall · #19 12-08-2008, 04:24 PM

Thanks, Ken. I don't think they are necessarily problematic or unresponsive, it's more so the way I really felt dismissed. So I'm interested in a Tribby instead of a USA, but they way he said "we don't even bother" with the Tributes made me feel that he didn't care for my business and I was a second class citizen. I would just say that I feel that it's not quite the customer service and interface I would expect. And with this economy...

Then again, it was just one incident. I'm sure there have been other customers who have been happy. But tie it in with a 24 hour return period, all things point me to badness.

All IMHO, of course.

wyleeboxer · #20 12-08-2008, 06:03 PM

I've had to get a few questoins answered from G&L before (buying parts, setup, etc...)and although I did at one time talk with someone in the sales department, he never did return my call to follow up with my needs after saying he would "check into for me", and even after calling him back several times... you do get the feeling of being blown off by them!
I've even gone directly to there plant in fullerton, which the guys there have been helpfull, but they always direct me to call the Huntington Beach office.. thats when I know Im not going to get anywhere and I'm probably stuck in the mud, ugghhh I hate the lack of customer service!!!