Warmoth Woes

canopener · #1 10-13-2004, 11:43 AM

So, my girlfriend knew I was GASing for a fretless neck for the bass I was planning to assemble myself, and she offered to buy one for my birthday coming up. Since it's a pretty big purchase for either of us, I told her to get it if she wanted to, but I wouldn't ask her. But just in case, I wrote down specific details for what I wanted (something like this: left handed maple neck, ebony unlined fretboard, precision style, no lettering on the headstock). Well, she went ahead and ordered it, and it came yesterday.
I got the wrong neck. I called them, thinking that I'd just drop it off at UPS later today, and they'd start the right neck upon delivery of the old. I explained the problem, I don't like complaining, so I was careful what I said. He copped a we don't make mistakes 'tude with me but would "do me a favor" and take the old one back and get a new one. But he wanted to stick me with the shipping, both ways! I asked him why I'd have to pay for their mistakes (not my exact wording) and he said "wellllll, we're only human, but we don't take the blame here." If I wanted the neck we ordered, I'd be stuck with a shipping bill 3 x the original shipping! So, since I'm still in the 10 day grace period, I'm just gonna send it back and Marie will get a refund on her card, and I'm just gonna eat the shipping costs...
I don't understand, I've ordered random parts from Warmoth before (all over the phone) and I've never had a problem until today. Am I being unreasonable? I usually don't get angry over poor customer service, but with this much money involved, I don't get why I'd have to pay for someone elses mistakes. No, thank you!

bassmonkeee · #2 10-13-2004, 11:52 AM

How was the neck wrong?

canopener · #3 10-13-2004, 11:59 AM

I got a J neck and an uncut paddle head. If they had cut the headstock, I probably would've just kept it.

vbass · #4 10-13-2004, 12:39 PM

If it's not what you ordered, then it's their fault, period. And they should cover the shipping as well as be apologetic for the obvious inconvenience caused. If I got that response, I would ask for a full refund.

canopener · #5 10-13-2004, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshua

Not to be a naysayer, but if you had a non-tech person order it (you didn't mention if your gf is in the know), could she have ordered incorrectly?

Obviously however, if it's their fault they should correct it...

This is what the sales guy kept driving at, but she knew enough about it that if she wanted to order one for herself (she does not play, but hypothetically speaking) she could. They did offer to make a new one, but they still wanted me to pay for shipping charges (in addition to the shippinG I'd already paid!).

Eric Moesle · #6 10-13-2004, 02:15 PM

Call them back, tell them to accept it for a full refund (or replacement if they pay shipping), and if they don't, you'll contest the charge on your credit card.

If they don't come around, then contest the charge.

**iriegnome** · #7 10-13-2004, 02:59 PM

COntest the charges on the CC. They understand stuff like that. They will work with you. You should make sure that what got ordered and what arrived were two different things though. I have worked with Warmoth a couple of times and I have found that if it is not "Cookie Cutter" stuff, they can be a little on edge.
Good Luck

**IvanMike** · #8 10-13-2004, 03:29 PM

look at it this way, (or ask them to) the last thing they want is someone bashing them for being so cheap as to not pay shipping charges for their error on what is probably the largest BG forum on the web................

bwbass · #9 10-14-2004, 03:12 PM

I always pay attention when people mention our name on the forum, so I stuck my nose into this one when I saw this thread.

I looked at the work order as written down by the rep who took the original order and it said, "Bass Paddle Head Neck, 1 1/2" nut width, unlined fretless, lefty". While we do occasionally make typos on orders, it's usually something that looks like a typo or misspelling, whereas this error does not.

You said:

Quote:

I wrote down specific details for what I wanted (something like this: left handed maple neck, ebony unlined fretboard, precision style, no lettering on the headstock).

I notice in your profile you have a lefty Jazz body that needs a neck… I assume this is the neck for that body. Certainly we would have understood your order as written above, but if we instead had heard "a left handed maple neck for a Jazz bass with a fretless ebony fingerboard and a blank headstock" you would have gotten exactly what we sent. Our Fender license prevents us from putting logos on any neck we sell, so blank can only mean "un-cut" to us. We read all our orders back to the customers at the end, and this one probably sounded like "Paddle Head Bass Neck, 1 1/2" nut width, maple with a fretless ebony fingerboard, left handed." If you didn't know what a paddle head neck was, this would probably sound correct. My wife is much more educated that I am and knows more about guitars than 95% of the non-guitar-playing public, but is not a player herself and could easily have made a similar error.

We have no problem taking the neck back, even though it is now a very unusual custom neck, and we are happy to cover return shipping when we are in error or for warranty claims.

Other readers on the board can draw their own conclusions from this - I just though it would only be fair to present both sides of the story.

xyllion · #10 10-14-2004, 03:31 PM

Sounds to me like a miscommunication when the neck was ordered. Who's fault is it when something like this happens? Well, I'd say it is a little bit of both parties at fault. Given this, I'd say that Warmoth has offered to do the right thing.

Give them a break guys, I think that Warmoth does a great job and many people have had good experiences dealing with Warmoth.

canopener · #11 10-14-2004, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwbass

You said:
I notice in your profile you have a lefty Jazz body that needs a neck… I assume this is the neck for that body. Certainly we would have understood your order as written above, but if we instead had heard "a left handed maple neck for a Jazz bass with a fretless ebony fingerboard and a blank headstock" you would have gotten exactly what we sent. Our Fender license prevents us from putting logos on any neck we sell, so blank can only mean "un-cut" to us. We read all our orders back to the customers at the end, and this one probably sounded like "Paddle Head Bass Neck, 1 1/2" nut width, maple with a fretless ebony fingerboard, left handed."

Other readers on the board can draw their own conclusions from this - I just though it would only be fair to present both sides of the story.

Well, it is a jazz body, but I wanted the P - Neck, but that is small potatoes now...
But nonetheless, over the phone, Gregg told me that he spoke with the man who took the order, and he hadn't remembered it. Now, I understand that was a long time ago, and it would be hard to expect one to remember every order, but it would be hard to claim that Warmoth wasn't at fault if the employee couldn't vouch for the order himself. As suggested by others, we did consider contesting the charges for the full amount, but in the long run, I suppose it really isn't worth it...

Now, I wasn't intending on "bashing" Warmoth as said in another post, I thought it would be helpful for others when considering ordering from them. Needless to say, I won't be placing orders with Warmoth any time soon.