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A purchase with issues
- Thread starter thomasjbass
- Start date
- May 30, 2000
- 4,707
- 257
- Disclosures
- Creator of: iGigBook Sheet Music Manager
When blown up to those dimensions, no one, but it's a thing that could easily happened in transit based upon the properties of ebony and is is quite small it does not even span the whole length of 1 fret space and if quite easy to fix.
if you bought a bass for $2600 and it had a crack like that you would have no problems.
way to downplay a significant defect in a very expensive instrument. regardless the buyer should have the option to send it back.
You don't really know why the fretboard is cracked, so you don't really know how easy it would be to "fix." Suppose it's the truss rod anchor that has come loose? At any rate, the buyer should be able to return this to the seller for a full refund.
I look at it like this: It's a used bass, so it's bound to have some player wear, etc. If you want a minty, new bass, then buy a new bass. HOWEVER... the player wear/defects should be disclosed as accurately as possible by the seller so the buyer can make an educated decision whether to purchase or not, and avoid outcomes such as this.
IF the bass is recieved by the purchaser with any undisclosed issues, even during shipping, they should be given a full refund(perhaps minus shipping costs) immediately after returning the bass back to the seller. Then, the seller should be responsible for repairs, claims, relisting, etc. It only took the buyer 2 days to figure out that he didn't get what he payed for, which is a very reasonable time.
It's simply, the "right" thing to do.
A pain in the rump, yes. But, anything less is just plain selfishness. The buyer deserves to recieve the item that he/she paid for. It's not as if he just tried it and decided that it's not his "flavor". He's got a legitimate complaint. This is, of course, just IMHO.
IF the bass is recieved by the purchaser with any undisclosed issues, even during shipping, they should be given a full refund(perhaps minus shipping costs) immediately after returning the bass back to the seller. Then, the seller should be responsible for repairs, claims, relisting, etc. It only took the buyer 2 days to figure out that he didn't get what he payed for, which is a very reasonable time.
It's simply, the "right" thing to do.
A pain in the rump, yes. But, anything less is just plain selfishness. The buyer deserves to recieve the item that he/she paid for. It's not as if he just tried it and decided that it's not his "flavor". He's got a legitimate complaint. This is, of course, just IMHO.
Why are you willing to give the seller the benefit of the doubt and not the buyer? How do you know whether the damage was present before shipping?
Look at the buyer's profile, he obviously doesn't need to scam anyone. Also, I am quite sure the electronics didn't get damaged during shipping, and I'm quite sure the case photographed with the bass in the sale ad didn't morph into something else during shipping.
we dont know that either. what we do know is there is a buyer here with legitimate concerns regarding a very pricey bass he bought. if the manufacturer will replace the fretboard for free then he can do that for the seller as well. the right thing to do is a refund.
I've been on both sides of the fence. Both have good feed back and seem reputable.
Why would you not believe the seller? Would you think they would be stupid enough to sell a bass of that value with known issues? Especially something that obvious? If your selling something like that to keep the lights on, food on the table, and a roof over your kids head, you very well may need to use those funds asap. Which is understandable. The piece was good when you sent it and you expect the seller to be happy.
If the bass was received damaged a claim should be put in ASAP with the carrier. Not to do so is negligent on the part of the buyer. Even if your looking for a refund , the piece is damaged and the damage should be covered by insurance. I have worked with electronics for almost 20 years, they get damaged in shipping constantly. It happens and is very common, I've seen a unit in a fully padded (6" on all sides) custom anvil hard case sustain 9k$ in damages from falling off a loading dock , it happens. The damage described is quite common shipping damage . Weather you think so or not is irrelevant, It is up to the adjuster. Why would you not file a claim? That's fishy. Most who do not are trying to hide something from my experience. Being quick to bring private business in to the public and attacking someone's character in an attempt to get your desired result is also always suspicious.
If a full refund is not an option for whatever reason why would you not negotiate for what you expected to purchase to begin with. 1 file an ins Claim asap. Other wise its your problem . 2 The case, you want the one pictured not the one sent. Should be easy enough. 3 The electronics , how much to fix the switches or replace them? Again see #1. 4 The fretboard, mfr already agreed this could have just happened for no reason due to the nature of the wood, and agreed to replace the neck. It dosent get any better than that. And no one is at fault.
There was no mention of trying to fix the issues, just Bitching and pointing fingers, and wanting something that may have been the easiest ,quickest and best fix , but wasn't an option. If I were the seller I would be pissed that the mint bass I sent out was now damaged, and a claim was never filed, so now I'm out even more money. Now they both have negative feedback which dosent help either of them.
Things happen all the time in business that are no one's fault . The best scenario is the buyer gets what he wanted and better than what he paid for. The only thing any one is out is time. But all I have heard is defamation of character and finger pointing. File the claim, get the bass fixed properly, and enjoy it like you intended to. If you don't like it after that, you have a bass with new electronics and a brand new unplayed neck that you can resell for more than you paid, and get what you really want elseware.
Why would you not believe the seller? Would you think they would be stupid enough to sell a bass of that value with known issues? Especially something that obvious? If your selling something like that to keep the lights on, food on the table, and a roof over your kids head, you very well may need to use those funds asap. Which is understandable. The piece was good when you sent it and you expect the seller to be happy.
If the bass was received damaged a claim should be put in ASAP with the carrier. Not to do so is negligent on the part of the buyer. Even if your looking for a refund , the piece is damaged and the damage should be covered by insurance. I have worked with electronics for almost 20 years, they get damaged in shipping constantly. It happens and is very common, I've seen a unit in a fully padded (6" on all sides) custom anvil hard case sustain 9k$ in damages from falling off a loading dock , it happens. The damage described is quite common shipping damage . Weather you think so or not is irrelevant, It is up to the adjuster. Why would you not file a claim? That's fishy. Most who do not are trying to hide something from my experience. Being quick to bring private business in to the public and attacking someone's character in an attempt to get your desired result is also always suspicious.
If a full refund is not an option for whatever reason why would you not negotiate for what you expected to purchase to begin with. 1 file an ins Claim asap. Other wise its your problem . 2 The case, you want the one pictured not the one sent. Should be easy enough. 3 The electronics , how much to fix the switches or replace them? Again see #1. 4 The fretboard, mfr already agreed this could have just happened for no reason due to the nature of the wood, and agreed to replace the neck. It dosent get any better than that. And no one is at fault.
There was no mention of trying to fix the issues, just Bitching and pointing fingers, and wanting something that may have been the easiest ,quickest and best fix , but wasn't an option. If I were the seller I would be pissed that the mint bass I sent out was now damaged, and a claim was never filed, so now I'm out even more money. Now they both have negative feedback which dosent help either of them.
Things happen all the time in business that are no one's fault . The best scenario is the buyer gets what he wanted and better than what he paid for. The only thing any one is out is time. But all I have heard is defamation of character and finger pointing. File the claim, get the bass fixed properly, and enjoy it like you intended to. If you don't like it after that, you have a bass with new electronics and a brand new unplayed neck that you can resell for more than you paid, and get what you really want elseware.
Here is the problem with your position: You stated that for all we know the seller or his tech dropped the bass and caused the damage. You also stated that the bass did not leave the possession of the seller with any damage. In fact it's just as likely that the bass left the seller with the damage -- you don't know one way or the other. And your argument about having to sell a bass to pay the bills makes it more likely that a seller might be desperate enough to sell a bass with problems and try to get over on a buyer.
I've worked with electronics for many years too and there is almost no way the electronics were damaged inside of the bass during shipping without doing major structural damage to the bass.
king_biscuit said:
I totally disagree and have seen the contrary numerous times. Most of the units I work on have gone to optical pots for this reason.
There are two switches in the bass that apparently not working. We know that the seller replaced the original pickups (unbeknownst to the builder). It seems more likely to me that the pickup replacement caused to trouble with the electronics.
Also, you don't really know how the thread would be going under different circumstances. Just like you don't know whether there was damage before the bass was shipped and you don't know what caused the damage or how easy it would be to repair.
Regardless of whether the damage occurred before or during shipping, the seller owns the buyer a refund and ought to figure out a way to make that happen.
Also, I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but you totally misquoted my in your last post by giving me credit for some of your words.
king_biscuit said:
Definatly possible. So is a few hundred pounds pressing down on them tweaking them and now they don't make good contact internally. Do you contact the builder and let them know you switched pups? Anything is possible but why are you quick to say it has to be work that was performed by the seller? A master luther who is NASA certified in soldering (yes there is such a thing) could have replaced the electronics. We just don't know and are speculating. His tech didn't say they were installed improperly, just that they didn't work. It's not a blame game, its just finding a reasonable work through for the situation with the available options.
You seem to be comfortable blaming the buyer!
The reasonable work around is a refund. We are not talking about a million dollars here.
Also, a few hundred pounds pressing on two switches screwed directly to a wooden topped bass is going to cause serious structural problems to the top of the bass.
king_biscuit said:
Sorry about that, it was just the way it posted from my phone. I work on electronic test equipment. Spectrum analyzers, Network analyzers, Telecom equipment, Optical test equipment etc. I'm a Metrologist, we certify and repair test equipment used as measurement standards, all traceable to NIST.
That's fine, but those items are not housed in delicate wooden chassis. Shipping damage that could damage electronics inside of a bass guitar cavity would do major damage to the bass.
king_biscuit said:
I'm not blaming any one. Just giving possible scenarios I have seen from experience. I agree a refund would be best, but if its not an option for whatever reason why would you not want what you purchased to begin with? It would be less "used" with a new neck .
I find this thread interesting because I deal with this kind of thing often. There are almost always reasonable solutions without refunds, and all parties are satisfied. And continue to do business with one another. It not what off something happens , because it will. It's how you work through the situation.
