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Beware Turner Basses.

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#21
Arrogant? No

I spent some time a few years ago building basses and guitars. I built four fretted solid bodies from scratch. I learned a ton and loved it

Rick Turner was extremely generous sharing his expertise and advice--both on forums and in personal emails I sent him and which he was kind enough to respond to. He didn't diss. me or put me down, he gave frank opinions based on experience. A couple times I ignored him and saw that he was right. He was never arrogant--rather the opposite. He had a keen sense of how many failures lay behind every success.

Leo fender was a great instrument and amp maker, but he was a lousy businessman. He was very fortunate to have a great sales force and a great manager--it's a major reason why there are so many fender copies around. Turner is a master craftsman AND a major innovator in several areas. His instruments are elegant, functional and unique.

Mojo-Man seems to have every right to be pissed. Turner has some serious failings. But don't mischaracterize the man
 
#22
I emailed the sales manager from the getgo, and my experience wasn't much better...plus the controls update snafu.

Marshall

edit: still I agree you should call/email Barry too.
 
#23
i"t sounds to me like Mr. Turner is probably being pulled into to many directions at one time.

I agree totally with the poster who said to try his sales manager.

the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result...contact the sales manager"


Best advice so far imho. There is no excuse for poor customer service. Longer than normal waits for service seem to be the norm with custom made instruments but this goes beyond acceptable. I would send a registered letter requesting that you be provided with the bass you ordered and if not then at least confirmation and the date by which you will receive the bass or a full refund. I would imagine if Mr. Turner wants to continue selling basses, he or is staff will remedy your situation asap. Bad reps travel fast on talkbass.......
 
#24
PB+J said:
Arrogant? No

I spent some time a few years ago building basses and guitars. I built four fretted solid bodies from scratch. I learned a ton and loved it

Rick Turner was extremely generous sharing his expertise and advice--both on forums and in personal emails I sent him and which he was kind enough to respond to. He didn't diss. me or put me down, he gave frank opinions based on experience. A couple times I ignored him and saw that he was right. He was never arrogant--rather the opposite. He had a keen sense of how many failures lay behind every success.

Leo fender was a great instrument and amp maker, but he was a lousy businessman. He was very fortunate to have a great sales force and a great manager--it's a major reason why there are so many fender copies around. Turner is a master craftsman AND a major innovator in several areas. His instruments are elegant, functional and unique.

Mojo-Man seems to have every right to be pissed. Turner has some serious failings. But don't mischaracterize the man
Click to expand...

Well then. It's decided. A victim of his own success.

Sad.
 
#26
dunamis said:
I have to respectfully disagree with the suggestion of a sending a registered letter. What would that accomplish?
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It would provide a signature proving he received the letter stating the customer's intent to pursue legal action if the issue is not resolved, which could be used in a possible legal action at a later date.
 
#27
Just go out to his shop. Visit with him. Move into his shop. Make it clear that your bass and yourself WILL be leaving together. Offer to help. Just a suggestion. Oh, and make sure to roll up your sleeping bag every day. Wouldn't want to be a bad "houseguest"...;)
 
#28
dunamis said:
I have to respectfully disagree with the suggestion of a sending a registered letter. What would that accomplish?
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It would mean that to receive the letter it would have to be signed for. If he ignored the request for a bass or money back it could be proved that he did receive the letter.
 
#29
PilbaraBass said:
the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result...contact the sales manager
Click to expand...

Calling consistently and insistently (but politely) over time is *not* the same thing as calling (or e-mailing) once, or every once in a while. I do expect a different result when I adopt this strategy, but may be I am insane :D .

BTW, this is not jsut an off-the-cuff suggestion. I have actually done this many times (and had my people do it) when I've encountered examples of poor customer service over the years. It works. Really really. :)
 
#31
Bryan R. Tyler said:
It would provide a signature proving he received the letter stating the customer's intent to pursue legal action if the issue is not resolved, which could be used in a possible legal action at a later date.
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I'll quit beating around the bush here-- bringing lawyers into it would only cost you more time and money. Even if, after a lengthy and costly battle, you succeed in winning your case, the remedy would be specific performance-- ie: he'd have to provide the bass! Oh, and you'd have already paid for it, as well as for you lawyer. Usually there is no recovery for damages (lost time, stress etc) and many times not even for court costs or legal fees.

Gotta love justice!:p
 
#32
Bassic83 said:
Just go out to his shop. Visit with him. Move into his shop. Make it clear that your bass and yourself WILL be leaving together. Offer to help. Just a suggestion. Oh, and make sure to roll up your sleeping bag every day. Wouldn't want to be a bad "houseguest"...;)
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Now that's a good suggestion! :p
 
#33
dunamis said:
What would that accomplish?
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If the original poster continues to be ignored by Ric and it reaches the stage where he decides it's been too long and the customer service has been so poor that he'd rather take his business elsewhere and he still can't contact Ric he can produce proof that he asked for one or the other. Ric couldn't say that he hadn't received the letter, as he did with emails. Also, a registered letter is less likely to be overlooked than an email or phone message.
 
#35
'Sending a registered letter is documented proof that you have made a request to the vendor to rectify the situation.
If not, you can say he said she said all you like and the vendor can simply turn around and say, well the seller never bother to contact me about the bass he received and this is the first I have heard that he is dissatisfied. '

Noone is talking about bringing lawyers into this but perhaps him receiving a letter will get him off his a$$ to try and fix a bad situation. Calls and emails are easy to ignore. A letter he acknowledges receiving or a personal visit to the shop however are a little harder.....
 
#36
This thread is a good example of how important customer service can be to your reputation. I was considering one of his fretless basses, but based on what I'm hearing, I would have a hard time buying the instrument and definitely couldn't recommend the instruments

The pen (I mean keyboard) is mightier than the sword
 
#37
purfektstranger said:
Calls and emails are easy to ignore. A letter he acknowledges receiving or
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OK, maybe so. In 25 years of business-- that has not been my experience.

purfektstranger said:
a personal visit to the shop however are a little harder.....
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Now *that*, I agree with!

Anyhow, I just noticed that several posters on this thread are from other countries. I can't speak intelligently about the laws in your countries. But I am somewhat familiar with the Uniform Commercial Code which applies to contract law here in the good 'ole US of A. My $.02-- a certified letter does nothing but make people mad-- people, by the way, that you're hoping will devote their energies to getting you satisfied.
 
#38
Pickebass said:
This thread is a good example of how important customer service can be to your reputation. I was considering one of his fretless basses, but based on what I'm hearing, I would have a hard time buying the instrument and definitely couldn't recommend the instruments

The pen (I mean keyboard) is mightier than the sword
Click to expand...


+1

I've had major GAS for a while now for a Turner Model 1 (I love 32" scale basses!), but I will never take the chance dropping that kind of dough on one. There was one for sale a whiel back on BassNW. If I bought that one at least I could be sure of actually gatting the bass. But still, what if it ever needed repair? No, not me. I'll never buy a bass from Turner.
 
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