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Ernie Ball's customer service...

S

sandfan85

Guest
Sep 10, 2011
120
9
#1
.. is kicka$$. Billy in particular. Ive spoken with him a few times, with a couple different warranty issues (minor) ive had with my basses. He's always very helpfull, their turn around time has been great, and he always ends his calls with "thanks for playing Ernie Ball". Well Billy, i just want to say "your welcome", lol.

Just wanted to say what a positive experience its been dealing with them. A lot of people are always so quick to point out negative experiences they have with retailers, and rarely point out the positives.
 
#4
I've only had to deal with Ernie Ball Customer Service once, almost 20 years ago, when I called to find out what the part # for that string that wraps around the pot shaft on their volume pedals was because my local dealer was too stupid to figure it out. The nice folks at EB not only gave me the part #, but they also said "Don't bother having your dealer order this part, we'll just send you a dozen at no charge."

Thanks EB!
 
#8
Not impressed with EB 'customer service'.

Bought a set of Cobalts for my Rick bass. 'A' string broke when I was installing them. Shop wouldn't exchange them. Had to resort to putting my old Rotosounds on. Threw the EB's away 'cos I was so annoyed.
EB customer 'support' wanted me to rummage around in the garbage to retrieve them and send them as proof I wasn't lying before they would replace them.

Screw that!!!!

I'll stick with Rotosound. Had a string break with the Rotos before. Rotosound customer service sent me TWO sets of strings free of charge. No questions asked. They were really apologetic. Superb!!!

Same with D'addario. Top notch service and no questions asked.

First and last time I will buy ANY Ernie Ball stuff........ Garbage!!!!

Absolutely ridiculous!!!!
 
#10
It's not unfair of a business to ask you to return the strings to them, after all, there are dishonest people out there. I'm sure I don't speak for myself when I say most people would keep the strings to return them if there was a defect.

I've not yet had to deal with Ernie Ball customer service, but I've (almost) only ever heard good things about them. It makes me proud to be a EB Musicman owner, it's reassuring to know that if a fault should ever develop, I'll be in safe hands.
 
#11
geddeeee said:
Not impressed with EB 'customer service'.

Bought a set of Cobalts for my Rick bass. 'A' string broke when I was installing them. Shop wouldn't exchange them. Had to resort to putting my old Rotosounds on. Threw the EB's away 'cos I was so annoyed.
EB customer 'support' wanted me to rummage around in the garbage to retrieve them and send them as proof I wasn't lying before they would replace them.

Screw that!!!!

I'll stick with Rotosound. Had a string break with the Rotos before. Rotosound customer service sent me TWO sets of strings free of charge. No questions asked. They were really apologetic. Superb!!!

Same with D'addario. Top notch service and no questions asked.

First and last time I will buy ANY Ernie Ball stuff........ Garbage!!!!

Absolutely ridiculous!!!!
Click to expand...

No biggie. This is the type of person that businesses don't want as a customer. Problematic, never pleased, want everything for free.
 
#12
Don't expect anything for free. And again, this forum gives the same answers I expected. Yawn....

Just giving my experience.. 'Tis all.

The reason I wasn't pleased is that a 'new' string broke as I was fitting them, just before a gig. Which IS annoying, as anyone who has experienced this will tell you.

After 35 years of playing (and purchasing my own strings!!!!) I think I might know a thing or two about putting strings on, so I'm not to blame. Nor is my equipment. I am in a working band, so all my equipment is serviced regularly.

The point is, the times it has happened (only twice before), with Rotosound and D'addario, those companies were eager to rectify the problem quickly, with no questions asked. As a professional musician, I consider this great customer service.

The intimation that I am looking for 'free' stuff, or am dishonest, is frankly offensive....
 
#13
I had a cobalt string break during installation too. I called EB, and they sent me another string for replacement. They asked me to return the broken string, but I have not done that yet. In other words, the replacement was not conditioned on me returning the defective string. The lady at EB told me they wanted the string back for inspection, since it is a new type of string, to see if they could determine what caused the defect. Seems reasonably to me.
 
#15
geddeeee said:
Screw that!!!


First and last time I will buy ANY Ernie Ball stuff........ Garbage!!!!

Absolutely ridiculous!!!!
Click to expand...

I think it was more the tone of your post and overly dramatic reaction to a string breaking that gives the impression that you would not be satisfied with any resolution. Strings can be defective, its pretty rare but it happens with many brands here and there.
 
#16
purfektstranger said:
They asked you to return a broken string...had you done that they would have replaced it. Isn't this where the story ends?
Click to expand...

It certainly does end there....

I understand that EB would want the strings to determine what happened. I'm not THAT stupid!!! I just wasn't prepared to root around in the trash bin to get them.

Strange that neither Rotosound or D'addario asked for the defective strings to be returned. They did it on trust, and that is what I respect from those two companies.

Not all of us are 'pikeys', 'blaggers' or liars....
 
#17
Crabby said:
I think it was more the tone of your post and overly dramatic reaction to a string breaking that gives the impression that you would not be satisfied with any resolution. Strings can be defective, its pretty rare but it happens with many brands here and there.
Click to expand...

I understand this too. Frustration was the key here, especially 4 hours before a gig. Strings DO break from time to time, and I understand that too.

It was the 'tone' of the EB e-mail that rankled most. They would ONLY replace the string on receipt of the defective one....
 
#18
When something's broken and the company asks you to send it to them, they will replace it. They want to investigate the item and look for a potential manufacturing problem for correction.

There are times when I understand the reason companies no longer honor "the customer is always right."
 
#19
I appreciate for you it would have been a pain in the a$$ to dig up the string out the trash. I have one better for you. Two months ago my sister lent me a Magellan GPS. I decided to upgrade the maps and firmware on it because she had owned it for about 18 months and never bothered. I download the new firmware version and maps and the download fries the gps and renders it completely useless. I call Magellan, the customer rep said it happens all the time. So I have to pay 20 bucks to ship the p.o.s. back to them and a month later they send me a refurb. Now that is BAD customer service. What's worse is they knowingly let people download their updates that corrupt their gps's.
 

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