Fender Customer Service Experience

[TrustRod]

If you really want a great playing "Fender" for that kind of money, though, there are a bunch of folks who make them - they just don't say Fender on the headstock.

My experience aligns with this. My favorite P bass is Yamaha and my favorite jazz is a Fernandes. Like my Tokai, Fernandes also made "real" Fenders, I think at the same time they made mine, 1990s.

 

[Gothic]

I bought an Ibanez Talman for about 200 euros from a retailer (Thomann). One machine head was faulty. I sent them an e-mail, explaining the problem. They requested photos of said problem. I sent them photos. Less than two weeks later, they'd already ordered the part from Ibanez and had it sent to me. No fuss. And I paid about 200 euros. Not 2000 (at the very least). Now granted, it wasn't a whole neck, but still.

For shame, I say. However good that bass might be, if it were me, I'd be sending it back and asking for a full refund and they can do what they will with the neck. At FCS prices, you can probably get the same thing (minus the logo) built at least as well and with probably way better after sales support.

 

[mtdkingstonheir]

Say what you will about old MIC stuff. I'm born in 92 so by the time I got my asian made instruments it was 2009 for an Ibanez SR505, Squier CV 70s J and Harley Benton MB5 this year 2021.

I can't speak for the old days but I can certainly vouch for the love the CV series is getting in this thread. And it is currently made in Indonesia in the Cort factory where like 80-90% of instruments sold worldwide get made.

You're free to choose your country of origin for whatever you purchase. But I would be damned if Asian manufacture practices aren't at least on par with anything here in America. At least in the niche where musical instruments are.

Not only is asian manufacture culture way different than over here (hey we still use 5S, Kaisen and all that Japanese manuacture principles), CNC machines work the same way worldwide and AFAIK Copper wire and Magnets don't work differently around the globe.

I'm sorry, it's not a Fender hate comment. I'm genuenly sorry OP is having a crappy time with a Bass that should make him happy for a lifetime. But IMO it's our (customers in general) fault that Fender is pretty much the Apple of the music industry. People will flock to whatever offering has "The logo/name" on it regardless of the quality/value/reason to be sold anyway.

And for the price of the MIA Fender ultra/custom shop instruments you could be getting so much more value elsewhere if you just look past the MIx tag.

I don't see people snobing on iPhones because they're made in china.

Well stated, and, I'm a Fender fan.

 

[40Hz]

If you really want a great playing "Fender" for that kind of money, though, there are a bunch of folks who make them - they just don't say Fender on the headstock.

True that!

I’ve tried several FSOs and all were at least on par with, if not exceeding, their Fender inspirations. And they all were more than competitive in terms of pricing with Fender for comparable models. G&L, Sadowsky, Lakekand, Baccus, Hammersmith, and easily a half dozen more I can’t recall off the top of my head right now all make superb PB and JB type guitars.

I was seriously considering getting a Strat or Strat-type guitar recently for recording and modding purposes. And also because…well…Strat!, right? But when I was doing my preliminary research I discovered Yamaha’s Pacifica series. And I could only come up with one word to describe them. That word was: Wow!

Two guesses which brand I’ll probably buy when I finally pull the trigger.

 

[40Hz]

Outstanding on your end, but the delay was most likely caused by a policy put in place by Henry (which he never would have admitted). Your letter most likely got a few innocent people fired after Henry went into a toddler rage about something that was his fault in the first place. That's how Gibson worked under his rule.

Let’s see…an actual corporate policy, people fired, a CEO toddler rage incident…

This is all just speculation however, correct?

 

[Lownote38]

This is all just speculation, correct?

A hypothetical based on that man's habitually odd behavior and anger management issues which I have personally experienced. I know a number of people that worked for him. A number of them were fired for things that were literally Henry's fault. When those things were pointed out, he always, without fail, blamed someone else, and often fired them. I wanted to use my SWR amp in his club that was formerly on Broadway here (Henry's). He insisted on me using a woefully inadequate Gibson bass amp. When I lightly protested, he proceeded to scream in my face for 10 minutes. He was so in my face, I could feel his spit hitting my forehead. I ended up using the stupid amp, but I never played there again. The guitarist was using a Fender amp, and he never said a word. He's a nonsensical maniac.

 

[40Hz]

A hypothetical based on that man's habitually odd behavior and anger management issues which I have personally experienced. I know a number of people that worked for him. A number of them were fired for things that were literally Henry's fault. When those things were pointed out, he always, without fail, blamed someone else, and often fired them. I wanted to use my SWR amp in his club that was formerly on Broadway here (Henry's). He insisted on me using a woefully inadequate Gibson bass amp. When I lightly protested, he proceeded to scream in my face for 10 minutes. He was so in my face, I could feel his spit hitting my forehead. I ended up using the stupid amp, but I never played there again. The guitarist was using a Fender amp, and he never said a word. He's a nonsensical maniac.

Fair enough and I don’t disagree. I’m no Henry J. fan either, for reasons not worth going into here. And your above is vouched for by your own direct experiences, so that’s legit in my book. But advancing pure fictions about individuals isn’t cool. That’s how rumors, conspiracy theories, and urban legends get started. There’s enough real we can throw against H.J. that we don’t need to get creative.

Or so I think anyway.

 

[Lownote38]

Fair enough and I don’t disagree. I’m no Henry J. fan either, for reasons not worth going into here. And your above is vouched for by your own direct experiences, so that’s legit in my book. But advancing pure fictions about individuals isn’t cool. That’s how rumors, conspiracy theories, and urban legends get started. There’s enough real we can throw against H.J. that we don’t need to get creative.

Or so I think anyway.

You're right. If what I originally said could be seen as bonified fact, that was not my intent. I was presenting a hypothetical that's more likely than Henry actually doing something cool out of the kindness of his heart.

 

[40Hz]

You're right. If what I originally said could be seen as bonified fact, that was not my intent. I was presenting a hypothetical that's more likely than Henry actually doing something cool out of the kindness of his heart.

Agree. And thx for taking my comment in the spirit it was intended. Which is to say: not a knock. More like a cautionary note.

There’s enough bad information and made up stuff about everything floating around these days as it is. Let’s not add to it if possible.

 

[Lownote38]

Agree. And thx for taking my comment in the spirit it was intended. Which is to say: not a knock. More like a cautionary note.

There’s enough bad information and made up stuff about everything floating around these days as it is. Let’s not add to it if possible.

Agreed. I definitely don't want to do that. The intention was to propose an amusing hypothetical in line with the man's demonstrated personality. I can't know what he actually did involving the original poster's situation. I wasn't there.

 

[60bass]

I would like to start by saying, this is not a smear campaign. It’s just my personal experience and I wanted to share it with anyone who might be looking to buy or order a Fender Custom Shop.
In early 2020, I purchased my dream Fender; a Postmodern Precision Bass. And did I ever get lucky. It was everything I’ve ever wanted in a Precision Bass; a beautiful quarter sawn neck with a 1.5 nut width, light weight, perfectly balanced, and sounds just like a P bass should. I have owned many vintage Fender Precisions and for what I’m looking for, this one knocked it out of the park. After I initially setup the bass to my personal preference, I noticed the neck would move very quickly (within a couple of days) into an up bow. I own many basses, both new and vintage, so I didn’t panic or think much of it initially. I’m aware the neck will need time to acclimate and settle. However, it never really did. I would even find myself adjusting the truss rod between sets at gigs. The truss rod is now officially maxed out and will not budge. The neck has way more relief than I would ever want and it is no longer a pleasure to play.
So I reached out to The Custom Shop (this part of the story is very long. I will spare you a lot of the details). I work in the industry and CC'd all the appropriate contacts, both at Fender and at the Custom Shop. No response for two weeks. I finally received a response that wasn’t directed to me, but was merely an email passing the buck to another employee, with me CC’d. After many follow up emails and phone calls, I spoke to someone at Fender that basically told me I had to send the whole bass back to them and I would be without the bass for 4-6 months while they fixed the neck. I replied with, “Ok. The neck is obviously weak and would fixing it involve adding washers to the truss rod so it can continue to be adjusted? And does 4-6 months without the bass really mean closer to a year?” His reply was, “Yes, probably.” I asked if they could just replace the neck like they would if it was an American Pro. I was informed that they will not do that with Custom Shop instruments. After another couple of weeks, and another couple of emails that were basically ignored, I was told they will be sending the proper documents to have the bass sent back and they will potentially build me a new neck. I thought, okay, fair enough. I will send the bass back and wait to see what happens. However, at this point, I still haven’t received the email with the proper documentation to return the bass to Fender. I have reached out twice to inquire about the documents. I received one reply, again passing the buck and blaming another department on the delay. At this point, I would have sent the bass back as defective and requested a credit, except that I love this bass so much (when it's properly set). I am very disappointed and saddened with this entire situation. I honestly don’t know if I ever want to play any of my Fender basses on stage again. I have played Fender basses for over twenty-five years, and I genuinely love them. However, this lack of customer service has changed a lot for me. I am going on 7 weeks now and my bass is still at the shop waiting to be sent back. Don’t think that you will get premium or even adequate service from Fender just because you paid a premium price.

I’m aware that the pandemic has affected everyone and that most companies may be short staffed, but I expected a lot more from Fender’s Premium line.

Sorry that happened to you. Your story is all too familiar to me as I went through a similar experience two times. First was a new 62 RI P bass that ended up with a twisted neck. Was fine at first but became worse after 4 months. I thought it just needed time to settle in. I also contacted Fender and was told a story similar to yours. Except they balked at sending me just the neck and wanted the complete bass. This new P was just a shade over 8lbs and very resonant and I was hesitant to return the whole bass due to the fact that the CS rep (if you could call him that) couldn't give me a clear explanation of whether Fender would just replace the neck or the whole bass.

I wanted to keep that body due to the light weight and lively tone. I told the CS rep I'd consider it and call back. I ended up taking it to an authorized Fender warranty center who verified the neck was junk. They were in fact able to get Fender to just ship a new neck but only because the shop had a good relationship with Fender. But they wouldn't cross ship and would only ship after they received the faulty one. Which I totally understood. The wait time was months. The new replacement neck was fine but totally changed the personality of the bass and to make it worse, it had the dreaded Fender "dead spot". To which the shop owner said "good luck on getting that fixed". So basically I was screwed. I ended up dumping the bass as I was frankly tired of dealing with the whole mess. VERY poor experience overall with Fender.

I've played bass since 1969 also owned a Music Store back in the 70's that was a Fender dealer and we never had issues like this. You called Fender, told them your problem, and they shipped the replacement bass or parts the same day. My second nightmare CS experience was with a PRO 15 cabinet that was delaminating and vibrating internally. Let's just say that experience was so poor that I decided I'll never buy another piece of Fender bass gear. Which I haven't and won't.

Hope you get things sorted out.

 

[Gib82]

Sorry for your BS thru Fender Custom Shop, did this ever get worked out?

I’m still waiting to hear back from Fender. They have received my bass. That’s the only update I’ve gotten so far. Fingers crossed they do what’s right and replace the neck. I will be very disappointed if they put on a bandaid and add washers to the truss rod. I will update the thread as I get more news.

 

[Geri O]

I’m going to go and hug my Sadowsky.

With total empathy for the OP’s situation…

I just said the very same things about my Mike Lulls….

 

[gwangi]

It's kind of a BUMMER!!!! that this situation is going on with the Fender Custom Shop, you'd would never expect this but hopefully it will work out in favor of the OP.

 

[Gib82]

Here is the update.
Without any update or word back from the Fender custom shop. My bass randomly showed up. I was pleased to see that they did in fact replace the defective neck. It feels exactly like the original. That’s great! Unfortunately the replacement neck was aged to be extremely dark on the back. The original was bare wood, but not darkened. Whatever fake dirt they use was coming off on my hands whenever I played the instrument. After an hours work with steel wool and lighters fluid, the neck was sensible. After this I tried setting up the bass. The truss rod on the replacement neck was already totally maxed out. Couldn’t tighten it AT ALL. I removed the truss rod nut. Cleaned it and lubed it. Still not a budge. At least the original neck maxed out after a year of adjusting a weak neck. I was furious. I knew I wouldn’t get any response from The Custom Shop regarding my issue. I love the bass. It was a gift from my wife. I didn’t want to return it and lose it. So I took matters into my own hands. Drilled out some of the truss rod cavity, installed washers and a longer nut to the truss rod. At least now I have about a half to a quarter turn to work with. I will never ever purchase a Fender custom shop ever again.

 

[fretno]

yikes

 

[Spidey2112]

So I took matters into my own hands.

Completely understand... it's one thing to fix problems as they crop up, which they do.

When you're playing Hoover vacuum and cleaning up after others who should know better, it sort of grates on you, after a bit.

Enjoy it, breaux! Play it to the point that the relic'd part blends in with the original finish.

 

[Clark Westfield]

Wow sorry to hear about this incident.

Years ago I was on the fence with buying a CS bass or something boutique.

I decided on buying a Sadowsky for less money than a CS, and the customer service experience was exceptional.

I would hope that one of the Fender CS team members trolls this forum, learns about their faults, and makes good on the “custom” experience, for all customers.

Shame on them.

 

[Mastermold]

I have no words. The whole thing is a train wreck. Really sorry.

 

[Dave Hill]

Here is the update.
Without any update or word back from the Fender custom shop. My bass randomly showed up. I was pleased to see that they did in fact replace the defective neck. It feels exactly like the original. That’s great! Unfortunately the replacement neck was aged to be extremely dark on the back. The original was bare wood, but not darkened. Whatever fake dirt they use was coming off on my hands whenever I played the instrument. After an hours work with steel wool and lighters fluid, the neck was sensible. After this I tried setting up the bass. The truss rod on the replacement neck was already totally maxed out. Couldn’t tighten it AT ALL. I removed the truss rod nut. Cleaned it and lubed it. Still not a budge. At least the original neck maxed out after a year of adjusting a weak neck. I was furious. I knew I wouldn’t get any response from The Custom Shop regarding my issue. I love the bass. It was a gift from my wife. I didn’t want to return it and lose it. So I took matters into my own hands. Drilled out some of the truss rod cavity, installed washers and a longer nut to the truss rod. At least now I have about a half to a quarter turn to work with. I will never ever purchase a Fender custom shop ever again.
View attachment 4761980

That’s terrible.