How could the people at Fender be so clueless?

[bushwhacker]

Thank you Rob for posting here. I have appreciated your responses at the Fender Forums, so I am glad to see you posting here as well and I think you present a calm and rational response to various Fender questions. I echo Tdizzles response, and think between people such as yourself and the self identified "Fender Nerds" we can get much better information out to those of us who love Fender Basses. Thank you so much.

 

[smcd]

... but we answer with what we're given, I suppose, and move on to the next of the 1,000's of emails waiting.

If I were running Fender, the first thing I'd do is tell every customer service rep to link all the "Can you identify the markings on my Fender?" questions to that snarky 'how to do a Google search' site. Damn... can you imagine the kinds of questions Fender receives?

 

[RobSatFender]

Rob,

Thanks for posting. I have always wondered if Fender actually had a presence on this forum, and it is nice to know that they do. I understand what you mentioned about reps being expected to know about so many different products and lines, and it made me realize how easy it is for me to know so much about Fender basses, because that is my primary focus. It is worth noting, however, that if a person has an old Fender that they don't know much about, they will most likely turn to Fender for info, not knowing of resources such as Talkbass (and once they hear it from Fender, they really aren't trying to hear it from anyone else. I have had some experience with that). So, I say most respectfully, that it might be worth while to have one or two of us complete nerds hanging around for when such questions arise.

Thanks again for posting, and all the best.

Tdizzle (bushwacker & others as well), Thanks, much appreciated! And here I am on a Bass Forum, when my own bass playing is.....functional...but that's ok, it gets the job done and I try to get over here to see if I can lend some assist once in awhile. Mostly, I see that you guys got it all covered and know what you're talking about not only on Fenders, but lots of other brands as well.
After 20 odd years at Fender, I was feeling pretty confident in my general knowledge.......then I worked in Custom Shop Sales for a bit and found out the extent of my cluelessness. No shame. I know what I know --and whatever gig I've had there, I think I've done pretty well at. Just a whole lot to know.
Also, seriously....lesson learned for our rep Jeff, who's been with us about a year or so..there really are no absolutes with Fender history especially during the CBS years. Lots of wacky stuff going on.
Anyway, I totally understood your post and took no offense.
When I think of "Microsoft" or "Apple" or other well-known companies, I find myself having certain expectations too.
Thanks for the reply and the conversation.....I think we have a pretty good Service team these days, but no harm in going for higher ground and getting better at it either!!
All the best,
rob

 

[ROOTSnFIFTHS]

If I were running Fender, the first thing I'd do is tell every customer service rep to link all the "Can you identify the markings on my Fender?" questions to that snarky 'how to do a Google search' site. Damn... can you imagine the kinds of questions Fender receives?

So true. I would love to hear some of those questions. It cannot be easy answering questions about, for example, obscure details from the CBS era. Think about it.

As for me, I'll cut the Fender folks a break on how much info we think they should know. Why? I like their products. I especially like what they have been putting out, quality wise. I recently picked up a 2013 American standard Precision and there is not a flaw on it. Sound,fit and finish could not be better. Also just picked up a 2010 Road Worn P and it is equally expertly built.

And thanks Rob for checking in here at TB.

 

[Ewo]

Props, Rob, for your candor about the limits of what you can tell people about Fender history.

I often think folks forget that institutions (we're talking Fender, here) are, at bottom, _people_. Most folks don't expect perfection from people, IME, but many (again, IME) do seem to expect perfection from institutions.

That's a disconnect, given that institutions are made of people. Know whumsayin? IME, IMHO, YMMV, etc.