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My new bass! ...isn't it?
- Thread starter Val K.
- Start date
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- Tags
- jazz bass deluxe
When I bought my MIA Jazz Bass from Fender around year 2000 it was perfect when I received it. Not a scratch or ding anywhere - completely untouched by a 2nd pair of hands. That is NOT a brand new bass by any means.
I think that probably this is their policy: buy from us, A/B some products and return the ones that you didn't like. That's probably why they said that a refund was better than the replacement and that they couldn't guarantee that the next one was brand new: a good number of their instruments are used. Clearly all of their jazz deluxes
However I wouldn't ever use harsh words against them nor proactively trying to discourage people to become their customers: I bought from them once in the past and, except some shipping problems, everything was fine and with an excellent price.
But still, with this experience they have lost a customer.
You can tell if a bass has come straight from the the factory or been opened first. Did it have all the tags attached to the tuners still? If not then they did sell you a bass that has passed through another user first.I think that probably this is their policy: buy from us, A/B some products and return the ones that you didn't like. That's probably why they said that a refund was better than the replacement and that they couldn't guarantee that the next one was brand new: a good number of their instruments are used. Clearly all of their jazz deluxes
However I wouldn't ever use harsh words against them nor proactively trying to discourage people to become their customers: I bought from them once in the past and, except some shipping problems, everything was fine and with an excellent price.
But still, with this experience they have lost a customer.
That's definitely what happens, I've seen people saying as much on various sites. They offer a thirty day money back guarantee if you're unhappy with an instrument or amp
you can return it (less the postage cost) for a refund.
Some items are relisted as B stock and some they sell again as new, I can't believe the second instrument I had passed their QC, the strings had been played to death and it was just
really dirty. Their operation is just huge so it's inevitable some customers will fall through the cracks but three times in a row? I blame myself as much as them for third bass, I was
stupid to give them another go.
I like to think that my experience could help other customers decide better than a mere rant
Yes, it had all the tags attached, but they are just tags with a thread, easy to remove/replace. Also the plastic foils were in place, heavily scratched but still in place. If it was a floor model, they obviously kept everything for a resell.
I mean, it's possible that something like this went out of the Fender factory. Odd, but possible.
Unless they play with the plectrum and scratch the fretboard during QC at Fender, I think it is more than odd
But yes, everything is definitely possible.
Yes, but... you see, I left all those things on and they are still going to sell it again. And all the basses that I've seen in the showrooms had all the plastics on... so it is irrelevant, in my opinion. The fact that those plastics were clearly worn out is the key fact.
Good to hear you are getting a return label.
I got the impression that they will just keep shipping an item out until someone accepts it as "new" (as I did with the channel strip).
I was watching a USA M-2500 that Thomann had recently, I would probably have bought it if I had liked the colour better because the price was very good, way cheaper than I could buy in the UK. Having said that there is a guitar shop opened up recently near me, the owner says if there is anything I want he will match internet prices. Now that sounds interesting except I don't really want (need) any more basses or bass gear.
I think there might be a culture-gap-thingie going on in this case. I'm reminded of something a friend who was stationed in West Germany (ah…the Cold War days of the Iron Curtain
) told us about going into shops there. He described to me how the German people, culturally-speaking, were very, very direct. Here's how he put it to us;- Him: "How does an employee usually greet you when you walk into an American store?"
- Me: "Usually, 'How can I help you?'"
- Another Friend: "Whenever I went into a Japanese store, it was 'Irasshaimase', which translates to 'Welcome!'."
- Him: "Well, when you walk into a German store, the greeting translates to 'What do you want?'. It's not meant to be rude, it's just very direct."
On the topic of "mild, cosmetic surface scratches", do you have a polishing kit? I've had great results "disappearing" tiny scuffs and scratches with this Dunlop kit…
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If I had been in this situation, and only if the instrument felt and sounded fantastic, I probably would've asked for a refund equivalent to buying a B-Stock instrument, then attacked it with the body polish. I'd have a pristine looking bass that was perfectly functional, a little money back in my pocket and a retailer who won't have to restock/resell a big-ticket item…everybody wins!
Or buy from Musician's Friend. Guaranteed "never been touched" brand new instruments. Don't they ship internationally?
OP is in the UK.
We don't have Musician's Friend here, and we get shafted with taxes and carriage if we buy from the USA.
If I had been in this situation, and only if the instrument felt and sounded fantastic, I probably would've asked for a refund equivalent to buying a B-Stock instrument, then attacked it with the body polish. I'd have a pristine looking bass that was perfectly functional, a little money back in my pocket and a retailer who won't have to restock/resell a big-ticket item…everybody wins!
The fact is that it felt normal, as the other ones that I tried elsewhere. But it's years that I don't play the bass, so probably I couldn't even tell the difference between a lemon and a good bass.
I was even prepared to keep the bass, polish it* and keep the scratches near the fretboard, but they didn't offer me anything, they even adviced me against a replacement. Anyhow, if I have to take the risk of a lemon I prefer to take it with a pristine instrument and not a floor model.
Living in Belfast is limiting me in terms of musical shop choices, so unless I take a ferry to Liverpool/Scotland I have to rely on the online shops. And yes, buying in the USA is a total ripoff because of the VAT and duty fees.
I've found another jazz deluxe at guitarguitar, any experience here with this shop?
*I've bought the Fender polish kit, but it's in the other parcel with the rest of the stuff that I ordered together with the bass. A parcel that they sent through normal Royal Mail, so I have to wait for something like other 10 days... I cannot believe they went so cheap on shippings, not even a real courier for an order of more than 2K euros!
I suspect that is because they only had that one in stock so if you reorder you would probably get that one back again.
If nothing has changed the last few years, there was no import VAT in the UK if it was shipped from Canada. Have you checked Canadian stores prices?
After I bought the bass it still was fully available, so I think that they had more of that model.
As far as I know, if it's from outside the EU you have to pay VAT and custom fees above a certain amount. We moved the customs from the single countries to the entire European Union. If there were no VAT from Canada, basically it would be free for all the other European countries also, because there are no more customs inside the EU and the goods can travel freely.
