Hey folks. I see a lot of off-topic responses and not too many to-the-point responses to OP with what they should do. Not a ton of good advice if I'm being honest, so I hope I can level with OP and everyone here on what should be done as someone who's been working in this business for almost half my life.
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I wanted to give folks a heads up. I ordered a Sadowsky, 24 fret modern, metroline from
Sweetwater a couple of weeks ago. The bass came. I took it out and could niot for the life of me adjust two of the bridge pole pieces. Took a good look and they appeared stripped. This, to me, was not acceptable for a $3500 bass - so I asked to return it.
Got the return label. Took it to UPS - even paid to have the fragile pack it (extra $100).
Then I get an email from
Sweetwater that they got the bass, but there is a ding on it, so they are charging me $600 anyway.
I took the bass out for a total of maybe 20 minutes. It sat on my lap the whole time. No way any dings happenned with me. But they're trying to screw me over anyhow for the extra cash.
I've bought a lot of gear from them in the past (including other basses) but will NEVER use them again. And if you are considering buying a high end bass from them, beware - you may end of paying hundreds of dollars simply for the priveledge of touching the bass for a few minutes.
Ok, first things first: It is
absolutely unacceptable to receive what you received, period. You are absolutely justified for wanting a full refund, and Sweetwater covers these all day, every day.
The very first thing you do, if you didn't do this already or for those that don't know:
Contact your Sales Engineer. This is what they are paid big bucks for. The entire reason they exist is to organize your business with their giant company. You call them, or ideally text them/voicemail them to call you when they're available, and explain the situation: You ordered something, it's not as promised, and they need to make it right. Very cut and dry, but you don't be rude about it (not saying you were, just general advice for everyone reading).
The thing that is supposed to happen next, if it didn't already, is their Technical Support team reaches out to you, or you get transferred to them while on the phone. They are the department who fixes this problem for you with either a replacement product (expedited out to you, typically) and a
fully-insured, on-the-house return label. You
did not need to pay for any extra insurance or packing unless you threw away the box you received upon delivery. How you originally received it is sufficient to go back to Sweetwater.
Now, having dealt with their Tech Support before, Demo items are
constantly mislabeled/misrepresented. It is a huge problem there from what I have gathered talking with folks there over the years, but this is what you get when you support a giant company with the volume like Sweetwater has. They're meeting bottom lines, not servicing every single thing (more on this with the inspection process later).
What most likely happened was the bass was previously damaged, either in-house or from the factory (most likely the former from being handled and the damage description), and the returns processing team noticed this while the 55pt inspection team did not. What is
unusual is them charging you for this.
At this point, the
very next thing you should have done is
get on the phone with your Sales Engineer IMMEDIATELY. Cannot stress this enough - talk to them ASAP and tell them what is happening and that it is NOT acceptable, politely but firmly. They are there to help, and will listen.
If for some reason they ignore you or are unreachable after a few hours, call in and ask to speak to someone in customer support specifically while explaining your Sales Engineer is unreachable. You will probably get transferred to another Sales Engineer, or, with any luck, their Customer Experience team. This is the one to approach last if you have no recourse with your Sales Engineer or Tech Support.
Either way, you will get this rectified if you call them and keep calling them until it's right. This is unacceptable as long as the bass was not damaged by you in any way. Sweetwater damaged it or sent it out that way, so they need to eat the meal.
If they’re the shipper they have the insurance most likely.
Exactly this. The prepaid Sweetwater return labels are fully insured!
Have you tried disputing the charge on your credit card? In all likelihood, your card company/bank will side with you, and you'll get your money back.
If all else fails, you can file in small claims court, and include additional damages for the aggravation. That'll generally inspire a retailer to be less dismissive of your customer service issue.
Cannot stress how much
you should not do this. This is a last resort to be used with a shady company/individual. There are so many more steps that need to happen before getting to this last-ditch effort. Can't tell you how frustrating it has been over the years dealing with people who have itchy trigger fingers for card disputes without just talking with the sellers...
I personally don't believe they do a real 55-point inspection based on my two experiences with them. One bass was riddled with heavy fret sprout while the other (a $2,500 Gretsch guitar) had damage on the headstock near the nut. These were both things I discovered within seconds of removing the instruments from their boxes.
This is, unfortunately, very true. The "team" who works in the Guitar Gallery is incredibly overworked constantly due to management's insistence on having a "high-end" inspection program for low-end product, AKA anything under a grand for the most part. Overworked + underpaid + overwhelmed = sloppiness. Simple math.
Sweetwater sells returned items as new all the time. Just look at the pictures and when you have four brand new instruments with the tags and plastic still on but one or two, its pretty evident. The fact they sell Demo/ B- Stock means someone us checking them at some point along the way but I doubt they do the same for returned inventory. The fact this bass already had issues and with how it appears to be I'd say they were trying to get their money back on a defective item. Less likely than pure incompetence and theirs no shortage of that in corporate America.
Anything that Sweetwater sells new
can be handled by customers and still returned to stock as new. This is evident if you ever set foot in there and ask to see a specific serial numbered instrument. They will pull it from the warehouse, let you play it for however long that day, and then put it right back in its box. I do not know if they then re-photograph and inspect it, but I highly doubt they do, which would result in a lot more things coming to you "pre-worn" even though new.
However, I must stress that they are seriously not bad with this compared to Guitar Center, who routinely repacks store *demo* items as new.
Returned inventory does get re-inspected and photo'd at Sweetwater, or at the very least, wear is described in the Demo description on the site.
I’m sorry, but what Sadowsky had adjustable pole pieces?
I thought with context it was clear they meant the saddles and just used the wrong terminology.
I don't like it when a dufus is called an engineer.... why is that term used so loosely?
If I had a dollar every time I've seen this posted online, I could afford an Alembic by now...
They've used this term for decades now. No use complaining about it. They didn't invent it, either; just popularized it.
And there have certainly been some real dunces in customer service there, but the overwhelming majority of folks there are incredibly knowledgeable.
I wonder if recent changes with people paying sales tax for online out of state orders is cutting into their bottom line, causing them to cut more corners. It used to be an automatic 7 percent off for me, plus free shipping, to order from them. But now I may as well just buy from Guitar Center, since returns are so much easier. I'd take an easy return to a big box store over a 5,000 point inspection that doesn't actually happen any day.
It's not about sales tax - it's about getting bought out by Providence Equity in 2021. The bean counters have been crushing the company ever since. Hence this:
I still think Sweetwater is an honest company (I just ordered a bass from them) but it is a completely different company since Chuck Surack sold it. When Chuck owned it, communications were quick and efficient; now not so much. In consummating this purchase, I sent three emails none of which were answered. If my new bass comes in perfect I’ll become a fan again.
Anyway, hope this giant wall of text helps out with everyone here. I'm going into work now (local music store), so I will return tonight to answer any other questions.
