Warmoth Order Disappointment- RESOLUTION UPDATE IN OP

[JonathanPDX]

@JonathanPDX
I get that. I totally do. And if I had been given a total piece of crap, I’d be more upset. But they provided an Excellent product, albeit just not what I thought I’d ordered. Do I want them to run all over us? No. Do I think they had any ill intentions with fulfilling this order? No. I choose not to be too inflammatory towards folks providing us a service in this current climate (I own my own business, and know how hard it is right now). Hopefully, this will all be taken care of.

I understand that, but you don't need to lower your expectations just to make their job easier. You paid for a product, they didn't deliver, you aren't happy. That's their fault, not yours! They could have either given you a piece of wood to match the images, or said "Since the flame is super important, here's a photo of what we have in stock so you know in advance what we have to work with right now."

They chose to cut corners and give you a crappy piece of wood in hopes that the headache of a return would be daunting enough that you'd accept a lesser product from them.

You don't have to cuss out the customer service rep on the phone or threaten to burn the place down, but you can still demand that they make this right. Charging you to return the thing they screwed up is just absurd.

 

[Marc DLarosa]

Exactly. I spent close to $800. Your flame is far beyond anything I received.

And "pops" way more, even being satin nitro...

 

[Marc DLarosa]

Idea...

MMMMMAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYBEEEEEE.... you can get a discount on the body for an "extended wait time", and "unfair feeling" about the neck?

 

[captainofsmooth]

@Marc DLarosa but I’m not in this to save money! I’m in this to get the bass of my dreams. Money comes and goes. I wanted a tool that was all mine to create my art with.

 

[BobKos]

I am a Warmoth fanboy but have to admit CS from them is waning of late. I just went through a trivial thing with them whereby they charged me $15 to NOT bore indexing holes on the back of my medium scale neck to accommodate Schaller BML tuners. They bore every warhead headstock and charge you for a custom 'option' in the event you want to use real tuners (Hipshot Ultralites). My custom neck was otherwise OK. It is not fancy and costed $320. If I paid over $500 and specified flame maple shaft wood, I would not accept what the OP received. I have cheapie basses with better flame!

 

[Marc DLarosa]

@Marc DLarosa but I’m not in this to save money! I’m in this to get the bass of my dreams. Money comes and goes. I wanted a tool that was all mine to create my art with.

I get it. I'd feel the same way.
This being said... I think that You answered your own question.
You dreamed this up. You were awakened early.

I hope that they make it right for You.

 

[wes stephenson]

Ok Bassists, I want some opinions. I recently ordered a custom neck from Warmoth for a bass build I’m doing. It arrived today. It’s a gorgeous, well built neck. BUT- I ordered roasted flame maple for the shaft, and I made it very clear ordering on the phone that the flame was of utmost importance to me. The CSR agreed and mentioned how my gloss choice would make the flame pop. After seeing all of the RFM in their stock showcase priced under what I spent, seeing their hundreds of RFM necks in Instagram posts, putting my order into their site builder, etc I thought I knew exactly what to expect. Well after a 12 week wait (on week 18 waiting for my body), it arrived today, and the flame is so underwhelming. Like, even my 65 year old mother (who’s listened to me talk about this build for 6 months) said, “Where’s all the stripes?” Not at all what I was led to expect. I know all wood is different, and they can’t guarantee the amount of flame styling, but am I wrong to be bummed about what I received? It’s like 75-80% not flamed on the shaft. Would you contact them? Should I suck it up and enjoy this beautifully made neck even though it’s not what I paid for? I feel like I was very misled. Here’s a picture of what I received vs what the site builder showed my specs as, their current showcase offerings priced hundreds less than what I paid, and a recent IG post showcasing their flame maple options.

Yeah…. That’s lame.

 

[Marc DLarosa]

@Marc DLarosa but I’m not in this to save money! I’m in this to get the bass of my dreams. Money comes and goes. I wanted a tool that was all mine to create my art with.

By the way... what are you building? Here's a "preview" of mine.

It may be a month or so, since I just recently got back to work. With production of TV shows, etc being backed up and in a rush to "catch up" , 12-16hr days aren't uncommon. Just did 14.5 today, and am only up, as I have tomorrow off. I get to sleep in. Tried to play for a bit, but... was too tired. I decided to "talk" instead (LOL).

 

[A Bass And Its Boy]

On a scale of A to AAAAA, I would put this at A to AA at best.

This

Did you order a specific grade of flamed maple, by which you can objectively argue that you didn't get what you ordered? If so, you have a solid argument. If not, your argument is much weaker, and you're pretty much stuck with it. Wood is variable, they state as much, and you didn't order anything THAT specific.

and this.

I got a birdseye maple neck with a birdseye fretboard from them nine years ago and after extensive conversations not just with CS but someone in charge of something I got it in writing from them that it would be AAAAA grade to ensure maximum birdseye. It came and it was beautiful and SO extremely dotted with birdseyes but I don’t know if I hadn’t specified a grade that I would have gotten anywhere near what I did. Fretboard edges are a little sharp, though, like others have found.

 

[MotorCityMinion]

The pic with the white back ground showing both sides looks great. Is that what you have?

 

[FritzM]

Ain't nobody got time for bad customer service. Point them to this thread and ask them how they feel about these future customers. I personally would not accept that neck. Not what you ordered.

 

[kerrycares]

I’ve been playing, assembling and custom ordering basses since 1975 and have seen a constant deterioration of quality and customer service to the point that I now refuse to purchase ANYTHING sight unseen unless it has a 100% , no questions asked return policy.
This thread is a gentle reminder of why I came to that business decision.
I have alleviated the need to argue with bass cabinet builders, manufactures and custom bass builders.
Good Fortunes With Your Return.

 

[-Asdfgh-]

So I tend to agree with all of the opinions here. I very nicely contacted customer service by phone, and they asked to see pictures. I sent them photos, along with the comparison photos I showed here. Their CSR’s initial response:

“We cannot guarantee the flame figuring in any of our products. Wood grain varies piece by piece. We will have multiple eyes look at this to see if we are at any fault here. If we decide we’re at fault, we’ll rebuild your neck with a 20% restock fee for the first one. But if our builders say it looks fine, you’re welcome to reorder a neck to your liking for the cost of the new neck, plus the restock fee for the first neck.”

Oof.

I'd be suggesting they pay me a "20% wasting my time" fee...

 

[Bonafide]

The pic with the white back ground showing both sides looks great. Is that what you have?

No, that was the sample neck, an example of what to expect. Check the pics with the blue background, that's the $800 neck that was received.

To the OP, I am with the majority here, sorry you have to deal with this bro, I would also be completely unsatisfied. Functional art is visual. Instruments are clearly not just functional tools. I will say the front looks gorgeous and I look forward to seeing the build! Speedy resolution.

 

[lfmn16]

at what I paid for this neck, a 20% restock fee is almost a couple of hundred dollars.

You paid $1,000 for the neck? Because 20% of $1,000 is a couple hundred dollars.

 

[40Hz]

@dopejohnpaul - Something I learned from back in my days dealing with corporate giants like GE and IBM: written communications have persistence. Write a letter.

Write a carefully reasoned and politely worded letter, and address it to the CEO. Explain the situation, your experience with CS, question the ambiguity of the “looks okay” gotcha, the draconian restocking charge, etc. Then (and this is the extremely important part) clearly spell out what you want them to do about it. DO NOT leave it open. Top management doesn’t have the time or inclination to play Judge Judy with a customer complaint. If you don’t tell them exactly what you want done, it will only get your letter kicked down to a lower level for someone to “look into.”

However, if your complaint is reasonable and justified - and we’re giving Warmouth the benefit of the doubt they’re a company committed to customer support - and you clearly state what you want them to do about your problem - then you’re extremely likely to get the resolution you’re asking for.

If I received a letter like that and were upper management, I’d just write a note on the bottom of it that read: Make this guy a new neck, no charge - and have him send the old one back. Skip the restock fee. And this time make sure he can see the bloody flame on it.

But that’s me.

So write the letter. Let’s see what happens. Luck!

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

I would return it, especially if it was a lot of money. I got a stock G&L Asat guitar with more flame than that

 

[Bonafide]

You paid $1,000 for the neck? Because 20% of $1,000 is a couple hundred dollars.

I think he said, 'almost' and I feel that frustration...with shipping he is still looking at $180 min. That's close to enough to 'almost' $200 for a 'restocking' fee for a company made mistake. That's a big hit under the circumstance IMO.

 

[Samatza]

It's totally understandable that you are disappointed in that neck.

Call customer service, remember to be polite and explain your issue. If you don't get satisfaction escalate it to the manager.

If I were Warmoth I would look at this as an opportunity to turn a bad experience into a good experience and make the customer happy. Look at the example here; one unhappy customer and in a short time hundreds of people will find out about it. This erodes the trust in a company and other will be skeptical about ordering.

Come on Warmoth, do the right thing and replace the neck free of charge and cement your reputation for excellent customer service with the bass community.

 

[buldog5151bass]

If you email, you are more likely to get a canned reply. Pick up the phone - the time spent is generally worth it.