Strawman argument.
Adding information about children also seems a little odd, I didn't even know you had any until you mentioned it.
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WARNING: Jon Letts/Letts Basses
- Thread starter EddieG
- Start date
Strawman argument.
Adding information about children also seems a little odd, I didn't even know you had any until you mentioned it.
I get great feedback. No one is perfect or obviously. I have some very happy returning customers some of whom own
If I were the thread creator, I would not take anything except hard cash from you. Your actions have shown nothing that would help him, and you are trying to argue to sort this like "human beings". It's been 10 years.
Yes it would be 1341.04 pounds now.
I agree. It would just be terrible. Better get the money back and buy a bass to actually enjoy. Yamaha and Ibanez have some really nice models.
OP, If it was me it would be money owed plus interest and adjusted for inflation. Period. No bass that is about to lose its value due to faulty business practices will make up for the money that’s been stolen.
Your attention to detail when writing replies seem to be on par with your Business accumen and Talent as a luthier...
To be honest with you, I never really had any concerns about Jon's ability to build.
As I said in a previous post, I can only comment drawing from my own, very limited hands-on experience of his work.
But as part of working off the outstanding balance, I had him build a neck to the exact specifications I asked for, even down to me using a profile gauge to take about five measurements on a neck, then sending him the photos to work from.
And what I received from him was prompt, he kept in touch with me even regarding such things as a faulty truss rod he was going to have to return, and the neck I received was exactly what I wanted and needed. He was the exact polar opposite while building the neck as he was in my first dealings with him, and if he'd acted that way during the 1st build, I would be on here posting up glowing reviews of him as a luthier and business operator.
Every single detail I requested is in there without exception. It's currently part of my number one bass, it's been my number one since it was completed, and if anything happened to it I would honestly be lost.
The neck plays like a dream, there were no rough edges or unfinished areas at all.
In my own experience, the problems occur when Jon won't get out of the way and build what the customer asks for, regardless of his own personal feelings on the matter. If you start out offering to build completely bespoke instruments, don't turn around once they've handed over money and you're into the build and say "your design is rubbish, mine is better, I'm building mine"!
At the very least, start out building instruments for customers to showcase your skills, while establishing your own range of instruments, and move into those once people know what you can do.
@JonLetts, I can see above that you've commented, offering to build an instrument to settle the remaining amount. Any offer like that would be totally conditional on you building and completing what I request, not what you insist on. Obviously I'm not going to demand a Ritter-level specification over and above what you owe me, but at the same time I would expect it to be equivalent to the remaining debt.
I'm not sure that this is something you can agree to, but I'm interested to hear what you have to say about it.
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I'm not gonna read all of the comments, so pardon if I repeat someone else's thoughts.
1. Jon Letts' business model is unsustainable. A custom or semi custom for that price? Ridiculous. Jon, raise your prices... a lot. Your work is worth it. Then you would have the resources to deal with the unexpected.
2. OP should have realized this. Probably did, but arrogantly thought he'd get a "steal". Took a gamble and lost. Suck it up, dude. In the long run, it's a cheap life lesson.
3. OP could have taken either of 2 basses that had mistakes with easy and totally acceptable work-arounds. If he had, he'd be sitting with a nice bass in his hands, instead of nothing. There's what we want, and there's what we get. Not always the same thing. This happens in building construction all the time. Gotta deal with what's real.
1. Jon Letts' business model is unsustainable. A custom or semi custom for that price? Ridiculous. Jon, raise your prices... a lot. Your work is worth it. Then you would have the resources to deal with the unexpected.
2. OP should have realized this. Probably did, but arrogantly thought he'd get a "steal". Took a gamble and lost. Suck it up, dude. In the long run, it's a cheap life lesson.
3. OP could have taken either of 2 basses that had mistakes with easy and totally acceptable work-arounds. If he had, he'd be sitting with a nice bass in his hands, instead of nothing. There's what we want, and there's what we get. Not always the same thing. This happens in building construction all the time. Gotta deal with what's real.
Simple YES or NO question.
WILL YOU BUILD EDDIE HIS BASS OR REFUND HIS MONEY??? Yes or No!!!
For crissakes, you could work part time at McD's for less than a month and have this debt paid off.
OP, have you brought this to the attention of the bailiff? I understand that being burned like this leaves scars. It's happened to me, albeit at a fraction of the loss you incurred. At some point, I decided the I needed to cut my losses – it's not good to harbor the bitterness and anger. In your case, you have a court settlement on your side. Take it to the bailiff and let them chase this clown.
OP, have you brought this to the attention of the bailiff? I understand that being burned like this leaves scars. It's happened to me, albeit at a fraction of the loss you incurred. At some point, I decided the I needed to cut my losses – it's not good to harbor the bitterness and anger. In your case, you have a court settlement on your side. Take it to the bailiff and let them chase this clown.
If you had read all the thread you would have saved making a fool of yourself by Posting this absolute BS.
If you were in the OPs shoes you would be singing a very diffrent tune.
I am embarrassed for you
He already went that route and had no luck. Letts told the Bailiffs he had no money...
I have to take issue with a couple of your points here.
1. When I ordered from Jon, he was literally only starting as a commercial luthier. As I recall, he'd made maybe a handful of instruments to that point, but this was his first forays into being a professional luthier. He was still working from a foil-lined garage at the side of his house!
The price I paid was exactly what he quoted me for what I wanted. Would you have me voluntarily offer to pay over and above that because he might be doing himself? Is that what you do, buy basses from Guitar Center and say "you know what? I'm gonna give you an extra $1000, I think you've underpriced yourself"?
Nonsense.
2. I paid for a particular bass. Jon, through whatever actions, couldn't provide that bass. The first time, he built a glue-in neck rather than the neck through that I PAID FOR. Again, is it a normal thing for you to be happy with anything you get? If the delivery guy turned up with deckchairs and said "don't complain, it's not the couch you ordered and paid for, but you can still sit on it", that would be acceptable to you?
He sold that bass on as is, and I've no doubt that someone is still playing and cherishing it. But it wasn't WHAT I PAID FOR, or what he agreed to build.
In case you didn't view the images, in the 2nd bass the bridge was a good 1/3" LOWER than the top of the frets would have been. Short of throwing some scrap piece of wood under them to raise the height (which given they are routed into the body to be run string-thru would be extremely difficult, nay impossible), there was no physical way to fix this which wouldn't have involved fudging together a solution, and also compromising the structural stability and lifespan of the bass.
And after the preceding hassles I'd gone through to get to that stage, accepting a bass that had been fudged to get it to work was an absolute non-starter.
Can you post up some of the instruments you play? I'd be really interested to see what kind of stuff you settle for, given what you expect me to accept.
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Maybe you should have read the posts before you reply. Blaming the victim isn't a good look in any situation, especially when it's a pretty clear case. Also, just FYI, there is a huge difference between the custom bass and building construction businesses.
Sure, the dude pays for and is promised a mercedes but gets a Camry and should just "suck it up?" Nice car, but not what OP paid for or wanted.
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It's clear form all of Letts' replies that he is either a master con man or mentally ill, maybe both. He needs to find another outlet for his talent that doesn't involve screwing over his customers.
Everyone has bad cr@p happen to them. I've had a number of personal tragedies and "really bad things" happen in my life, as a lot of people have. OP has had some tragic events during this ten years. Bad things happen.
Apply this situation to, oh, I dunno, a normal job or other situation. Could you imagine if for ten years I kept giving excuses to my CEO telling him that "I just can't do it but if you keep believing me I'll get it done and you'll be very happy?"
10 years is a long, long time. Everyone has bad stuff happen (and again, some worse than others). Not everyone makes constant excuses.
Apply this situation to, oh, I dunno, a normal job or other situation. Could you imagine if for ten years I kept giving excuses to my CEO telling him that "I just can't do it but if you keep believing me I'll get it done and you'll be very happy?"
10 years is a long, long time. Everyone has bad stuff happen (and again, some worse than others). Not everyone makes constant excuses.
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I’m getting ready for work and can’t clean this up right now, but threats of violence, explicit or implied, are not ok and will be removed.
No you don't, man, you need to get the hell off the computer and either build your customers the instruments they are owed or man the checkout stand at Tesco until you can pay your debts.
As far as I'm concerned after reading all this, Letts has made a very bad career choice! He may be a fabulous luthier, but as a business man, he's in the wrong business!
Letts should consider getting out of the business and SELLING his assets (tools etc) and making his past indiscretions right. Once he has cleaned up his decade long mess to the satisfaction of all involved, he can feel free to re-start with lessons learned. That's the only way I can see a resolution to this mess. He's had ten years to try and fix things "his way".
Letts can then use his skill to work for someone else or re-start his "business.
Man up!
Fishheadjoe
Letts should consider getting out of the business and SELLING his assets (tools etc) and making his past indiscretions right. Once he has cleaned up his decade long mess to the satisfaction of all involved, he can feel free to re-start with lessons learned. That's the only way I can see a resolution to this mess. He's had ten years to try and fix things "his way".
Letts can then use his skill to work for someone else or re-start his "business.
Man up!
Fishheadjoe
Yeah, I saw that earlier in the thread. I don't understand how these legal judgements work. I would think that there are additional legal remedies to pursue when someone does not comply with a court order. After 10 years, it seems like the OP is equally as interested in achieving a moral victory as he is recouping the actual loss. Of course, that's easy for me to say as it's not my money or time at stake.
