Yes, Pickguardian has gotten that bad

[Gilmourisgod]

Dang, things must have slipped. I got mine (pearloid Ric guard) in two weeks, but that was three years ago. It had a router slip error, so I sent it back, new perfect one returned in another two weeks, he did refund postage. Second try was perfect, and he threw in some scrap offcuts I used for a TRC. Unfortunately crap CS seems to be the "new normal", but that can be fatal for a small business. S##t happens, but if you cant deliver, return the money with an apology.

 

[BigDrew]

I was looking to do a custom pickguard and like everyone found there aren't many options. There are a few bad stories out there about Pickguardian, but Tony has a lot of advocates, so I decided to go for it. Long story short, he strung me along for 9 weeks then cancelled my order and sent it back. His communication is horrible, and he just didn't seem to give two ***** about me or my project -- after taking the order, and wasting my time and money of course. I recommend finding anyone else to do your work.

Tony advertises a 1-2 week turnaround. I checked with him about the specifications for my job (medium scale MIJ Fukushima-era P-bass) , paid ahead of time (required), and shipped it off at my expense. I waited 4-weeks and decided to contact him to check on the progress and get an ETA. His reply was "I'm running behind. I'll let you know when it ships". It didn't exactly answer the ETA questions, but I just let it go. Two weeks later (6-weeks in his hands at that point) I contacted him again with another request for an ETA, at which point he told me 1-2 weeks more. After those 2 weeks were up (8+ weeks now), he told me 1 more week. 2-hours later, he told me 3 weeks more. That's right, he extended my time by two weeks in two hours with no explanation. 4-hours later he told me he was out of my color and was cancelling my order. I guess he realized he was low on stock at 10:30 PM on a Thursday.

Not only did Tony have my pickguard and money for 9 weeks, but after cancelling my order he also refused to cover the original shipping expense. His attitude about it all was pretty shocking… he just didn’t seem to care. He apologized once (at 6-weeks) then got more defensive with each subsequent email. It cracks me up that Tony says he went into business because of a bad experience with someone else. I hope the tables get turned on him. No one who does business like this deserves customers. I encourage everyone to take your precious work to someone who values you, your instrument, and your business.

Thank you for the heads up. Not sure, “It’s a one man shop,” is an excuse for horrible service.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

Without seeing all of the emails from the OP, it is grossly unfair for anyone to pass judgement on the vendor. Nobody here knows what the OP said to the guy. Maybe he was super nice, maybe he was an utter jerk. Who knows? None of us.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Without seeing all of the emails from the OP, it is grossly unfair for anyone to pass judgement on the vendor. Nobody here knows what the OP said to the guy. Maybe he was super nice, maybe he was an utter jerk. Who knows? None of us.

I think it's fair to take the OP at his word about communication, backed up by other similar recent Pickguardian reviews on TB, and the overall wretched state of CS world-wide. The Covid excuse is getting a little thin, at least in the US. If I was ordering a guard from Bombay, all bets are off. I have some sympathy for small volume vendors, they could easily get swamped by a rush of orders, some personal crises, etc. It's the common gripe about small custom builders on TB, with some decade-long sticky threads devoted to no-show builders, but just being upfront with a customer buys a lot of patience and goodwill. How hard is it to say "I won't be able to get to it for 8 weeks, would you like to wait, or have a full refund?" I've got no "dog in this hunt" so to speak. FWIW, here's the one he made for me, granted it took him two tries to get it right.

He wouldn't cut me a Ric shaped TRC for copyright reasons, but sent me some scrap to make my own.

 

[Arie X]

interesting about the TRC copyright issue. aren't most pickguards and excetra part of the whole look of an instrument and thusly fall under copyright protection? if we look at gibson for example, would one have more trouble with the distinctive pg or the trc? btw, i'm no legal eagle.

 

[JRA]

I have some sympathy for small volume vendors, they could easily get swamped by a rush of orders, some personal crises, etc. It's the common gripe about small custom builders on TB, with some decade-long sticky threads devoted to no-show builders, but just being upfront with a customer buys a lot of patience and goodwill. How hard is it to say "I won't be able to get to it for 8 weeks, would you like to wait, or have a full refund?" I've got no "dog in this hunt" so to speak.

here's the one he made for me

that looks great! and so does the truss rod cover!

 

[MattZilla]

Without seeing all of the emails from the OP, it is grossly unfair for anyone to pass judgement on the vendor. Nobody here knows what the OP said to the guy. Maybe he was super nice, maybe he was an utter jerk. Who knows? None of us.

That’s pretty much where I’m at.

If the communication has been exclusively email, there’s no way to convey tone.

This is the first I’ve seen of any less-than-great reviews of either worksmanship or CS of Pickguardian.

A 10:30pm email screams to me that this is just a side-hustle. Maybe he’s got a day job or he’s retired.

I could spend a half hour typing possibilities- but this one fact would deter me from giving him any business: aside from a notice about material shortages, his site hasn’t been updated in seven years. That’s typically a sign that someone’s ready for the emails to stop coming in so they can begin the next chapter in their life.

Regarding that material shortage, he might be up a creek and only realized how far up it he is at 10pm the night of our new TB member’s email after using every last scrap he could get his hands on for other customers’ orders.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Rickenbacker Inc is Extremely protective of its “trade dress” (I won’t pretend to understand what or why that includes TRC). For a while the only way you could replace a broken TRC was to send them the old one, but they stopped that years ago. I’ve seen Ric TRC on EBay for $100+. I asked Pickguardian, and he said he didn’t want a C&D letter, so I got hold of a correctly shaped blank and used it as a template for the Pearloid TRC on my 4003 clone build. Now you can buy highly convincing fake Ric TRC on Aliexpress in tort, other colors, etc., but don’t know of any US maker who will touch it with a ten foot pole.

 

[Arie X]

Rickenbacker Inc is Extremely protective of its “trade dress” (I won’t pretend to understand what or why that includes TRC). For a while the only way you could replace a broken TRC was to send them the old one, but they stopped that years ago. I’ve seen Ric TRC on EBay for $100+. I asked Pickguardian, and he said he didn’t want a C&D letter, so I got hold of a correctly shaped blank and used it as a template for the Pearloid TRC on my 4003 clone build. Now you can buy highly convincing fake Ric TRC on Aliexpress in tort, other colors, etc., but don’t know of any US maker who will touch it with a ten foot pole.

interesting, but no potential c&d for a pg? -weird. gibson (again, the benchmark lawsuit distributor) goes tactical on literally anything that looks like something of theirs. according to them, every element of the les paul contributes to the "recognizable look" and therefore is copyrighted. headstock, inlays, guards, etc..

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Yeah, I don’t get why a TRC but not pickguard, Allparts sells Ric clone guards, but they are kind of crappy. I actually bought one as a scaling device to draw a Ric body from photos, but it’s sharp edged, cheap plastic.

 

[rickledog]

WD has suspended custom jobs due to backlog. I have a WD I’m happy with, and they’re the only source I can find of orange glitter material I’d like for my next one.

I’d love to find a reliable custom shop that can make me what I’d like.

Dang, things must have slipped. I got mine (pearloid Ric guard) in two weeks, but that was three years ago. It had a router slip error, so I sent it back, new perfect one returned in another two weeks, he did refund postage. Second try was perfect, and he threw in some scrap offcuts I used for a TRC. Unfortunately crap CS seems to be the "new normal", but that can be fatal for a small business. S##t happens, but if you cant deliver, return the money with an apology.

The salad days

 

[rickledog]

Without seeing all of the emails from the OP, it is grossly unfair for anyone to pass judgement on the vendor. Nobody here knows what the OP said to the guy. Maybe he was super nice, maybe he was an utter jerk. Who knows? None of us.

Good point... I'll post the conversation.

 

[rickledog]

Here's the email chain. Other than letting him know I was frustrated about him extending his deadline (at 8-weeks), I was just making inquiries. I'm sure if I hadn't questioned why he kept pushing the timeline back on 5/27, none of this would have happened. But I think that's a reasonable request 8-weeks in when he had given a 1-2 week estimation two weeks prior. When he then pushed me back 2-weeks in two hours, I was was pretty frustrated, but just asked direct questions. When he then cancelled my order without asking, frustration turned to shock and anger, but it was just that. We never got personal.

3/23 Paid for my order in full, shipped the pickguard off, and notified Tony to expect it that Friday – no reply

3/26 Pickguard arrives at Pickguardian – no confirmation

4/25 Me: “Hi there. I just wanted to touch base to see if you had an ETA for the pickguard I sent.”

3/27 Tony: “I'm running behind. I'll let you know when it ships” – that’s it

5/8 Me: “Hi, Tony. I'm wondering if you can please give me an estimation on the timing for my pickguard. I understand you are running behind and don't want to be a pest, but it arrived 6-weeks ago and since the electronics are installed on the pickguard, I haven't been able to plug my bass”

5/11 Tony explained that he had some staffing issues and was working by himself, apologized for the inconvenience and said “… Your order should ship in the next week or two”. I was a fairly long and totally polite email.

5/25 Me: “Hi, Tony. I'm checking in on my pickguard again. It's now been with you for over 8 weeks, and it's been 2-weeks since you told me 1-2 more. I understand about your staffing challenges, but I'm honestly pretty frustrated at this point. Do you expect to finish it this week?”

5/27 Tony: “It might ship next week. I'll let you know when it ships. I can cancel the order if you prefer”

5/27 Me: “Canceling my order is not ideal, as I've already spent money to ship it to you and would presumably need to spend money to return ship it, not to mention the lost time of having to ship it off to someone else. I’m mostly wondering why if you told me 1 to 2 weeks, it's now 3 weeks at least -- and that's not even a firm commitment. Are you putting other orders ahead of mine? I don't think asking for a firm commitment on when you can ship this is too much to ask considering I shipped it with the understanding it would be a one-to-two-week turnaround.

5/27 Tony: “Things happen beyond my control. I have customers waiting longer than that. If you can wait a few more weeks, I should be able to get it done. If not, I can cancel the order.”

5/27 Me: “I’m a bit confused. How did we go from one more week to three more weeks in two hours? On May 11, you said "Your order should ship in the next week or two". This morning (5/27) you said "it might ship next week", then 2-hours later you said " If you can wait a few more weeks, I should be able to get it done". Am I being penalized for enquiring about my order? Are you prioritizing existing clients over new ones? Have you shut down the business temporarily? As I said before, cancelling my order is not ideal. I am already out shipping costs and over 8-weeks without my bass, plus I'm assuming I would be responsible for the return shipping. Is that right?


5/27 Tony: I’ll just cancel your order and ship your guard back at my cost. Good luck with your project.”

5/27 Me: “Seriously? Rather than just finish it after keeping it for 8 weeks? This is what I get for checking in with you? Please just finish it and send it to me. I really don't understand. My questions were honest. Why would you pull the rug out on me because I pointed out your changing estimations? I asked about whether I'd need to pay shipping back IF I cancelled... and specifically said that wouldn't be ideal. What did I do to deserve you cancelling without me requesting it?”

5/27 Tony: “Now I’m completely out of Tortoise/M/B/M. There is a worldwide shortage of celluloid. My supplier won’t have any coming in until September at the earliest. It’s probably best if I just return your guard.”

Neither of us ever made it personal in our language. We had a few other emails after this where I requested shipping and expressed disappointment in how he handled it, but that's it. All I can say is that he continued to show no concern or regret about my lost time and money, but he was never overtly rude.

 

[rickledog]

imo, 1 to 2 week turnaround is not long enough esp. if you have other projects in queue and you are the only one doing the work. to claim this across the board just seems irresponsible. it's unlikely achievable if for example you have 20 orders due in a week or perhaps 30 orders within two weeks, with multiple quantities and materials -crafting all by yourself, by hand. working sometimes with irreplaceable originals that require care and good measurement, etc... something appears wrong with the business model or its execution.

maybe if the delivery estimate was more reality based and the communication was more consistently timely and pro-active, things would improve. the guards look really awesome and i would hate to see another resource fall.

100%

 

[LetItGrowTone]

Judging only from the email exchange posted above, I'd say that Tony was reasonable.

 

[JRA]

FWIW:

i received my order of three pickguards from tony yesterday! it was a 12 week wait (ordered on 3/4), and two emails to check progress, but = he delivered! they're all beautiful! i'll get one of them installed in the next few days and post a pic.

Judging only from the email exchange posted above, I'd say that Tony was reasonable.

i don't think he's an unreasonable individual --- i think he's been hamstrung (no help, less help) during a pandemic when everyone and their brother (including me!) decided that they needed a new pickguard to put on their ax because they weren't gigging and had nothing better to do...during a pandemic!

 

[rickledog]

Judging only from the email exchange posted above, I'd say that Tony was reasonable.

I think he either gives unrealistic timelines that aren't based on reality or punished me for asking about that. Either way... that's no way to treat a customer.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

If a customer adopted such an accusatory tone with me I'd cancel the order, refund, and cease communications.

"Are you putting other orders ahead of mine?"

"Am I being penalized for enquiring about my order? Are you prioritizing existing clients over new ones?"

 

[rickledog]

If a customer adopted such an accusatory tone with me I'd cancel the order, refund, and cease communications.

"Are you putting other orders ahead of mine?"

"Am I being penalized for enquiring about my order? Are you prioritizing existing clients over new ones?"

If a customer adopted such an accusatory tone with me I'd cancel the order, refund, and cease communications.

"Are you putting other orders ahead of mine?"

"Am I being penalized for enquiring about my order? Are you prioritizing existing clients over new ones?"

I’ve run two businesses. If I miss a deadline, I proactively contact my customers to let them know why and to give a firm deadline for when I will have their work done. I've never missed a second deadline, but if I did, you can bet I’d show a conciliatory attitude and make it right. My first question came after multiple previous check-ins and missed deadlines without further explanation. A simple explanation and a firm deadline would have fixed this. Two questions = a good estimation for time. How many orders are in front of this client? How many days should that take? It's not hard -- unless you are moving some clients to the front of the line.

Deadlines matter. I would expect some frustration and hard questions from a customer if I treated them like that. I guess customer service is dead.

 

[Black Out Jazz]

I’ve run two businesses. If I miss a deadline, I proactively contact my customers to let them know why and to give a firm deadline for when I will have their work done. I've never missed a second deadline, but if I did, you can bet I’d show a conciliatory attitude and make it right. My first question came after multiple previous check-ins and missed deadlines without further explanation. A simple explanation and a firm deadline would have fixed this. Two questions = a good estimation for time. How many orders are in front of this client? How many days should that take? It's not hard -- unless you are moving some clients to the front of the line.

Deadlines matter. I would expect some frustration and hard questions from a customer if I treated them like that. I guess customer service is dead.

Like your order!