HELP! Need advice on neck joint crack on new Petrucci

[AVH]

Really bummed out.....

I bought a brand new fully loaded JP from Make 'n Music in Chicago. It arrived yesterday and my heart dropped when I saw the crack. It's on the treble side thin, almost a inch long and won't catch a fingernail.

John Riemer at Make 'n Music says I can return it at my expense for a refund or file a claim with the courier FedEx.

So what to do??

If I return for a refund, I lose shipping to and from.

If I return it and ask for a new one, I could end up waiting a while, paying 3 times the shipping and still run the risk of this happening again.

Anyone have experience on filing a claim? How much should I ask for?? How much can I get? Any chance they FedEx will say it wasn't properly packed and I get nothing? The guitar was in a molded Musicman case in original shipping carton with a small piece of bubblewrap on the bottom.

Any advice much appreciated

 

[NorM]

That is dissapointing.
You are going to ship that guitar out. And it will be at your expense. That is a risk you take when mail ordering guitars.
I think you should send it back to the store. However, customer service is a pleasure to deal with at EBMM

 

[mbgreene]

Stress cracks in a JP finish has been covered numerous times on the forum (but I don't remember any too recently)

Before you do anything, you might want to do a search for threads and posting references.

here is an example

http://www.ernieball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1823&highlight=stress+crack

Did you see the guitar before it was shipped to you? Was this in the shop's inventory or ordered specifically for you and immediately forwarded on receipt by the store?

You may also want to to contact EB customer service directly.