Let's see what happens

[NorM]

This should be fun to watch. Let's put another company's service department to the test. What follows is an email I sent out. I will do my best to not divulge the company name or any contact information. If you have been reading this forum for any length of time you can figure out who is who. I present this as an effort to help us realize just how good Ernie Ball Music Man is at customer relations vs. Company X. I invite your commentary.

In an effort to keep things objective, I will only present to you what I presented to Company X. Again, edits are made to not list names.

 

[NorM]

The email I sent

Greetings,

I recently had Company X pickups installed in another one of my guitars. The problem with Company X, I tell people, is that once you play them, nothing else will do. I love these pickups and I have them in 5 of my guitars. Since I wanted it done right I had them professionally installed. I got the guitar home and started to play them and loved the sound. Then I noticed the volume pot had dead spots and was scratchy. The set I installed was (Bridge to neck) Model #1, Model#2, Model #3. So, the volume pot was the push-pull. I took the guitar back to the Luthier. (he works in a guitar store that sells Company X products and is the only person I trust to do my guitar work (Guitar Store #1 Tucson AZ)) We tried using contact cleaner on the pot but the pot was still bad. The store where I bought the Model #3 (Guitar Store #2 Tucson AZ) was good enough to swap the defective pot out for another one.

The guitar was put back together in good order but there was the issue paying for the installers services for the r/r of the pot. The cost was $25 dollars which I think is very fair considering all of the connections that have to be made on this pot. Well, I had to pay this fee. I really didn't have any other options. The fault for this, I believe, is on Company X's part. Honestly, should I have to pay to have a part to be reinstalled when the original was bad from the manufacture?

I am asking that I be reimbursed for the removal and replacement of the defective 25K Ohm DPDT pot that was purchased new with a Model #3 Pickup in the amount of $25.

If you have any questions I am available via email at norm's email address , or phone at 520.call.norm
I can provide the receipts for the purchase of the pickups, The installation of the pickups and the r/r of the bad pot.
Super Luthier, the luthier who did the installation, can be contacted at Guitar Store #1
520.call.store#1 or his personal line right to his shop is 520.call super tech
Guitar Store #2, where I bought the pickup and swapped out the pot, phone number is 520.call.store#2

I would also like to invite you to read a thread on the Ernie Ball Music Man guitar forum where I sing the praises of Company X's pickups. Included in this thread are pictures of three of my guitars with Company X's pickups.
Guitar 1
Guitar 2
Guitar 3 <--This is the guitar that had the bad pot

ed. There were some links in the email that were ommited from this post

Thank you for your assistance in resolving this matter and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards
norm
norm's address
Tucson AZ
85xxx

 

[NorM]

The response from Company X

Hello;

I'm sorry, but I cannot reimburse you. You should have contacted me immediately when you suspected that the pot was defective. I then would have sent you a replacement at no charge.

Taking it upon yourself to have the pot replaced is outside of the coverage provided by our warranty. Doing things outside of our established business practices does not hold us to what you determine is the correct solution to your situation.

If you care to send the pot back, I will still replace it at no charge.

I'm also taking the liberty of forwarding this to our General Manager for review.

Best Regards,

Dude
Tech Support
Company X Pickups

 

[NorM]

My return response

Dude,

Thank you for the speedy reply. In reading your reply, I think you may have missed the point of my original email. I am not seeking reimbursement for the pot. That was replaced without incident by the good people at Guitar Store #2 guitars here in Tucson. What I am seeking is to be reimbursed for is the cost for the labor that was necessary to replace the defective pot that was included with the pickup.

If you bought a part for your car and the repair shop installed it, should you have to pay to have it reinstalled when the part was found to be defective? Should I or the the technician be expected to perform quality assurance tests on new parts before installing them?

In your email you wrote:
Taking it upon yourself to have the pot replaced is outside of the coverage provided by our warranty.

The decision to replace the pot was made by myself and the very qualified luthier at a store that carries Company X pickups. They are your sales representatives. If you sell your pickups in their store it's only logical that you feel they are qualified to make that decision and to speak for you. Reasonable efforts were made to correct the situation before the determination was made to replace the pot.

Also in your email you wrote:
Doing things outside of our established business practices does not hold us to what you determine is the correct solution to your situation.

Again I followed the advice of two separate music stores that are your dealers. What I determined to be the correct solution to my situation was a function of advice from your sales representatives.

I think it was entirely appropriate that you forwarded my original email to your general manager. For that I thank you. I look forward to hearing back from either of you as I feel this matter is still unresolved.

Sincerely,
Norm

 

[PurpleSport]

Hey Norm -

Great letters, and very tactful way of dealing with these folks, and I totally sympathize with your plight.

My guess is they're wanting you to have called them before you had it replaced because they wanted to ship you the part from their stock at their expense - they'll probably argue that it's less expensive for them to do it that way rather than reimburse the dealer for handling it on their own, factoring in the cost of the pot, shipping, dealer repair charges, etc. My guess is the actual pot cost is rather negligible when all is said and done - perhaps a few cents to a few bucks. At the end of the day, they'd still have to pay the installer if they really wanted to do the right thing, and I'm betting they probably wanted to first try to arrange having the service done at a discount rate with the dealer (kind of like the bottom-rate dealer cost vs. the retail price when a dealer buys guitars or parts from a manufacturer) - or have you take it to someone who does it cheaper if your dealer's service charges were deemed too high.

Whatever happens, it'd be a shame to see them screw you over on this no-brainer. If the general manager gives you the same line and doesn't want to reimburse you at the end of this, a letter to the company prez/CEO is probably in order telling them that you're rethinking your being a longtime fan of theirs and will be adjusting your future tone and purchase choices accordingly...

Just my 2 cents - I hate it when companies get too big and corporate for their britches and nickel and dime longtime customers like that.

 

[zabba]

Of course the pot company WAS responsible to see that the pot was replaced.

Knowing there was a warranty on the pot and on the labor The shop that did the repair shop would have called in advance then informed you of what charges you would be paying.
That would be a standard proceedure
$28.00 was not excessive , it would have cost very little to call the pot company

Perhaps you did not inform the repair shop that this was a a fix subject to warranty until after it had been repaired.

In a court room , you might have a tough time , without
at the very least attempting to contact the company in advance.
Giving them the opportunity to set it right, but you never gave them a chance.

The way it was done , the pot compamy was put in a position that thye had to deny everything.,
becaise this is how a scammer would try to work a litigation claim

 

[dwf1004]

Can I just say, for the sake of humor, that "calling the pot comany" and "litigation" in the same topic makes me feel as if we should move this discussion to the "High Times" forum?

 

[NorM]

Well, That is Cool!!!!!

Well today, Jack, the vice-president of company X pickups called me on the phone. He told me that since company X was not contacted before the repair was made there was really no way company X could be held liable. Furthermore, the possibility of getting a check cut for this situation was not going to happen. We also talked about why I purchased the pickup at store #2 and had them installed at store #1. As it turns out, store #2 is one of the longest running customers with company X pickups. They enjoy a great relationship and I think that's great. Jack also told me that store #2 had offered to do the labor to replace the pot.

At that time the guitar was already open on someone else's bench. Also, I was fighting the clock as I had a performance that night. So while store #2 may have offered to do the replacement I might have not heard/listened to the idea. I do remember that both stores told me that I would have to contact company X myself if I wanted to be reimbursed for the labor charge of reinstalling the pot. Jack told me he understood why I took the course of action I did.

Then Jack told me it was more important that all of company X's customers be happy. To that end, he offered to send me some cool company X swag (Good Stuff) including T-shirt, hat etc. And that the value of this package would be way more than what I was seeking in my claim. I see this as a very amicable solution to the situation and I am very happy. Company X gets another happy satisfied customer (again) and a walking know-it-all billboard who doesn't know when to keep his trap shut. (Sorry, Oh Brother where art thou was on the other night and I love that movie) I get to rock out with company X's pickups, wear cool swag that no one else has and talk to people about something I like. (I like to talk.)

I also spoke with Jack about the possibility of becoming a company X endorsee. I'll follow up on that and see how it goes. (I know there are no promises there but it will be fun to try) Jack also said he would call the super luthier at store #2 to tell him the good news. Norm is happy, Company X is happy. And in the future if there is ever a problem, call me……Call me now! Company X is here for you.

I started this thread because I wanted others to see how this type of situation would be handled. It may have been unfair to company X for me to air my "grievance". But this is America and we have that right. Also, I knew that company X would come through and I wanted to share this success story as it happens. People have mentioned in the past about how EBMM customer service is the coolest. I agree. From the stories I have heard, and experienced, I think EBMM does way more than is necessary to keep their customers happy. If that is part of their recipe for success then I like the smell of what they've got cooking. Furthermore, I can't wait to come back and eat again. If you know what I mean.

I still feel the same way about company X too. What I have tried to tell people in the past is, if you have a problem with me, come talk to me. Go straight to the source. I have also heard that sentiment echoed by the good people at EBMM (cough jon cough). I think that's a perfect way to be. What I learned is that I should follow that advice more closely myself.

Oh yeah, one more thing.



EMG Pickups Rock!!

EMG 25 years of active pickup technology

I have been a customer for over 20 years and I am looking forward to 50 more.

 

[zabba]

The true adventures of Norm , never a dull moment


Pehaps the EMG company might be interested in showcasing aome of your Guitars, for advertizing purposes.,
Maybe they will even supply you with the pups for another build.

You are in a enviable position , having the ears and eyes of so many people, not that EMG needs you . But they are better off with your support.

Sometimes the squeeky wheel gets the grease,
sometimes it gets driven ,untill till it fails,
If it keeps squeeking it gets replaced
.

My bet is Jack scaned your posting history in the forum and realized who he was dealing with
Saying you are in the Hell's Angels has a similar effect