I am the person who started the thread.
First off, I would like to say that I had made sure not to name any names as far as the people I dealt with at EBMM so as not to point the finger at anyone. Several folks have made assumptions about who it was (and most of them are incorrect), so I’ll ask people to not assume who I’ve spoken to so as not to drag anyone’s name into this who aren’t involved.
I did not post anything on the EBMM board, or contact their customer service again, as I didn’t feel the need to. I was told my bass would be taken care of and that I’d be called if need be. I’m a patient person, so I didn’t feel like “bugging” anyone at EBMM before I felt I needed to- I always feel it’s better to let people do their work in peace, and you’ll end up with a better result because of it. I also didn’t post in the EBMM forums asking what is going on with my bass because I was told I’d be updated, and to be honest I see no reason why I (or anyone else) shouldn't be updated just as regularly as those who aren't forum members- speaking as someone who runs his own business and has dealt with many customer service issues, it’s not my job to ask.
I finally contacted them yesterday after a friend advised me to. I did not call Customer Service again after receiving my email because I didn’t feel there was a need…what more could be done? Getting an apology from someone else on the issue wouldn’t change the past events. I didn’t think I should contact Sterling, a very busy professional, to ask for an apology for something that was not his doing. I posted my experience on TalkBass because I’ve been a regular member there for four years, and it is common to share any c.s. experience, good or bad, with fellow members. I had planed on posting in the EBMM forum as well, but just hadn’t done so yet. I only posted my TalkBass thread last night. I was also worried that some EBMM posters might become overly defensive about the issue if I posted it in their own forum- I felt TalkBass was a better place to post as it has people both with and without vested interests in EBMM.
Some of the posts I’ve seen in this thread have led me to believe I was correct. It was assumed that I said something wrong and outwardly hostile; seeing quotes like “And to see you guys get slagged like that just burns me up!” and “If someone is unhappy with customer service at EB then the problem must be with them.”
It has been said that I was “bashing our team”, which is not at all true. I went out of my way to make sure I did not say anything derogative, and I mentioned nothing of EBMM outside of the customer service I received from a specific person. When it was stated that “Eh, while your sitatuation is certainly unfortuante, they are doing what they can to make it better.” on the TalkBass thread, I responded:
“They are, and I'm grateful for that. It's not like I'm furious or anything, or have a chip on my shoulder against EB/MM- I was just unhappy at how things were done. I don't think it's a sign of bad customer service in general either- EB has some of the best customer service from all the things I've read. Just wanted to relay my story.”
Other people may have slagged EBMM at TalkBass, but it was not me and I take no responsibility for them doing so. Likewise, EBMM is not responsible for forum members blaming me for my issues or claiming I attacked EBMM, but it may give an insight as to why I was leary about posting here first. I also never complained that my problem wasn’t being fixed- my issue is just how it was initially taken care of- and I also don’t blame anyone for chipping the body. The body is being replaced and I made no complaints about it.
As to why I did not contact Sterling, Brian, etc., as I stated in the TB thread, I'm actually patient to a fault sometimes. I had assumed that they had started shipping the bass back already because I didn't think that they'd go so far as to keep it three weeks without telling me about it. I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.
There are two sides to every story and I’m sure that the person whom I spoke with has a different story than I have. And I know that even if their perspective is different from mine, they are not wrong to have it and may have seen the situation in a completely different manner. I never denied this. While I wouldn’t go to the point of saying EBMM has gone to EXTREME lengths to make me happy (I sent the bass in to have some frets replaced, and that’s what they did), I will say that they are taking care of their business and I am very grateful of that. I am also grateful the Sterling has taken the time to apologize publicly. Even though you may run things, I don’t blame you at all (nor EBMM as a whole) and you didn’t have to apologize for a mistake that wasn’t yours. I am thankful.
The TalkBass thread was closed because apparently some folks started posting some hostile things- I didn’t see the posts as they occurred after I had turned off my computer and the thread was edited and closed because of these posts. Just as thread pertaining to great customer service abound on the EBMM and TalkBass forums are not seen as something that should be kept between the musician and the customer service team, I don’t feel that threads expressing negative customer service should be kept between the musician and the customer service team. I did not post on TalkBass to try to resolve my issues- as I’ve stated, the only issues I have are now in the past and can’t be helped. I do not wish for there to be any sort of inter-forum hostility of any sort, and please accept my apologies if anyone has felt that I handled the situation improperly. I handled it as I saw fit, but that may not coalesce with other people’s ideas of how the situation should have been handled and I send my apologies to those who feel this way.
BTW, thanks to Dave for pointing out all of the y's in my name
It's probably because I've told him in the past that it's almost always spelled incorrectly- they even spelled it with an i on my Junior High graduation certificate
