Response to customer service thread on tb

[Big Poppa]

First of thanks Steve for forwarding me this.

Secondly Brian, You dont feel good and Im sorry for that. We really dont want make any experience with our team an unpleasant one. I will find out what the other side of the story was because there always is one and get to the bottom of this.

I will ask Jon to post a timeline on this issue publically. From your post your problem is a two fold communication communication problem wih Jon. THe first is the arguement, and the second is not being notified that your bass would take three weeks to fix. Am I correct?

The thread is pretty interesting and gives additional insight into the internet. Im am once again glad that many of you are not supreme court justices. Not many people said, "hey whats EB's side of the story", it was "they screwed you and were all wrong."
We are taking care of Brian as we speak. We were hung publically. Brian you are a forum member and surely know that you can have direct contact with me seven days a week via the forum. I find it kind of unfair that you would hang us on talk bass given the amount of time our team invests here.

The poster that called Jon a moron becasue of the body chip was really not very fair or accurate. Body chips can happen, There is stress created by the neck plate and as mentioned the neck socket.

 

[JB1]

Bravo, Sterling.

Fair to say that someone had a bad experience and now EBMM are puttting it straight.......I hope there is a happy ending for everyone in this scenario.

 

[Aragorn35016]

This makes me extremely angry!! I wish they hadn't closed the thread so I could have had the chance to defend Jon and EBMM. Jon is a top notch guy! He's hooked me up not once but twice and was a super nice guy the one time I talked to him on the phone. Got a refret done for an insanely low price on my sterling, and he hooked me up with a tuning key for my SR5 that I had. Ive never seen an instrument company or any company for that matter put so much love into what they make. And to see you guys get slagged like that just burns me up!

 

[Hutton]

If someone is unhappy with customer service at EB then the problem must be with them. I've never known a company to go to the lengths that EB does to keep it's customers happy. Also how many company heads are willing to make themselves available on public forums. EB RULES OK!

 

[Joshua]

Some of the responses in this thread explain quite well (imo) why he perhaps did not start a thread here.

 

[Psycho Ward]

EBMM Customer Service is the best in the business; this must be some sort of other problem. Shame it got out of hand.

Customer Service went above and beyond the call of duty for me just recently and I got the coveted “Juan Guitars” pick!

 

[bovinehost]

Some of the responses in this thread explain quite well (imo) why he perhaps did not start a thread here.

I don't have much more to say past what I already said over on TB, except:

1. Jon has taken care of more problems than I can count, and I have a damned calculator right here. He's always gone out of his way to try to keep our instruments playing properly.

2. Communication can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. If I had a bass in for repair, even if it was with Jon, and I didn't hear from anyone for a while, I might pick up the phone and see what was up.

3. If anyone has a problem and doesn't feel that Sterling is the right person to talk to about it or that the forum isn't the proper place to bring it up, you can most certainly email me for advice. Hey, it's happened before, and I don't mind.

Just my two cents.

Jack

 

[maddog]

As Sterling mentioned, there are always two sides. My feeling on the matter is that there was miscommunication on both sides and I don't think it was intentional. I've been thru situations like this and you find out that it was an incident over not much. Some of my best friends are results of events like this and after everyone calmed down, you realized the other person was actually a cool person. The most important part is that Sterling is willing to pursue open dialogue and fix things. I hope the guy sees this and keeps an open mind as well.

 

[HeavyDuty]

Guys (you too, Sterling ) –

I only have a second – I'm at work. I can't log in to TB from here, but I will post something in the closed thread tonight. Sterling, do I have your permission to copy your response or to link to this thread?

Aragorn35016, that's *exactly* why the thread was closed. Eevrybody jumping onto the pile. It just adds fuel to the fire.

 

[ras1983]

my first thought was had he posted on the EBMM forum he would have gotten a much faster response and he could have potentially been much happier.

now that i have had time to think about the whole situation, brian may have been stuffed around initially, but EBMM have gone to EXTREME lengths to make him happy.

Ah who gives a damn, my bongo is fine.

 

[Joshua]

I don't have much more to say past what I already said over on TB, except:

1. Jon has taken care of more problems than I can count, and I have a damned calculator right here. He's always gone out of his way to try to keep our instruments playing properly.

2. Communication can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. If I had a bass in for repair, even if it was with Jon, and I didn't hear from anyone for a while, I might pick up the phone and see what was up.

3. If anyone has a problem and doesn't feel that Sterling is the right person to talk to about it or that the forum isn't the proper place to bring it up, you can most certainly email me for advice. Hey, it's happened before, and I don't mind.

Just my two cents.

Jack

I agree 100%, however my original post still stands.

Would Bryan have been treated respectfully had he posted his issue(s) here? Some of the responses to this particular thread answer that question for us (not yours Jack)...

 

[ras1983]

I agree 100%, however my original post still stands.

Would Bryan have been treated respectfully had he posted his issue(s) here? Some of the responses to this particular thread answer that question for us (not yours Jack)...

Its not a question of respect, its the fact that several EBMM workers frequent this forum. so thats potentially more contacts with the company, which any poster here can have. i know that i got the build date of my bongo almost immediately because i posted it on this forum. i'm sure if i did this via e-mail or phone it would have taken longer.

the internet is here to stay, and it makes many things easier. its time people take advantage of this.

 

[MM Mike]

i'm feeling a little devious today. Follow me to TB, won't you?

heavyduty,

just curious. and i do not write this b/c of the MM instance in particular, but b/c i have seen other threads of the same nature at TB, why would Paul permit "dirty laundry" topics such as this? my guess is that such threads would be more of a liability for him than a contribution to his otherwise fine site? just a thought.

 

[Big Poppa]

I agree 100%, however my original post still stands.

Would Bryan have been treated respectfully had he posted his issue(s) here? Some of the responses to this particular thread answer that question for us (not yours Jack)...

Joshua,
I think that most people get treated nicely here. It is all in the delivery.

 

[shamus63]

Joshua,
I think that most people get treated nicely here. It is all in the delivery.

And, as it's been stated many times before, it's often difficult to read the emotion in text, as opposed to talking on the phone when there's a problem.

 

[Big Poppa]

Guys (you too, Sterling ) –

I only have a second – I'm at work. I can't log in to TB from here, but I will post something in the closed thread tonight. Sterling, do I have your permission to copy your response or to link to this thread?

Aragorn35016, that's *exactly* why the thread was closed. Eevrybody jumping onto the pile. It just adds fuel to the fire.

Please post it but you may want to add this.

Jon doesn't work on fridays. In a perfect world I would like to defend both my customer and employee. I am also not saying that Brian didn't get treated right,or Jon was right or wrong. Lets just hear both sides of the story.Sometimes bad things happen in the best of enviornments. We make mistakes. We are not 'morons' as suggested in the thread, we actually care about what we do.

My response to Brian was just there is a toll free number first. If not satisfied then post on the forum and you will get the attention of all at EB. Bashing our team on TB without giving us ONE chance to fix the problems or soothe his feelings is not a great example of a two way street.

 

[koogie2k]

Wow...what a read.

It is a shame that Brian had issues with his bass and that there was a mishap back at SLO. In this business, mishaps happen and that is just the way it is. I think we can all agree to that....simply put, Murphy's Law is everywhere!

Obviously, Brian has frustrations and vented on another board. His right to do so. He did and so be it. Conversations between two individuals can always be taken different ways between the two. Brian thought he was being "gaffed" off by the CS rep, but, the CS rep may have felt he did his job adequately. Depends on how you take things.

Big Poppa and EBMM are taking care of the situation as they always do. I do not know who Brian talked to at CS, but, if he was not satisfied, he could have e-mailed Brian Ball about his frustration. I have talked to Brian Ball via e-mail and all my dumb questions were answered within 24 hours. He is a great guy and was extremely helpful. Plus, we had a good time hanging out at the Open House!

Posting problems on the forum prior to calling Customer Service is something that should not be done here. Give the Customer Service folks a chance first, if not happy, use the e-mail method to Brian, Beth, Jon....whoever. Publically putting out the problem on this forum should be the last thing you do.

Thinking of selling the bongo? Your perogative. I don't care either way to be honest....it is yours to do as you see fit. However, you will be missing out on a great bass that is coming back to you darn near brand new. Again, your call.

Obvisously, some of the peeps on the Talk Bass forum ain't got a clue as to how things work at EBMM. They, EBMM, don't stock blanks. That is the reason for the extra time involved.

Calling out Jon....I would take a bullet for him....so, get in line! You have no idea how dedicated he is to his craft. He is a super cool dude and quite frankly, the peeps over at TB need to shut their mouth about him. I don't go to the TB forum because of this kind of thing. Jon is a friend and would not purposely harm anyone's instrument. Again, those who called him out that don't know him....STFU!

No need to bash on Brian who is getting his bass fixed. We all need to chill and let Big Poppa and EBMM do their thing......that is fix the bass and satisfy the customer.

I know first hand how worried Big Poppa gets when their is an unsatisfied customer. He truly truly cares. It shows and he will get it done.

Now, I am dizzy and have to go away for a while. Prior accident has caused some problems.

 

[Joshua]

Joshua,
I think that most people get treated nicely here. It is all in the delivery.

Absolutely, and I agree that most do get treated nicely. However, when someone posts something potentially negative about EBMM, there is very often a "piling on" of sorts, and I've been here long enough so as to have seen it happen.

Imo Bryan was very careful in his post not to diminish the customer service experiences that other's have had with EB, merely posting his own. I have known Bryan online for many years, and he is as straight a shooter as they come.

 

[Jazzbassman23]

Now, I am dizzy and have to go away for a while. Prior accident has caused some problems.

Ahh, the Bongo low-B rumble shook a few synapses loose I suspect

My experience with EB's CS gets them an A+ in my book which is more than I can say for a certain bass cabinet maker whose name I will not divulge out loud.

 

[Aragorn35016]

Guys (you too, Sterling ) –

I only have a second – I'm at work. I can't log in to TB from here, but I will post something in the closed thread tonight. Sterling, do I have your permission to copy your response or to link to this thread?

Aragorn35016, that's *exactly* why the thread was closed. Eevrybody jumping onto the pile. It just adds fuel to the fire.

I perfectly understand why you closed the thread, to be honest I would have done the same thing If I were in your shoes. Now that I've had time to think about it, I know it wouldn't have helped anything for me to post. I guess its just natural to want to take a bullet for those you respect.