SlipperySquid

Hi again all! Thought I'd hit you with an update! So managed to go to the shop on my dinner break (really hate missing my lunch....so was not in the best of moods on arrival!). Managed to take said poorly re-fret dressed guitar with me. Now the shop assistant that I saw that day was more than apologetic about what had gone on, looked over the guitar and said he would like to send it back to the luthier to get a better job done. I (as most of your good selves would) refused as I didn't want the said luthier anywhere near it. This went on for about ten minutes with me pointing out what was wrong and him trying to explain what happened. (the luthier would sooner leave a divet in the fret then have to file it down as he'd have to file all the others to compensate which could take a few years out of the life of the frets, to which I said, why not replace the fret?) As to the poor setup of the guitar etc he said that he probably hadn't done it as he was not told to. I showed him the receipt which showed all the work I wanted carrying out, poor chap didn't have an answer. Anyway then I went on to say how I didn't expect to be lied to by the other assistant and that when a shop says it will call you back it should. He agreed. Then the fun started when the owner of the shop appeared! Of course he was sticking up for his assistant as any good boss should, but unfortunately didn't have a clue what the problems where and just jumped in. He said that they had offered to send the guitar back what more did I want? I said that I didn't want the want the guitar to have to go away again nor did I want the luthier to work on it again. He then turned and walked off muttering a comment, then I lost my sh*t. Told him what I thought of his customer service,his attitude and what a great show for his employees and customers (there where a couple of people in the shop obviously embarrassed). Anyway he stormed back ask me what I wanted, I said refund so I could take it to a competent luthier that would get the job done first time. He said give him it....and stormed off, not before I got his name and confirmed he was the owner. He didn't seem to understand that I was pissed off and it was more my fault then there own? as they had offered a resolution.....but not my I say an apology. At the end of it all, I have the amp back that works and the guitar will be going to another luthier in the new year to get a full refret and setup (no point messing about) The assistant giving the refund said he totally understood where I was coming from and I apologised for having him in the middle of something that was not personally his fault. Anyway, about 20 mins later I had the owner phoning me and apologising saying what he did was inexcusable. To little to late for me I'm afraid. So anyone that visits the good old city of Hull, please remember to not visit Antone Guitars on Beverley Road. Nor should they talk to the owner "Tony" or believe anything the assistant "Phil" has to tell you as he's more interested in surfing the net. The other lad (can't remember his name) that tried to help me on the other hand is a good lad! I really will be buying online from now on. Sorry for the long post, Merry Christmas to all!

Cheers again chaps, I'll put my thoughts to paper and send them to both Blackstar and the shop in question! [quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1387320697' post='2310788'] I know the shop you're talking about and it's not as good as it used to be I don't know why but the offer is a lot poorer both on instruments and accessories and strings. My last three visits have resulted in no purchases even though I had the cash and went on to purchase elsewhere. There are better luthiers in the area (the town centre shops have better ones) Steve [/quote] Glad it's not just me being an asshole then Steve.PM me your recommendations when you get a chance sir! I was going to take it to a guy near Doncaster as I'd read good things about him (I think it was Stuart Palmer) I wish I had but on the shops recommendation I used there in house one. I'll see how this goes at the weekend when I go in!

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1387308870' post='2310587'] If the amp's only 6 months old I'd be asking for a replacement under your statutory rights. No ifs or buts. I wouldn't leave the shop until you get the replacement either & raise it every time a customer comes in if they won't agree. [/quote] Already thought about that but it doesn't work. It's down to the manufacturers choice.

Thanks again chaps for the replies, you've brought up some valid points that I will be pursuing! I will name and shame the shop after I see the guy face to face on Saturday and ask what he thought he would achieve by lying to a customer? I'm sure a face to face meeting will be more embarrassing then the rambling stuttering telephone call I had with them earlier. Thing is it's a small independent shop and I think it's the manager/ owner I was talking to (will confirm this later). Sad really. The manufacturer of the amp by the way is BlackStar which where onto the shop faster than lightening! Which if you look at where I live will tell you the shop

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1387301385' post='2310481'] Just to be sure, is it possible there was a mix-up inside the shop? Could the person you spoke to have genuinely thought the amp had been sent back to the manufacturer by someone else in the shop? Even so, not really an excuse for poor service but could be the reason for the 'lies' perhaps? A sorry tale though. Even a £1000 amp failing after 6 months is not that great [/quote] No mate, because the person I spoke to, who had apparently spoke to the manufacturer of the amp on two occasions would have known that they never had it. They also assured me that they would personally tell them that it was urgently needed...lol..the more I think about it you can only laugh I'm not to bothered about the amp failing to be honest as I can understand these things happen...it's what happens after they fail that counts

Cheers all for the replies. Just needed some where to vent really, sorry it fell to you guys I know I won't be using them again which is a shame really. They are not a service centre but have had the ok to do the work by the manufacturer (had this confimed via email from the manufacturer who where spot on! ) though I'm still pissed as it could be an underlying problem and still may need to go back if the valve change doesn't rectify it. I had offered to pay for the amp to be revalved but was told that it needed to go back. Funnily enough after three weeks of sat who knows where it didn't need to go back at all.... Thanks again. I'll update as things go on.

Hi all! Just looking for a bit of advice really on what course of action I could take or expect? My son bought an amp locally instead of using the internet as I'm a firm believer in supporting your local shops in any hobby I do so decided to pass this on. Anyway he decided on the amp (Not cheap by the way just under a grand, don't want to name brands or anything as yet) was over the moon with it until after 6 months it developed a fault, no biggy as it's warranted for 3 years. Took it back to the shop explained the fault and they said that it had to go back to the manufacturers. All well and good. Son was disapointed as he had two gigs back to back but these things happen. After a week I phoned to see if any progress had been made because in a couple of weeks time he would need the amp for recording. I was assured that they would phone the manufacturers and get a estimated time. After about another 4 days I had no return call but but decided to get one of my sons guitars frets dressed, new heavier guage strings and a full setup. So took that in and got the guitar off to there in house luthier. I asked again about the amp and the guy said they had heard nothing back but would ring again and follow up. Got the guitar back after a week got it home to find a pretty poor job over all, file marks on all the frets, intonation being out, strings not sitting in the nut correctly and even one of the frets still containing wear! Pissed off to say the least as it was supposed to be part of a Christmas present. Well today after nearly three weeks I decided to phone the manufacturer themselves to see what was going as as my son is recording tomorrow, to be told they hadn't even received the amp in question! and they would phone the shop in question. Low and behold within ten minutes the shop where phoning me explaining an apparent mixup (twice I asked and was assured that they would contact the makers of the amp and see what was going on) and the amp had been repaired by there own tech as they had diagnosed the fault themselves. (I was told the amp HAD to go back to the manufacturers to make sure nothing else was wrong with it) and that it was ready to be picked up. Now I'm pissed off....really pissed off but need some one with a sane brain to explain what I should do to make myself feel better? It's the lying that's really got me down...more than the sh*tty luthier work.There explanation of why it never ended up going to the manufacturers.....you'll love it. We never had a box to put it in......... Sorry to vent on the forum but hey ho.....If they had done what they where telling me they where doing then the "Mix up" would have been sorted sooner and my lad would be recording with his amp. I'll post photo's of the fret dress and set up later....no doubt that will also be another mixup.

Awesome! :-D

Really liked it, keep uo the work. Really dig the basslines.

The Holoflash REX2000-4 is a bloody beast!

Got to agree, the P-bass is lovely