Billy Apple Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 (edited) After folk here recommending Spitfire guards and seeing the work on the site, I thought I'd take the plunge and splash out on one of these very pricey items from the States. After browsing the site I decided on a light relic vintage burgundy in the crazy '70's style. Vintage burgundy is described pictorially on the Spitfire site as thus.. And this these are the crazy 70's style.. After paying up front and waiting a couple of weeks I had a picture of my new guard sent to me, and this is it.. Now while I accept that this might just be up someone else's street, I felt it was not representative of the examples on the site. IMHO I think it looks more like a vintage dark in solar flare which are thus.. Also mine has a great dark patch slap bang in the middle which does not seem to be apparent on other examples on the site. All told I did not feel that this guard was in the style of the one I ordered. I emailed Spitfire and asked if this was representative of a vintage burgundy in crazy '70's. The reply that I got back was that in Spitfires opinion they were very proud of this guard and has turned out better than all other crazy 70's they have done. they said in there opinion the dark patch does not stand out and they were sending it too me. I replied saying I was disappointed with how it had turned out, that I thought it was more solar flare, had a big dark patch and was there anything that could be done? What I received back was the first of a batch of mile long emails that describe what Spitfire do as 'nothing short of a miracle' and that pretty much Spitfire has artistic licence to do as they please and if you don't like it, then tough. Either I take the guard (which they said the dark patch could be covered by the strings) or have a refund minus a 30% re-stocking fee. Now, I don't want a guard that IMHO is not the one I've ordered, and don't see why I should be stung for a re-stocking fee for goods not as described. I had not simply changed my mind. All Spitfires correspondence was concerned about is the financial hardship suffered by Spitfire, while totally ignoring just how hard I've worked for my money to pay for a very expensive guard. It was quite bizarre, Spitfire kept on going on about how happy they are with it and how I should learn to love it The option of Spitfire re-doing a guard was not tabled. I received the email giving me my two choices at 3pm on the 31st July, and they said they would wait for my decision. I replied to the email the next day at 7.30am asking for my money back. It was then I discovered that Spitfire had offered my guard for sale at 3am that morning on the 'Where Has All The Decent Tortoiseshell Gone?' thread. As a Mod a reported the post using the report button as a breech of Marketplace rules. The post was deleted by a Global Mod, but it was made a full 4.5 hours before I had asked for my money back. Spitfire have refunded me, minus the 30% fee. I have opened a dispute with Paypal as I want all my hard-earned returned. Speaking to Spitfire is like banging your head against the wall. It's all about them and how brilliant they are. They come up with nonsense like that I didn't send them enough detail prior to the guard being made, however I'd sent them pics of the bass and all the other information is on his own website. What are you supposed to do? I made it clear to Spitfire that if they did not want to do the decent thing then as a member of BC I would warn other potential purchasers of Spitfire products of the pitfalls they could encounter. However, I'm certainly not asking members to boycott their products on my account. While I concede that there are members here who are very happy with Spitfires work, there is certainly no room should you question their policies. You've already paid your money, so tough. Lesson learned Edited August 15, 2014 by Billy Apple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noisyjon Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Sorry to hear all that Sean and thanks for letting us all know as feedback is always useful, good or bad. Cheers, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 (edited) I find it odd that they did not offer to give you an exchange and remake it to the specs you gave in reference to their own images and website details (as they should have done in the first place). If they are happy to give you a refund minus restocking but are willing to sell it on to someone else, that's unfair as I can't see them discounting for the next buyer. At the end of the day, it sounds like they basically failed to produce what you had paid for and didn't deal with it very well. Hope you get all your cash back and thanks for the review. After discreet had tempted me I was considering getting one but after this, I feel i would probably be as specific as you having a clear vision of what I would like. I think for me, the problem would come with being too exacting to pay such a large amount of money for a product that appears to be left open to far too much artistic license (apparently) and not enough customer input which is a real shame. Edited August 3, 2014 by skej21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 (edited) Spitfire posted the guard for sale on their Facebook page on Aug 1st. For the same price that I paid, after all the comms about how much they were loosing out. You'd think they would knock my 30% fee off! Edited August 15, 2014 by Billy Apple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Thanks for the heads up - that one pictured looks terrible and nothing like you specified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 [quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1407101405' post='2517410'] Spitfire posted the guard for sale on their Facebook page on Aug 1st. For the same price that I payed, after all they did was whinge about how much they were loosing out. You'd think they would knock my 30% fee off! [/quote] I just spotted it for sale on their site. It's pretty shady to ask for 30% to cover costs etc when they are just selling it for the same price to someone else and covering the costs anyway. If they'd just put it up for sale at the same price and made a new one for you, they would have had a positive review and loads of people thinking they were awesome. Instead they've opted for bad press and for what? It's not like they had anything to lose, except their reputation on a big market-related forum like this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted August 3, 2014 Author Share Posted August 3, 2014 [quote name='skej21' timestamp='1407101654' post='2517416'] If they'd just put it up for sale at the same price and made a new one for you, they would have had a positive review and loads of people thinking they were awesome. Instead they've opted for bad press and for what? It's not like they had anything to lose, except their reputation on a big market-related forum like this! [/quote] I'd be the first to champion a company who gives good customer service. For example I bought a Pickguardian pup surround for my Ric. There are two different sizes and I wasn't sure which one I had. They sent out two for the price of one, just asking me to return the unused one. How excellent is that? Spitfire could learn alot from PG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubis Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 This sounds very poor, good luck with your dispute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonesy64 Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 Looks like they cut yours out of the wrong sheet.....judging by the pics you posted it def has more than a passing resemblance to the solar flare example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iiipopes Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 For pickguards, the best place is The Pickguardian, pickguardian.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 [quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1407101406' post='2517411'] Thanks for the heads up - that one pictured looks terrible and nothing like you specified. [/quote] This and I think the service you got sounds pretty shoddy...How much are these guards anyway? some one told me they were the best part of £100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 [quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1407136217' post='2517553'] This and I think the service you got sounds pretty shoddy...How much are these guards anyway? some one told me they were the best part of £100 [/quote] They're $175, which is about £105. Plus you have to factor in the import duty, VAT and Parcel Force fee. This will be around an additional £30 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thunderbird Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 [quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1407136458' post='2517554'] They're $175, which is about £105. Plus you have to factor in the import duty, VAT and Parcel Force fee. This will be around an additional £30 [/quote] Blimey that is a fair old chunk of cash no wonder your not happy I would be well annoyed to hopefully paypal will get you your money back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntLockyer Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I'd be as disappointed as you were with that picture. It seems weird to send a picture of the guard and then say you couldn't have a full refund if it wasn't what you'd asked for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowieBass Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 For a very inexpensive pickguard for your P bass but which is decently made, you could try one of these http://www.ebay.com/itm/SCRATCH-PLATE-Pickguard-to-fit-USA-Mex-PRECISION-BASS-P-Bass-in-10-Colours-/191149735203?pt=UK_Guitar_Accessories&var=&hash=item2c81697d23 from a UK distributor. I got a plate for my Squier Jazz from them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 Man, I'm in the wrong business. I'm off to buy a router and a drill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ash Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 I always use Pickguardian, their service and prices are excellent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1407147262' post='2517681'] Man, I'm in the wrong business. I'm off to buy a router and a drill. [/quote] To give the Spitfire guy some credit he does appear to be concocting the tort material himself in small batches, so I guess it's inevitable that the prices will be higher than companies who simply cut them out from ready made sheets. And a lot of his stuff looks great, even if his website copy is frankly bizzare in places! [url="http://spitfiretortoiseshellpickguards.wordpress.com/about/"]http://spitfiretortoiseshellpickguards.wordpress.com/about/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted August 4, 2014 Author Share Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) [quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1407136458' post='2517554'] They're $175, which is about £105. Plus you have to factor in the import duty, VAT and Parcel Force fee. This will be around an additional £30 [/quote] I forgot to add in postage at $43 (£25.50) and my OP was incorrect, the re-stocking fee is 35% Edited August 15, 2014 by Billy Apple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) This is the trouble with custom stuff - I have a friend who swirls guitars - the results of course, although can be influenced, do have a degree of randomness to them. The trouble is, the customer doesn't always like it... then it has to be reswirled. I think Spitfire should rethink their model if this starts becoming a problem. Make them and offer the for sale piece by piece with a pic of the particular example for sale. But this guy seems like he could be untouchable by what I've read here. And he's backed by the Lord. Edited August 4, 2014 by EBS_freak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 [quote name='EBS_freak' timestamp='1407151439' post='2517744'] But this guy seems like he could be untouchable by what I've read here. And he's backed by the Lord. [/quote] I would hope nobody is seen as untouchable, and threads like this are useful to have for information purposes. For me the terms and conditions combined with the prices and apparent eccentricity mean I wouldn't consider his stuff (I can only attach so much importance to a part of the instrument that doesn't make any noise), but I presume the priorities are different for some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 His assistant is probably pretty handy at carpentry, but isn't helping him much in his 'artistic' endeavours. Having read through the site, I found it somewhat less than convincing (but then again, I'm a cynic...). I hope you can get the money back, despite the draconian conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted August 4, 2014 Share Posted August 4, 2014 [quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1407152162' post='2517759'] I would hope nobody is seen as untouchable, and threads like this are useful to have for information purposes. For me the terms and conditions combined with the prices and apparent eccentricity mean I wouldn't consider his stuff (I can only attach so much importance to a part of the instrument that doesn't make any noise), but I presume the priorities are different for some. [/quote] I think you missed my underlying sarcasm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Apple Posted August 7, 2014 Author Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Well, for the time being it appears that Spitfire have been able to keep my money. Just got this reply from Paypal..[/font][/size] [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]'We have concluded our investigation into your Buyer Claim. We regret to[/font][/size] [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]inform you that we were unable to resolve this case because the complaint was incomplete, issued incorrectly or outside the bounds of coverage as defined in our User Agreement. As a result, we have not taken any action at this time. Please be assured that this case has been noted in the seller's record for future reference.[/font][/size] [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I need to contact Paypal and see if they can be more specific in their decision, as it does not say that they have upheld the sellers policies[/font][/size] [size=4][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]I'm so upset by all of this. I can't believe Spitfire are prepared to let the people who are trying to support them down in such a way.[/font][/size] Edited August 15, 2014 by Billy Apple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Such a shame mate. At least you can take pride in letting everyone else who was tempted/considering a 'guard from these guys know how bad they are. It's funny how the company appeared on this forum to rant and rave about how great they were but are nowhere to be seen now there's been a problem. It just shows how much class they lack... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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