NGD - Not as described by seller (Fretboard member)

chenzman

Hi all,

I recently purchased a guitar from this forum, where I have always had great honest experiences. This time unfortunately I have not, at a great expense to me.

This is the item in discussion - https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/173894/sold-music-man-luke-3#latest

The guitar arrived Thursday and upon checking it that evening, I found a number of issues which I have reported back to the seller including an email with photos.

He has visited this site since and not responding to my concerns.

Is there anything you would be able to suggest to try to get this resolved? 

I wasn’t really expecting these issues as it was advertised as unmarked condition, as new.

Here’s a few photos -

Neck dented on both sides of fretboard behind 1st fret -

https://i.imgur.com/Lwdo2Xr.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/b32lTTi.jpg

Neck has 2 dents further up the neck towards the body which you can feel when playing -

https://i.imgur.com/U6P6wHv.jpg

The neck pocket has cracks either side (one worse than other) -

https://i.imgur.com/WSwWXuJ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wdHgpfl.jpg

Pickup has damage to paint -

https://i.imgur.com/HvHTf3e.jpg

I have also found the E saddle spring is completely squashed down, I assume to resolve intonation issues? The setup seems to be off also,  with higher than expected, not sure if this is because of the floating Trem or not. 

The case candy also seems to be missing as shown in the photos and there are no tools to make adjustments (not sure if these come as standard from factory?)

As you can see there are a few issues here which I certainly wasn’t expecting to find on a guitar advertised as new/unmarked, so am disappointed to say the least on a guitar that has cost be £1400.

Thanks

Vince 

Roland

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/57311/how-the-feedback-system-works

Paul_C

1) The spring being squashed on the Low E isn't that unusual - I've had to remove springs now and again just to get a saddle far enough back (mostly on Strats) to intonate properly.

2) You can see the mark on the pickup in the original photos of it for sale.

Hope you get things sorted between you.

chenzman

Thanks @Roland, feedback left and issues noted

chenzman

Thanks @Paul_C I’ll be honest I didn’t see the mark on the pickup so that’s at my expense.

My point is if I was selling a guitar as unmarked/new condition it would be exactly that and would not have these issues. If these issues were noted, I would not have brought it, now I’m left feeling the fool

CMW335

Can’t help myself but ask, if you wanted the guitar without those issues your Looking at another £900 assuming you paid £1400. Are those little marks really worth that much in the grand scheme? Appreciate he has said new and unmarked in his description but those marks are so minor I would believe the seller likely didn’t even notice them. 

Ben_McCarthy

The finish cracking probably isn’t a massive issue. Most of my bolt on guitars with poly finishes have that, but that’s not the point.
 

 I am not defending the seller, he clearly should’ve messaged you. hope you get it sorted mate 

CMW335

That being said it’s poor form to ignore your messages and not something I like to see on the forum... albeit I don’t know the background maybe there’s a reasonable explanation he hasn’t replied as yet

LPManic

Sounds like flipper's remorse to me.

chenzman

CMW335 said:

Can’t help myself but ask, if you wanted the guitar without those issues your Looking at another £900 assuming you paid £1400. Are those little marks really worth that much in the grand scheme? Appreciate he has said new and unmarked in his description but those marks are so minor I would believe the seller likely didn’t even notice them. 

I did want the guitar without those issues yes, they were not noted so didn’t expect them to be there irrelevant of the cost. If they were noted, especially the neck pocket cracks (which I cannot seem how you would miss) I wouldn’t have brought it, simple. Obviously I seem to be expecting too much, like honesty 

chenzman

Ben_McCarthy said:

The finish cracking probably isn’t a massive issue. Most of my bolt on guitars with poly finishes have that, but that’s not the point.
 

 I am not defending the seller, he clearly should’ve messaged you. hope you get it sorted mate 

Thanks @Ben_McCarthy much appreciated 

imalrightjack

It’s a tough one this. I really try to be super accurate with descriptions and have had many, many dings on ‘mint’ guitars. Sellers really should be better at this, but these are minor marks on the neck and hard to see in zoomed pics. Neck pockets cracks should be highlighted. Failure to respond is unacceptable. 

Good luck. What resolution are you looking for?

chenzman

Thanks @Imalrightjack I’m hoping for him to respond to me for a start. In reality I would probably send it back and get my money back, I’m not holding out much hope for that though 

mort

chenzman said:

Thanks @Imalrightjack I’m hoping for him to respond to me for a start. In reality I would probably send it back and get my money back, I’m not holding out much hope for that though 

How did you pay? 

chenzman

Hi @mort, unfortunately Paypal gift, stupidly on my part. As mentioned, I have never had bad experiences so thought this would be no different, lesson learned 

skunkwerx

Sell it to Andertons with a copy of my email from another thread. 

They'd sell this as A grade brand new stock. 

chenzman

skunkwerx said:

Sell it to Andertons with a copy of my email from another thread. 

They'd sell this as A grade brand new stock. 

I saw that, bad form from Andertons. I hope you get it all sorted

mort

chenzman said:

Hi @mort, unfortunately Paypal gift, stupidly on my part. As mentioned, I have never had bad experiences so thought this would be no different, lesson learned 

Ouch, that’s a shame. Just to add that I would not be happy receiving a “mint” guitar with undisclosed neck pocket cracks. 

skunkwerx

chenzman said:

skunkwerx said:

Sell it to Andertons with a copy of my email from another thread. 

They'd sell this as A grade brand new stock. 

I saw that, bad form from Andertons. I hope you get it all sorted

Same for you man. 

Hopefully a resolve can be found. 

TeleMaster

Price doesn't matter. If clear issues aren't described then it's not been sold in the way it should have been. I can't say whether or not the seller knew, but it's suspicious he isn't replying.

The setup is irrelevant though. I can't say that I understand why that would concern you. 

Two threads like this in a matter of weeks. Sad. 

chenzman

Thanks everyone. I am disappointed as I’m sure my posts highlight, I’m just hoping the seller does the right thing