Learned something about GFS today...

squawk

squawk

New member
...that confirms my belief that customer service, in this day and age, is completely dead. Gone the way of the dinosaur and the dodo bird.

I had purchased a pickup on EBay and mistakenly bid on a neck model rather that the bridge model which is what I was really after. Simple, honest mistake. What do do? At this point, I figure these are my options:

1. complete the transaction and then return the item (seller has a 10 day exchange policy)
2. live with it (hey should any consumer have to do this?)
3. explain my mistake and politely ask the seller if they would swap out a bridge pickup (of the exact same model and price) in place of the neck.

I said I wasn't going to do this, but here is the email chain that resulted, after choosing option #3. I really tried to be sincere, but felt the response I received was laughable at best. Perhaps some of you may flame me on this one, but I didn't feel what I was asking for was a huge deal. I did find the exchange with this very angry man rather hilarious. :bowdown:

> > "Guitarfetish.com" <ebay@guitarfetish.com>
> > Subject Re: Message from eBay Member Regarding Item #180009688997
> >
> > Happy to swap items- We'd just need you to pay the
> > full ebay store price of the item you want
> >
> > Jay

> --- peter wrote:
> > No thanks Jay. I'll stick with the neck pickup,
> > even though I don't need one. I view this as trying
> > to gouge somebody who made an honest mistake.
> > Over the months (years) I have been a good
> > customer, buying many guitar
> > parts and pickups. Needless to say this is the
> > last purchase I will make from Guitarfetish and
> > will be letting my friends and acquaintances know exactly why that is.
> >
> > -Peter

> "Guitarfetish.com" <ebay@guitarfetish.com>
> Subject Re: Message from eBay Member Regarding Item #180009688997
>
> Gouge?? There is NO way to run an auction biz and
> let people swap-There aer always a few items that sell
> for less than they are worth every week- People find
> these and decide they're going to get whatthey really
> want-they try and do it all day, every day- sometimes
> 30-40 requests A DAY. Up to over 12 today so far. That's
> our policy, no exceptions.
>
> If you choose not to buy from us in the future then
> so be it. The auctions are posted for one reason
> only- to expose people to our products. Many sell for cost
> or less- that's the price we pay for that exposure.
> Asking someone to pay the actual selling price of an
> item- which in the case of our pickups is still
> stupidly cheap- seems fair to me.
>
> At this point we are probably going to discontinue
> our ebay activity and ONLY sell our items at
> www.guitarfetish.com, since the website is now a far
> bigger business than ebay.
>
> But I REALLY hate to be threatened- so do me a
> personal favor- TELL THE WORLD how poorly we treated
> you. Go on forums, post on the boards, buy a
> billboard- rent the Goodyear blimp- call the
> relatives- and tell them how poorly we've treated
> you. It would make me happy. And then as we roll out all
> of our new product this fall, new pickups, new
> proprietary onboard effects, new bodies and necks,
> new guitars- remember that Guitarfetish is off limits.
>
> I am happy to cancel this purchase or simply refund
> any money you have paid to date for items that have
> not yet shipped. Last thing I want to do is GOUGE
> you.
>
> Jay
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

:banana: TO BE CONTINUED:

--- peter.loren@wachovia.com wrote:
> ...exactly the response I expected... from GuitarCenter.
>
> For the record, nobody is threatening you. If it's
> too much trouble to grab a bridge pickup from one shelf instead of a
> neck pickup of the exact same model from another shelf, then so be it.
> I am sorry I asked. All I know is that I've spent hundreds of dollars with
> Guitarfetish, and consider myself, if not a good customer, then, at
> the very least a multiple repeat customer. As such, it always sucks
> to get the 'go jump in the river' response from a retailer. I am not in
> the music business in any way, nor am I a professional seller on EBay, nor
> do I run any business connected with online selling. But one thing I take
> pride in is my EBay rating of 100% positive feedback. I use my real
> name, not an alias, and I've been involved in over 200 EBay auctions,
> mostly as a buyer, some as a seller, but all as a strict amatuer/hobbyist
> and I can say one thing for sure, I am not out to try and cheat anybody.
>
> As for the practice of selling auction items for cost (or less) for exposure,
> that's your decision. But if it's positive exposure you are after, maybe
> customer service is an area to consider? You can tell a lot about a
> business and it's owner by how they treat their regular customers,
> especially the little guys. And it takes just one negative experience to
> wipe out many positive ones. I don't plan on bad mouthing you or your
> products on forums or anything like that, but if asked what my experience
> with GFS is, I will likely tell this story rather than one about the many
> seamless transactions I've had with your company.
>
> Net effect on you & GFS? Probably zero. So, you can ban
> me from buying from your company if that's what you choose to do...
>
> I guess I could have just simply returned the item
> within 10 days causing you to re-stock it, but I was trying to avoid that
> whole scenario in the first place, so I asked the question I now regret
> asking. I understand why the policy is in place and that people are
> always trying to take advantage on EBay, but it seems to me the policy is
> a little harsh on people like me.
>
> Have a nice day.
> -Peter


Yeah but let's not bull**** each other here.

YOU bid on the wrong item, not me.

When you won that bid you deprived me of the chance to
make money on that item at that time forever.

You were offered the opportunity to buy the correct
item at the fair market price for it. Yes it is a HUGE
hassle to give you the worng pickup now- Once you won
the auction the item was deleted from my electronic
inventory. A picking ticket with your name on it was
printed- The item was pulled and placed in the
"Awaiting Payment" area. To go back now and restock
the item, repair the database and reprint the order
will cost FAR more than the $6 or $8 or $10 or
whatever the upcharge is for the store price. All
because of YOUR actions, not ours. Happy to help, but
you gotta pay to play.

We have a strict policy about this stuff- You didn't
ASK US first.

Nor for that matter- did you start out being a nice
guy - you started out calling names and making
threats.

Yes- we ARE like Guitar Center- we can't be Pete's
Guitar Shop- we move thousands of pickups every week,
at dirt cheap prices. If we were to allow people to
swap items all day and took the time to do telephone
support and all of that other very good and worthwhile
stuff, then we'd be charging $65 a pickup- still
cheaper than a run of the mill Dimarzio but not so
much of a bargain any more.

Our policies are in place for every customer,
regardless. If you would have asked up front, you
would have known that.

Jay
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

Hmmm. Interesting. I have ordered GFS pickups 2-3 times from ebay and have always been satisfied for the price. I've emailed JAy for advice and had good luck. Never had a customer service issue or run-in but it is interesting to hear your experience.
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

As my post states, I have had many satisfactory dealings with him in the past. Not sure what went wrong this time 'round... But i found his responses to be completely rude and condescending. No plans of doing business with him in the future. Life's too short!
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

i think the "gouge " comment wasn't called for. as the guy says, they have that policy and you should have asked some more about it and not have judged immmediately. IMHO. peace brothers on this board.
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

Guitarfetish.com said:
> > Happy to swap items- We'd just need you to pay the
> > full ebay store price of the item you want
> >
Click to expand...

I.E pay the couple of extra dollars for the item sitting in his shop instead, rather than the 'highest offer' the lower priced pickup went for... it's like buying a squier strat off a seller, then saying you made an honest mistake and meant to buy his listed les paul custom.. of course you'd need to make up the difference!

from what i can see it's a case of crossed wires that's progressed.. try and make a fresh start with that stuff, it can make a deal like this end sweeter!

tom
 
I called it gouging because...

I called it gouging because...

that's exactly what it is. :)

I appreciate the feedback. Maybe it's me having the bad day and I should take a couple of deep soothing breaths...
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

Imp said:
I.E pay the couple of extra dollars for the item sitting in his shop instead, rather than the 'highest offer' the lower priced pickup went for... it's like buying a squier strat off a seller, then saying you made an honest mistake and meant to buy his listed les paul custom.. of course you'd need to make up the difference!

from what i can see it's a case of crossed wires that's progressed.. try and make a fresh start with that stuff, it can make a deal like this end sweeter!

tom
Click to expand...

Actually, it's nothing like buyng squier strat, then saying you made an honest mistake and meant to buy his listed les paul custom.. :)

It's just what i said, I bought the neck version of the Dream 180 and asked him if he'd swap the bridge instead. Same pickup, same price. You can search EBay right now and see that Dream 180 necks & bridges go for the same $$.
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

Regardless of how rude your responses may have been perceived, part of being a good Ebay seller (and I know, since I have completed over 700 successful transactions on Ebay) is not flaming like this comment you stated he made:

" Go on forums, post on the boards, buy a billboard- rent the Goodyear blimp- call the relatives- and tell them how poorly we've treated you. It would make me happy. And then as we roll out all of our new product this fall, new pickups, new proprietary onboard effects, new bodies and necks, new guitars- remember that Guitarfetish is off limits".

Highly inappropriate and unprofessional, IMHO.
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

on that note, i think the seller OVER-REACTED too. pretty weird for a seller blow his top i guess, and i think that's squawk's point of irritation.
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

in the time that it took him to write such a long winded response, i'm sure he coulda sorted you out a Bridge model.

But i can see both sides argument,.......but isnt the customer ALWAYS right???
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

Oh yeah and i've learnt that their "p-90 in humbucker size case" is more like "telecaster bridge pickup in humbucker size" (i only found this out because the cover fell off!!!)
 
To be clear, I am definately not attempting to bad mouth GFS products, because, although I already own a Dream 90 set, I have yet to install them.

I have purchased and used many of his bridges, knobs, springs, trem bars and other parts with no complaints so far. Spent several hundreds of dollars in fact. Believe me when I say, this is not how you treat a customer. And that's what is so frustrating...

Maybe I shouldn't have used the term gouge, or whatever. Maybe I shouldn't have even posted such a negative thread, but I've been fuming over this all afternoon, and I did it in a moment of weakness.

Pehaps, instead of wasting time discussing GFS, I should just focus on my Seymnour Duncan nirvana... :burnout:
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

larry_emder said:
But i can see both sides argument,.......but isnt the customer ALWAYS right???
Click to expand...

Well...not when they are wrong.

It sounds like this guy gets a lot of people trying to weasel into what they really want by bidding on something similar but at a lower price. You need to understand that.

Bottom line- this is an auction and you made the mistake. Maybe he'd be willing to help you out, but you should not expect that to happen. If you BIN'ed something from his store, I'm sure he would gladly substitute. It sounds like you got the pickup for a lower-than-normal price. It is not his fault you bid on the wrong auction. If you don't want to deal with him that's fine, but do so because you don't want to own up to your own mistake.
 
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Re: Learned something about GFS today...

a bit off topic... have you tried any of their aluminum tele bridge plates?
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

big_black said:
Bottom line- this is an auction and you made the mistake. Maybe he'd be willing to help you out, but you should not expect that to happen. It is not his fault you bid on the wrong auction. If you don't want to deal with him that's fine, but do so because you don't want to own up to your own mistake.
Click to expand...

Appreciate the feedback bro.. but I fully admitted it was my mistake from the beginning. I think the issue is 'what are we going to do about it going forward?'
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

Like I said upfront, I could simply return the pickup for a full refund, at which point we've both lost 2 weeks AND he still has to go through all the paperwork shuffle he's trying to avoid. Ridiculous.

UPS is the only winner at that point.
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

This kind of thing happens all the time on Ebay and at a certain point you have to cut people off. You can not babysit everyone.

IMO, you should not even be posting this.
 
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Re: Learned something about GFS today...

You made the mistake. It is a mistake. Calling it an "honest" one does not change the fact that it was a mistake and that it was yours and yours alone.

If there really are "honest mistakes" what are the other kind? Can you give me an example?

Nobody else made you enter a bid amount, push the button, and then accept the bid as you intended. You did all of this on your own.

You are trying to make Jay responsible for correcting what you had more than sufficient opportunity to do so on your own. At least three counting the steps you had to go through on eBay to bid.

You are angry at him for not immediately feeling responsible for this honest mistake of yours and following through in a manner that will make you feel better. That is called Tough Luck.

You even attempt to offer logic and cost justification explanations as to say "it should be no big deal for him to comply". That is what I find amazing. All of it is totally immaterial.

The real question is not "what are WE going to do about it". It should have been "what am I going to do about it". And the right answer would not be along the lines of "get someone else to fix it for me".

While you may admit to making the mistake, you continue to deny it to be your sole responsibility to fix it.

Jay is well within his rights as an eBay seller to refuse your generous offer to help you out for free. You on the other hand have no rights to refuse to pay for your mistake by taking personal accountability for it.
 
Re: Learned something about GFS today...

Hey Squawk; I don't mean to bust your chops or anything, but IMO, you are in the wrong here. His response to you was polite and proffessional until you accused him of "gouging". I would've got beligerent at that point also.

Sorry man. Just calling it as I see it.
 
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