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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 6
Location: Pretoria, South Africa | Dmkozak, sorry for the confusion :-) The factory has "seen" the frets in a way, as I've given them photographs which quite clearly show the problem. I don't know what else there is to see, but I'm obviously not an Ovation technician. I guess my argument is that the only way the frets could have worn so fast (we're talking 3 months of light playing!) is if I used a file to grind them down. Now, I PROMISE I did not do that :-) There is obviously something seriously wrong with this specific guitar (Kaman says they have not had this issue with ANY other LX or other O guitars).
As mentioned earlier, I'm not doing anything weird with this guitar, and it's taking much less of a beating than my previous guitar, a Celebrity, which I had for 17 years before changing the frets.
The second issue I have is that the cost to ship it to the States (I did not buy from the local SA dealer) will be almost a third (!) of the price of the guitar. For me to pay that much and then find out the factory will not repair it, is too great a risk at this point. If this happens, I could just as well have bought an Elite LX, which probably would have had good frets! (If only I'd known! :-)
CharlieB, I'll try and post pictures of the frets, but Ovation have already seen the pictures. Their only response was "send the guitar for evaluation." Also they said a bad batch of fret material would have shown up in more guitars, which I agree with.
SlipKid, I agree 100% with you. Something is very odd.
If I could just get some kind of assurance that the guitar WILL be repaired/replaced, I'd feel a lot better to ship it. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 6
Location: Pretoria, South Africa | On posting pictures of the frets, it looks like you need to put the pics somewhere on the web and link to them. I thought I could upload them directly to the board from my local drive. Anyhow, I don't have access to a web server where I can put the pics, so for now I'll e-mail them to anyone who's interested.
CharlieB, I'll mail you the pictures, as you've already asked. |
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Joined:
September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | This is starting to remind me of another warrenty issue covered on this board. That thread seemed to on for a "lifetime". |
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Joined:
April 2004
Posts: 234
Location: Phoenix, AZ | Originally posted by Izak:
Dmkozak, sorry for the confusion :-) The factory has "seen" the frets in a way, as I've given them photographs which quite clearly show the problem. I don't know what else there is to see, ......
The second issue I have is that the cost to ship it to the States (I did not buy from the local SA dealer) will be almost a third (!) of the price of the guitar. For me to pay that much and then find out the factory will not repair it, is too great a risk at this point. If this happens, I could just as well have bought an Elite LX, which probably would have had good frets! (If only I'd known! :-) ...
First, the Factory has not seen the guitar, they've only seen pictures of the frets. There's a difference, a very big difference, between a picture and the actual subject of the picture.
Second, it sounds like this is your biggest concern, the cost to return the guitar to the Factory. If the Factory were right down the street from you, and you could walk it over, you probably wouldn't mind the Factory wanting to see the actual guitar.
That you've been asked to return the guitar to the Factory is based solely on your not buying the guitar from your country's sole authorized retailer of Ovations. The Factory has a distribution chain which assures the Factory their guitars will be properly handled until put in the customer's hands. While you may not have done anything to affect this guitar's frets, the Factory doesn't know if someone outside their chain of distribution did something to this guitar before you purchased it. That's why your seller may be the person most responsible for this guitar.
The Factory, apparently, saw enough in your pictures, to ask you to send the guitar in for actual inspection. Since the cost of doing so (without any guarantee of what they'll do) appears to be your biggest problem, maybe you could ask the Factory is there's someplace closer to you, and less costly for you, where you could ship the guitar for inspection and repair/replacement.
Please remember, the Factory does not (and virtually no manufacturers of any product that I'm aware of) pay for return shipping to look at problems. The Factory appears willing to help you, IF you'll return the guitar to them for their inspection. Had the guitar been purchased through the Factory's normal chain of distribution, you might not have to pay to return it all the way to the Factory, However, since it was not purchased through the Factory's normal chain of distribution, the buyer assumes these risks when purchasing outside the Factory's normal chain of distribution. The Factory appears willing to stand behind it's product and it's guarantee, (after all, the Factory isn't telling you it won't help you), but, because of how and where the guitar was purchased, the buyer will have to return the guitar to the Factory if the buyer wants the Factory's help and assistance.
If you look at this from the Factory's standpoint, you'll see they're trying to help you, but you're not giving them the chance. |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 15680
Location: SoCal | Izak:
This thread pops up every once in a while and drives everybody crazy in that there is only so much that can be said about it before it the arguments start repeating over and over.
I have no doubt that you've got a legitimate problem and feel like the factory should do something for you. Let me see if I understand it correctly.
I bought a brand new Porsche but didn't buy it from a dealer. After just a few months, the engine is running roughly and it's obvious that something is wrong. I want to send it to the factory to have it fixed (I certainly shouldn't have to pay for it locally as it is a brand new car) and the factory has said that I need to send it to them so they can evaluate it. But the cost of sending it to Germany would be almost a third the cost of the actual car, and Porsche has not assured me that they will repair or replace the car under warranty before I send it. Isn't Porsche being unfair?
No.
Look, you've got three options that I see. First, sell the guitar and buy another. Second, have it refreted locally. Third, bite the bullet, send the guitar to Ovation and let them make a decision. I can tell you from experience that Ovation customer service is the best in the business and if you're nice to them, they will bend over backwards to make things right.
But keep in mind a couple of things. First, you made the decision to buy outside the system. That puts the responsibility for repairs or problems on you, not them. If you had purchased the guitar from an authorized dealer, then all you would have had to do was go back there with your guitar and Ovation would have been happy to make things right, probably at no cost to you. But you made the original decsion as to where to purchase the guitar. Second, people at Ovation read this board. If you complain about them (read that as "if you whine about how unfair they are") do you really think they'll bend over backwards to help you?
You've got the answers to your questions. Everybody here will be interested in what you decide and hope that you get the problem resolved. But don't keep harping on this. Your next post should be to tell us what you are going to do.
End of discussion. Click. |
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Joined:
December 2001
Posts: 10583
Location: NJ | ok you bought it over the internet. was it from a dealer in the states? if so, then you saved a TON of cash by buying it via the states and you should have known that you are taking some of the risk into your own hands by making that purchase that is not local.
You have only given us pieces of the facts and not the whole story. Sometimes when you gamble to save money you lose. Follow protocol and I am sure you guitar will get repaired if you have a legitimate complaint. |
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Serious fret wear on 3-month old 1771LX
