Custom Shop Orders & Dealers

[shreddermon]

Some events earlier this year got me thinking about a potential issue.

As many know, when doing a custom shop, typically a 50% deposit is paid at the time of ordering. And then you wait until the guitar is built, paying the balance on completion.

What if you place an order and, before the guitar is completed, the dealership goes out of business? Will Jackson still honor the order, and just "transfer" it to another dealer? Or will the order get cancelled?

(Note: Relax folks, all is cool. This is purely a hypothetical question. I am not having any issues with a dealer, nor do I have knowledge of any particular dealer having trouble. Just thought it was an interesting question.)

[sully]

Re: Custom Shop Orders & Dealers

i believe in that case, usually a dealer has a dealer that he'd send his jackson business to. i dunno if there's an actual policy tho...

sully

[Ralph E.]

Re: Custom Shop Orders & Dealers

This actually happened to my brother in law back in 1986. He ordered a custom soloist, put down like $600-$700, and then the dealer went out of business. He lost his money, since the dealer has the money, not Jackson.

[shreddermon]

Re: Custom Shop Orders & Dealers

Ouch! That sucks!

So - as Ralph just described - customers could be left holding the bag. It's a long shot of such a thing happening but, although extremely unlikely, it's possible.

[ March 31, 2004, 10:45 AM: Message edited by: shreddermon ]

[charvel750]

Re: Custom Shop Orders & Dealers

There must be a law or a policy whereby you are protected against this. When you pre-order merchandise and pay up front you must be able to recoup that if the dealer leaves the business.

[shreddermon]

Re: Custom Shop Orders & Dealers

Not necessarily. I can imagine that a court might look at the customer as just another debtor owed money by the dealer in this situation. Which means you'll end up in the bankruptcy court's case of the dealer, and be lucky if you get some or all of your money back.

I'm no lawyer, though, so I suppose some or much of this depends on the relationships between dealers and Jackson. i.e., How orders are placed, payments made, etc.

[Toby]

Re: Custom Shop Orders & Dealers

The dealers ask for a down payment as a security because of custom orders are non-cancellable and non-refundable.
Maybe you can negotiate an agreement with the dealer to deposit the down payment on a locked account on your name. The money on the locked account will be paid to the dealer, when the guitar arrives. In the case that the dealer goes out of business, the money is still on your locked account and you don't lose it.
This is secirity for the dealer and also security for the customer.

[shreddermon]

Re: Custom Shop Orders & Dealers

While that's not necessarily a bad idea, Toby, it would probably be a bit of overkill. Not to mention many dealers would just flat out say "no" to that kind of an approach.

If one were that concerned about the potential future viability of a dealer, you probably shouldn't be doing business with that dealer to begin with.

Just do a little homework and be careful who you choose as a dealer. It's an extreme situation that probably doesn't happen too often, so folks certainly shouldn't loose any sleep over it.