Frampton Les Paul: Destroyed!

[Rupe]

That sucks hard. Those guitars are super cool, what a shame!

[GTarman68]

3 pages and still no pictures???? And what night did you have this Dream?:ROTF:

[YetAnotherOne]

The best way to handle these situations is to get a refund directly from the shipper including reimbursement for shipping both ways. If the refund isn't in your hands by ~20-25 days after the **date of purchase** do a chargeback through your credit card company and eat the return shipping costs. You usually have no longer than 30 days in which to initiate the chargeback and every retailer on the planet knows it. Don't let them make promises over the phone and string you along while your time to correct this situation runs out because once you're unable to do a chageback you're at their mercy.

[surfreak]

Muppet News Flash:


Just talked to GC and hit them with Shreddermon's sage advice.

An lo and behold...the clouds started to part....

They said for me to fax them a repair price quote from Gibson, and I could keep the guitar and get a refund for the full price of the repair. THEY will deal with UPS from here on out.
Whew....

You are making a mistake. Do not get it repaired, by Gibson or anyone else. You bought a new guitar, not a repaired one. Even if Gibson replaces the whole neck, that is still a repaired guitar.

Get the full reimbursement from GC and buy a new one.

[Newc]

Here's some advice:

STOP
USING
UPS!!!!!

Just as soon as you open up a FedEx, DHL, Airborne Express, and Purolator Courier down the street from my local UPS place, pal

[Joe_Steeler]

UPS is coming tomorrow to look at the damaged Masterbuilt Strat I got. This sacklick adjustor calls me (on Tuesday) like he is an employee of God himself, tells me that his busy schedule will not allow him to come by my place until Friday. That he is so busy tells you something about UPS.

I cannot wait for him to see the damage so I can return the guitar and get my money back.

I have decided not to keep it and neither should you. There has been a lot of advise here and we paid for a new, mint condition guitar and we should not settle for anyhting less. Reapirs are repairs and we will never be able to sell them as mint, Exc++ condition guitars since they will be "patched up".

Fuggem!

[RacerX]

Yo Newc, your gear looks like UPS already got done with it anyway! HAW HAW HAW!

[Subvamp]

=There has been a lot of advise here and we paid for a new, mint condition guitar and we should not settle for anyhting less. Reapirs are repairs and we will never be able to sell them as mint, Exc++ condition guitars since they will be "patched up".

Fuggem!

The whole point of me thinking about keeping it was because it's very rare. I bought it used, not new, because it's one from the first 500 run in 2001. I can get a brand new one for $4000, but they changed them a bit after that 2001 run, and I don;t care for the changes. I've seen 'em pop up on Ebay for between $3500-3800, but those are private sellers, and I dumped this on my c. card...don't have that kind of coin in liquid cash. I also wasn't buying it to sell it down the line, or as an investment, I wanted to play it..often!

So as it stands now, it look like I'll keep it and they're going to pay for the repair AND give me a nice chuck of change back as a "discount". But that's just today's update...things could change radically by tomorrow.

[Newc]

Yo Newc, your gear looks like UPS already got done with it anyway! HAW HAW HAW!

Oh really?















I don't see a problem.

[Subvamp]

Damn, I've been hijacked!

[Subvamp]

Alright, I've gotten tired of racking up my long distance bill calling GC and trying to get them to fix things. I'm disputing the C. card charge and calling the whole thing a learning experience. Now, do I have to ship the guitar back on my dime? Was UPS supposed to take it when the Clamis guy looked at it, etc?

[pro-fusion]

I'm sure that GC will want the guitar back, but I would raise bloody hell if they try to stick you with the shipping fees. You paid for an expensive new guitar and got a couple of pieces of firewood instead. That's their problem, not yours.

[Adam]

Alright, I've gotten tired of racking up my long distance bill calling GC and trying to get them to fix things. I'm disputing the C. card charge and calling the whole thing a learning experience. Now, do I have to ship the guitar back on my dime? Was UPS supposed to take it when the Clamis guy looked at it, etc?

You're doing the right thing.

You can't keep that guitar or repair it, or you're getting screwed. That guitar, even one of the first 500, isn't worth near what you paid for it with a headstock repair. The advantage to buying used is that your guitar doesn't depreciate the moment you open the case - providing you keep it in the same shape you received it in, you can sell it without a loss. Not now!

Go get your refund and get something else. Your CC company should go to bat for you.

[shreddermon]

+1. You're making the right choice. If you were getting the runaround by GC, that's a major red flag that they might've been trying to "run out the clock" on your ability to do a chargeback with the CC company. Either way, don't take the risk with mucho dinero on the line. Play it safe. You'll probably find another Frampton sooner than you think.

Also, it is GC's obligation to tell you how they'd like the return handled. Go ahead and do the chargeback, but DON'T TELL GC about it. Otherwise, they might dither around and try to use the fact that the goods weren't returned as leverage with the CC company for only doing a partial refund. If they don't give you an immediate response on how to handle the return, send it back on your own dime anyway. Eating $30 worth of shipping will sure beat possibly being cheated out of hundreds or thousands of $$$.

And, oh yeah: KEEP ALL OF YOUR RECORDS. Shipping receipts, online tracking confirming delivery back to them. You should even keep a log of how this played out - i.e., when was it ordered, when was it delivered, when was GC/UPS notified of the damage, when was the return shipped & delievered, etc - and include it with your written charge dispute with the CC company. Good luck.

[charvelguy]

Using the cc company is probably your best option. They'll apply the necessary leverage to make sure you get your money. Let GC get it repaired on their coin and deal with the UPS claim hassles. They can resell it however they want.. which I hope they do it right with a new neck thru Gibson and then choose to represent it correctly.

Once it gets turned over to the cc company.. its just a matter of arrangement on the return. You'll see a refund for the full amount per contract stipulations.

GC should ship it back on their coin and provide you with a pickup shipping tag number for the return trip. Take photo's of the guitar present state and your pack job before it leaves. Once the guitar is in their hands, they'll do the chargeback. You'll likely see the money in 30 days.