Horrible Customer Service

[Mnglfrnglfck]

So I received a brand new Comanche back in October of last year. I've had a few significant issues with the guitar and the company since then.

First is that the guitar never came with a whammy bar. That might not sound like a big deal, but I have been talking with my dealer since I got the guitar to get one and G&L has just not ever sent one. Before you think it is just the dealers fault, I've also tried calling, leaving messages, and emailing Chris Robosan many times (per the G&L support page instructions) with not a single answer or response. Can anyone tell me a better way to get in contact with G&L?

Then, the neck pickup simply stopped working back in February. That's covered in warranty, but G&L has yet to even tell me that they will fix it. I've been in regular contact with the dealer, who says he has been talking to G&L and that they know of the problem, and yet G&L has still not offered to fix it or asked for the guitar.

So now I'm beyond pissed. I paid a lot of money for this guitar and it's just sitting around with a broken neck pickup. Meanwhile, G&L will not respond to any of my calls or messages, and is hardly even communicating with the dealer. What am I even supposed to do?

[yowhatsshakin]

Hi,

First off, your guitar should be under 10 year warranty so any problems you have should be dealt with. But trying to get anything done straight from the factory, i.e. talking with Chris, is NOT the way to go. For new instruments one should go through the dealer (see this link), and hence they are at fault by basically shirking their responsibility of giving you good customer service while trying to offload it to G&L. If I were you, I would talk to your dealer, tell them you'll ship back the guitar, and have them fix it within a certain time limit or otherwise you demand your money back.

- Jos

[willross]

+1

[Mnglfrnglfck]

I'm sure I just need to be more firm with the dealer, then. I was under the impression that G&L would be in more direct communication with me, since they ultimately have to receive the guitar to repair it. Thanks for the reply!

[darwinohm]

If your dealer couldn't get a whammy bar for your new G&L I think that you need to get a refund and find a new dealer. I needed a preamp chip for a new l-2500 and my dealer called G&L while I was talking to him in the store and I had a new one in a few days. I have also ordered from the online store and received the merchandise in 3 days. The factory is not the contact point for the end user. You will most likely get help here but you need to light up the dealer a bit. Good luck and it is a bummer that this hasn't been solved before you have to look elsewhere for help.--Darwin

[suave eddie]

Even though you are supposed to go through your dealer for warranty issues, there is no excuse for G&L to ignore your direct inquiries. At the very least they should respond only to advise you to go back to your dealer.

Lack of response from the factory seems to be a recurring issue.

I had a minor warranty issue that was resolved very quickly -- directly with the factory (defective tuner knob), but there have been too many stories on this forum detailing difficulties getting responses--many times resolved only with Craig's assistance.

[yowhatsshakin]

Even though you are supposed to go through your dealer for warranty issues, there is no excuse for G&L to ignore your direct inquiries. At the very least they should respond only to advise you to go back to your dealer.

Lack of response from the factory seems to be a recurring issue.

I had a minor warranty issue that was resolved very quickly -- directly with the factory (defective tuner knob), but there have been too many stories on this forum detailing difficulties getting responses--many times resolved only with Craig's assistance.

I think this is unfair towards G&L. Yes, there have been many stories on this forum on lax response times by G&L. In the vast majority of these cases it concerned customers bypassing the dealer, either on their own accord or because the dealers tells them to do so in an attempt to CTA. And time and again the response on this forum is to take it up with the dealer. I do not begrudge G&L (and Chris in particular) to basically ignore something that is not directly their problem (yet). It is clearly stated on the same web page (even the same line) as where one can get Chris' phone number from. In my experience G&L is perfectly happy to do repairs under warranty as long as it goes through the intended channels.

- Jos

[Salmon]

It seems like the forum mostly hears from those who feel ignored. The other people are probably grossly unrepresented. Maybe G&L should reconsider this text on their website and have a standard message ready for all of the misguided communication they receive. There must be someone responsible for filtering email if not Chris personally:

Repairs, technical support an other enquiries

If you bought your G&L new (with warranty), please contact your dealer first. Your dealer may be able to resolve the problem quickly.

• For warranty repairs in USA and Canada please contact the dealer where you purchased your G&L.
• For non-warranty repairs in USA and Canada please contact Chris Robosan at (714)897-6766 extension 156 or send an email to him arrange for the return your instrument to G&L for repairs.
• For all repairs outside the USA and Canada please contact your national distributor.
• Non-technical enquiries may be directed to Chris Robosan at (714)897-6766 extension 156 or by email to him.